PC suggestions please !!

ashish · #1 01-26-2005, 10:17 PM

hi everyone,

a friend of mine is looking to buy a PC... he is not looking for something spectacular... his budget is something around AU$1000

he will mostly be using it to watch movies and play some games (not the ones that require high end configs) and run some accounting packages for doing his uni work....

any suggestions??

NiTrous · #2 01-27-2005, 05:53 AM

Ur looking for atleast a Pentium 4 or higher.... or a Amd Athlon XP 256MB DDR Minimum.
possibly an onboard grafics card. As u say that he will wanting to be watching movies i persume u mean watch DVD's?
so will need DVD player, my be even a cd burner???.

NiTrous~>

mountain · #3 01-27-2005, 10:53 AM

Get a Dell

Ren · #4 01-27-2005, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountain

Get a Dell

ashish · #5 01-27-2005, 11:23 PM

hi thanks for the suggestions but i dont think that a PIV will fit into his budget.. yes i do mean DVD movies.. so a DVD drive is a must

i am sorry i should have said this before, i already checked out dell australia... my frnd didnt like it....

There is one thing i must say here... and bear in my mind that i have dell too.. and i love it...
but dell does restrict you some times ... i mean some of it customisation options are not great.. for example... even if you have a licensed copy of a OS you stil have to buy a new one...

ANZAC_ELITE · #6 01-27-2005, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ren

Totally agree, wouldn't touch Dell with a barge pole.

NiTrous · #7 01-28-2005, 03:29 AM

I wouldnt actually buy a computer all ready to go i prefer to make it my self then i know what has been put in and what will be going on the Hard drive, never know what type of kunning things out there that these "BIG" companys use.

NiTrous~>

ANZAC_ELITE · #8 01-28-2005, 05:06 AM

Let me start by saying I am an Intel user (AMD fans may have other suggestions) but I will say ......with LGA 775 out all the socket 478 gear is getting cheaper, PCI Express hardly matches AGP at this point in time let alone excedes it, so we'll forget about that ...... a socket 478 (I875/I865) chipset m/board with a 3 - 3.2 HT cpu, 1 gig ddr 400 ram, a basic video card (FX something but I guess the Radeon fans will have input on this too), DVD rom/burner and a hdd big enough to suit. This may be a tad over $1000 but trimming vid card and hdd (ram/cpu if you're really pushed for $$$), case $100 or so ..... (check psu for wattage) I reckon if you shop around under a grand should be achievable.

You dont say which state so google these:
Umart (charge freight)
Gamedude (charge freight)
Auspcmarket (don't charge freight so prices are slightly higher but service is best)

I've had a few beers so you have to find the links yourself

NiTrous · #9 01-28-2005, 06:18 AM

ANZAC_ELITE i think that is a bit OTT

Quote:

he is not looking for something spectacular

first u dont need 1gig ram, 512mb is more than enough.

Intel 3.2 HT CPU, well thats way to much, also the AMD64 is miles ahead even the lower end AMD64 would give the Intel 3.2 a run for its money.

if going for Intel, only need a 2ghz+ CPU.

Vid card - Radeon is a bit expensive, may be stick to Nvidia? as its not exactly going to be used to play top end games.

Probably will have money left instead of going all out.

NiTrous~>

F_Porsche · #10 01-31-2005, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ren

Why hate Dell computers? I'm using one right now and it's the best PC i've ever used. Dell also has the best support team in the world,
And the pc's are built really well. The Service representatives are the friendliest and most helpful i've talked too. Please tell me, if any, what pc companies are better in support and pc manufacturing.

Ren · #11 01-31-2005, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F_Porsche

Why hate Dell computers? I'm using one right now and it's the best PC i've ever used. Dell also has the best support team in the world,
And the pc's are built really well. The Service representatives are the friendliest and most helpful i've talked too. Please tell me, if any, what pc companies are better in support and pc manufacturing.

I just don't like any of those computers like Dell, Compaq, of HP! All thier products are nothing but through away products! You use it and through it away! There is no upgrading then. If you wan't to upgrade Windows you usually have to things like sound cards, modems,and graphic cards. I prefer to build my own, that way I know what I got! As far as tech support goes, when you do things like build your own you leard about computers and don't need someone from a 3rd world country who knows nothing about compluters try to tell you what's wrong with yours! I've never had tech support and never needed it!

ANZAC_ELITE · #12 01-31-2005, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiTrous

ANZAC_ELITE i think that is a bit OTT

first u dont need 1gig ram, 512mb is more than enough.

Intel 3.2 HT CPU, well thats way to much, also the AMD64 is miles ahead even the lower end AMD64 would give the Intel 3.2 a run for its money.

if going for Intel, only need a 2ghz+ CPU.

Vid card - Radeon is a bit expensive, may be stick to Nvidia? as its not exactly going to be used to play top end games.

Probably will have money left instead of going all out.

NiTrous~>

He asked for suggestions within a $1000 budget, I gave my opinion on the max pc he could probably get for sub $1000. personally I think if a 3.2 HT cpu and 1 gig of ram is achievable sub $1000 why not do it? save upgrading later on.

Zxian · #13 02-01-2005, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ren

I just don't like any of those computers like Dell, Compaq, of HP! All thier products are nothing but through away products! You use it and through it away! There is no upgrading then.

That's not true at all!!!

I've upgraded my Compaq laptop to the extreme right now, by throwing in a new 80 HD and another 1GB of RAM (vs 40GB and 256MB, respectively).

I've upgraded the HD, RAM and burner on my Dell Desktop with no problems what so ever.

As for upgrading video cards and such, I know that you can do that on my mom's computer (HP Pavillion, 1 GHz Athlon). I just can't upgrade the video card on my desktop because of the case and the power supply... and it wouldn't be worth the money.

Adding more RAM is a walk in the park on just about every computer.

The only parts that you can't really upgrade all that easily are the motherboards and CPUs. Wait a year, and they'll have dropped in price by about 50% though.

freepchelp · #14 02-02-2005, 04:09 AM

Dont know what its like in the north ...but in New Zealand pcs are soooo cheap.

I have a packard Bell 2.8 with 17inch crt for $700.00Nz thats only about $300 US.

I would perhapes suggest staying away integrated graphics cards using shared memory. But for the price I can still play doom 3 on better than 1200 by 1500.

Built your own....yea...but...touch the cpu without an earth strap and zap!
do it wrong and .....is it worth it.

Quite often a completely good pc is much cheaper than the total sum of its parts.

AMD. Intel. sheeze do you want to enjoy your computer of anylize it.

lol

Good luck

Ray

Ren · #15 02-03-2005, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zxian

That's not true at all!!!

I've upgraded my Compaq laptop to the extreme right now, by throwing in a new 80 HD and another 1GB of RAM (vs 40GB and 256MB, respectively).

I've upgraded the HD, RAM and burner on my Dell Desktop with no problems what so ever.

As for upgrading video cards and such, I know that you can do that on my mom's computer (HP Pavillion, 1 GHz Athlon). I just can't upgrade the video card on my desktop because of the case and the power supply... and it wouldn't be worth the money.

Adding more RAM is a walk in the park on just about every computer.

The only parts that you can't really upgrade all that easily are the motherboards and CPUs. Wait a year, and they'll have dropped in price by about 50% though.

I'll agree with you!! You can upgrade all of those components with no problem! It is when you try to upgrade your OS is when you run into the biggest problem and it shouldn't be any problem! Say if your computer has Windows98 and was plenty fast enough for Windows xp and you want to upgrade it to XP! You'll have a hard time finding Drivers for most of your components. If not impossible!! I know, I've been through this before! These companies don't want you to upgrade your computer to any extreme or learn anything about a computer! That's how they make money! They see it like this!! Keep the smart, smart and the dumb, dumb! That's what keeps the rich, rich and the poor, poor!! They want keep you dumb so they can keep selling you thier junk to you!! That's what makes them money!! That's how this world works! Sad but true.

Ren