Built computer $1000-2000 suggestions

[sofyse]

I was going to build a computer for a friend however her computer just crashed. Because her computer is crucial for business she needs one fast and is completely set on buying one from a company. She wants to get a dell, I *believe* because the software is included and she's seen the ads. I could argue her out of it though.

She doesn't game or video edit, or really do anything that CPU intensive. However, for her business software she wants XP professional. She's also thinking of getting a computer for her (7 yr old) son to play games. Desktop for both would be fine.

Any help would be great, I'm not too knowledgable about the market for pre-built machines. And maybe one of you has seen a deal out there

Thanks so much!

 

[aYeti]

if u build it

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/

I would NEVER EVER get a pre-fab computer
EVER
EVER
NEVER EVER

just my 2 cents
.

 

[TheStu]

For convenience sake, I would get a pre-built computer, because although i do like to build my own, if I want to save time or research, I would just get a Dell... ok, I really wouldn't, I would get an iMac, but if I were to get something that wasn't a Mac, and didn't want to waste the time on research, I would get a Dell, or an HP, something along those lines.

Advantages to pre-built are as I said before, convenience, but also warranty. Everything is covered under 1 warranty, and you can get accidental damage coverage from most of the major OEMs which sweetens the deal.

 

[aYeti]

Don?t get me wrong i said i would NEVER buy a pre-build (AKA: pre-fab)
computer

maybe I didn?t say never enough times
and ANY one that dose is a fool in my opinion

why in the world would someone pay MORE for less ?
lets take hard drives for instance you have 2 hard drive both the same specs EXCETP one has
8 megs cash and one 16 megs cash
the 8 meg one sells for $100 in bulk
the 16 meg sells for $110 in bulk
that?s a 10 dollar savings per machine sold
say they sell 100,000 units with the cheaper $100 dollar hard drive
they just made an extra profit of 10,000 dollars

NOW do this to every part in the computer
and you have a pre-built computer

the speed of any computer I make more then doubles the fastest pre-built out there
well in the sub $2000 dollar range. If you pay 2k or more you?ll probably get all good quality parts
but I doubt it even then

I volunteer at a none profit Org. and fix their computers and something is always breaking on them
I use to have to fix my families till I forced them to buy a computer from me cheaper then a pre-fab
now they hardly ever need fixing unless they get a virus or something
but not hard ware
out of 20 computers less then 2 years old 8 have all ready had to go back to dell
and 3 monitors and these are $1500 computers

the consolidated warranty is the only thing a pre-fab computer MAY have for it
BUT either way if you have a broken computer or computer part you have to send it to someone
so why not the people that made it as apposed to the whole thing going to dell or who ever you buy it from. I?d rather use a cheep old video card and have a computer to use while I RMA?d the bad video card
then have no computer waiting for it to come back from dell

just my 2 cents

 

[Old Hippie]

the consolidated warranty is the only thing a pre-fab computer MAY have for it

I believe you are forgetting about the tech. support. You build it, they want you to fix it.

OP, do yourself a favor and point your friend to the Dell business site.

 

[sofyse]

How do you deal with the software? Are there any good deals out there or places to go?

She's pretty dead set on this pre-build computer for herself =P So I looked at getting together a dell setup. But I'm going to do my best to convince her that I could build her son a good gaming computer.

 

[sofyse]

>OP, do yourself a favor and point your friend to the Dell business site.

She had her other computer for 8 years, she may go out of warranty and I'll be trying to fix or upgrade it anyway.

 

[sofyse]

>OP, do yourself a favor and point your friend to the Dell business site.

She had her other computer for 8 years, she may go out of warranty and I'll be trying to fix or upgrade it anyway.

 

[Dizzymon]

I'd tell them to get a Dell and dump ubuntu on it. You won't have support issues but if they want to play games they can boot into the main OS. Save you some virus problems if you run linux. Less support issues the better. Microsoft has way too many people trying to get a leg up on them. I've prebuilt many of my systems and for relatives. It's a support nightmare. You get all the work and they complain about everything but don't want to pay for squat cuz well YOU made it so slow and it's not due to the fact that they abuse the system loading all kinds of apps and CUTE stuff on it. If you load Ubuntu it boots off the CD so things go away after they are done surfing the web. Also they can run openOffice so software isn't that big of a deal. Unless they want something really Microsoft specific then you are out of luck.

 

[PUNISHER1999]

hey i just got my first case and want to fill with killer compon. any suggest---- on where to start........... lots of money to build killer uint no brains to BUILD .....


please help dazed and confused

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: sofyse
I was going to build a computer for a friend however her computer just crashed. Because her computer is crucial for business she needs one fast and is completely set on buying one from a company. She wants to get a dell, I *believe* because the software is included and she's seen the ads. I could argue her out of it though.

She doesn't game or video edit, or really do anything that CPU intensive. However, for her business software she wants XP professional. She's also thinking of getting a computer for her (7 yr old) son to play games. Desktop for both would be fine.

Any help would be great, I'm not too knowledgable about the market for pre-built machines. And maybe one of you has seen a deal out there

Thanks so much!

Dell is an excellent choice. www.gotapex.com shows bargains and daily specials, with details on how to use coupons, so I'd point your friend there and also to the Anandtech hot deals forum.

With Dell 19-20" LCD and Core 2 Duo combos going for $400-ish, there's not much point in building your own anymore if you don't need to overclock.

 

[Dizzymon]

Originally posted by: PUNISHER1999
hey i just got my first case and want to fill with killer compon. any suggest---- on where to start........... lots of money to build killer uint no brains to BUILD .....


please help dazed and confused

http://www.tomshardware.com/20...9/sbm_high_end_system/

The video card alone is $1k. I hope you got a nice budget.

 

[sofyse]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: sofyse
I was going to build a computer for a friend however her computer just crashed. Because her computer is crucial for business she needs one fast and is completely set on buying one from a company. She wants to get a dell, I *believe* because the software is included and she's seen the ads. I could argue her out of it though.

She doesn't game or video edit, or really do anything that CPU intensive. However, for her business software she wants XP professional. She's also thinking of getting a computer for her (7 yr old) son to play games. Desktop for both would be fine.

Any help would be great, I'm not too knowledgable about the market for pre-built machines. And maybe one of you has seen a deal out there

Thanks so much!

Dell is an excellent choice. www.gotapex.com shows bargains and daily specials, with details on how to use coupons, so I'd point your friend there and also to the Anandtech hot deals forum.

With Dell 19-20" LCD and Core 2 Duo combos going for $400-ish, there's not much point in building your own anymore if you don't need to overclock.

Thanks for the link!