Buying a new computer, what brand?
 

Going to buy a new computer pretty soon. I have bought several computers from Dell over the years and really have no complaints. I was just pricing out a system on their site and I ended up around $2000. Then I look at Best Buy and I see similar setup for around $600-800.

I'm typically pretty loyal to my brand, but I'm wondering if the extra grand is really worth paying. Any input? I've never bought a computer straight out of a store.

Apple.com

Personally, I never buy a brand... I just get all the pieces individually and piece it together myself.
If you are unable, perhaps you can find someone who can?

It means not having a warranty but there are so many advantages to building your own system, least of which is saving the cost of the name engraved in the case.

i have never actually bought a computer from any store or dell
usually i find it better to buy the parts and build my own computers
that way i have total control on what components i have...as fo the big price difference that is kind of wierd best buy would be that much cheaper than dell

anyways i recently got quadcore 2.66GzH with a decent video card and 2gigs of ram etc, for 1400 cdn

My pt job is in computers at Best Buy- what specs are you looking for?

Dell is expensive, but the quality is good and they stand by their product.

Dell. Period.

Why? Dell has an engineering department that designed the boxes and tested them. Does a drive work well with the mother board, what are the failure mechanisms on a particular video card, Is a BIOS update needed to resolve a hardware compatibility issue. Buy all the parts yourself and you are more or less on your own if you run into problems.

That said, some motherboard manufactures offer some support and bios upgrades. There are forums. So spend hours beating your head aginst the wall or pick up the phone and call support at Dell. The hold times are much better now. They are also moving phone support back to North America for the US and Canada.

I can and have built PCs. For productivity I just plain would not use a home brew PC for work. Wanna fuck around with Linux, go for it. The experience of building the PC is worth while.

Gonna do it anyway, buy the A+ book and read it cover to cover first.

Hewlett Packard or Compaq.

Just dont buy Philips. I brought a fuck off powerfull Philips, shame they didnt have a fan powerfull enough to cool it and it ended up just overheating constantly before it burnt out.

Dual core and 2 GB of RAM. Everything else I'm not really sure on.

Some of the things raising my price would have been the 22 inch monitor and the wireless 5.0 Speaker system.

I'm not going to build the system, just not worth the hassle to me. The compatibility issues kind of scare me. Why bother?

Computers have brands? Buy a good motherboard. Get a fast processor. Buy a decent video card. Couple of hard drives, a DVD driver, and a case.

Next.

Dell, can't go wrong with them.

SlickDeals. There's always a sale with Dell. You may just have to wait a week to get the machine you want. Right now, they have a 19" LCD Vostro (new name for Inspiron series) system for under $500. Add a decent HD and more RAM, and it's still sub-$700.

Build your own if you can. Twice to computer for half the money. Couldn't give any advice on brands, last prebuilt I bought was a p3 IBM aptiva in '98 or so.

Great experience with Dell.No problem at all and what i like the most: You can't hear it working! absolute silent.
I myself turned it on several times while the machine was working, cause i thought it was off...:1orglaugh

Besides, you can configure it online yourself.

You can get a Dell with those specs for a much less price than Best Buy, just need to know where to look for the Dell deals. Start here, http://techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/99183

<--- always builds his own stuff.

I always build my own computers. The only PC I've ever bought pre-made was a P75 with 8megs of ram.. After that I just learned everything I needed to and started building my own. Sure, I don't have tech support I can call if something goes wrong, but in the last 10 years or so I have never needed any type of tech support. I was always able to find and fix my own problems.

Go with DEll, nough said!

Dell or Apple in my book...

Dell it's a good choice

whatever you choose stay away from acer, got me one this year and regret every friggin euro i spent on it :(

build your own

I've got three Dell's and am happy with every one. I'll continue buying them.

I always build my own. I see a lot of people here do the same. It's actually really easy to do. Put it this way, I can build computers no problem and I've never had a compatibility problem, but the irony is, even though I'm the smartest person I know, I still don't know how to change the oil in my car. I don't think I want to know.

I agree.

I need a new laptop and will most likely go with Dell. the one I have which is HP has given me a few problems.

Nothing major but just enough to piss me off.

brand?

computers are all the same, the only thing you are paying extra for is that branded logo when you boot your computer, some software preinstalled a maybe semi-decent customer service when shit fucks up

build your own

I would have to go with Dell

Actually. Dell's are full of cheap off brand parts that are low performing. I don't know what you guys are saying about quality. I know they have their high end systems. But the standard dell is full of shit parts with shitty setups

I always buy Dell as well. Few people in here say they are expenisve, I find that funny as hell. Compared to the shit you get in the stores over here, Dell are cheap for the systems you get. I'll always buy from them... more than anything its peace of mind knowing if your computer breaks down, they'll fix it and return it within a few days - well thats my experience with them at least.

I built my own PCs from 1993 until 2004. It costs more to get the parts you want, and the support is sub-par these days. It's rarely worth the effort, and forbid if you need any warranty work.

build your own

I have several Dells that work hard all day. You can save some money by checking the Dell outlet online for refurbed pcs at a fraction of the cost of new.

I build my own...I just built a quadcore system for a little over 1200 bucks. What's the specs on that dell?

I'd get a Dell.

I just bought this for my daughter on sale for 350 at best buy http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....k uId=8398744

Maybe you can just buy that as a throwaway for now so that you can take your time in deciding what you really want.

The same here! It's the only way to make sure your PC has exactly that hardware you're really need. :2 cents:

Dell here in the office, it works good!:thumbsup

If you'd like something hand assembled with high quality components that you select try these guys ... http://www.velocitymicro.com/

IMHO much better quality than Dell

wait till dell has a sale, they always do.

www.pricewatch.com is the best site for deals on parts

I like the dell computers. Always reliable and high performance computers at resonable prices.

Peter

They are the same company by the way.

Get off that shit. You know he wasn't asking about Apples or even considering them or he would have asked specifically about them. I hate when people ask legitimate questions ans some dipshit has to insert some bullshit just to be an asshole. No one is drinking the Apple flavored kool-aid.

What the hell is wrong with Apple? He asked for a brand Apple is the best brand. Is it expensive? yes but it's a great computer.

How exactly isn't "Apple" a legitimate answer to a question about what brand of computer to buy?

You might not like them, but there is no denying that Apple is a computer brand...

great brand for me is apple..............

Dude... but a DELL! ;)

HP Slimlines are super nice for the price and very compact.