calling all computer guys

[ps2/bikevision]

ive got a guy thats tring to trade me a computer for my 63 truck. ive got $1500 on the truck this is what hes got:

HP Tower with Intel Core 2 duo E6400 processor
2 gigs of ram
160 gig hard drive
DVD Burner
22" NEC LCD wide screen Monitor less then 2 months old

i do need a new computer. is this worth $1500? i think if i took cash i could probally get a pretty nice computer with money left over for $1500

[Brian Moffet]

I think you can buy an equivalent Mac for that price!

You can get a good computer like that for under 1,000. (just a quick look on the dell.com web site.)

Brian

[vadasz1]

I agree with Brian. You should sell the truck for cash and for $1000 you can get a computer that is going to be atleast twice as fast as his offering, with atleast twice the hard drive space, and atleast a 24" widescreen monitor.

I know for a fact that up here in Canada my 24" Samsung monitor I bought last Christmas for $350 is still the same price.  Also if you already have a 2.1 or 5.1 speaker for a computer make sure tha monitor is one that DOES NOT have speakers or even a USB hub.  Because if you get just a monitor alone with no bells and whistles then the screen is usually of a better quality.  the speakers in LCD screens are not really what you want to use for ANYTHING.

I would also consider buying a PC from a local computer store that builds them to your specs.  Just because that way you don't get all the bloatware that DELL, HP, and any other big brand manufacturer puts into their computers to get you to buy more bloated crap later.

I would look for atleast a Core2dual atleast 3 GHz or possibly the new Quadcores if you can get it.  Atleast that will last you for the next 5-7 years which is eons in the computer business.  Also I would look  for harddrive space of atleat 500 GB and higher.  Also get one with 3-4 GB or RAM. and a real good video card from either ATI or Nvidia.

This really is possible for the $1500 price range as it is almost at the highend price bracket.

[YellowJacket!]

Geeks.com listed an eMahines tower with A core duo at I think 3Ghz and 2 gigs of DDR, 250 Gig HDD for like 399.00 the other day.  You can also get a decent 20" LCD for less than 179.00.

David

Edit: Heres another  link you may want to check out too.

http://www.geeks.com/pix/2008/T5234R2.html

Wanted to keep you in suspense  ;D

[vadasz1]

Doooohhhh, Dave.  You forgot the link again............ >:(

[ps2/bikevision]

thanks guys. i sent him an email tellin him i couldnt do it at this time. i just got a motorhome and am moving to NC by the beginning of oct. so ive got to down size my project list. right now i could use the cash more than a new computer. my computer is so old i dont think ill even take it with me. all i use anymore is my phone, like now or my parents computer.

[inanecathode]

Plus with how ridiculously fast computers depreciate. I dont think it'd be worth it :D

[macroars]

For most users it makes more sense to buy bottom rather than top of the line. The 'bottom of the line' is usually what was 'top of the line' one year ago for half amount of $$$$. If you spend the same amount of money in a four year perspective, you get better performance by buying a computer every second year than one every fourth year.

[YellowJacket!]

As much as a computer geek that I am, I hold off about every four or 5 years.  My highest performance laptop is a tablet pc with a 2.0 centrino and 2 gigs of ram and my desktop is a a 5  year old 2.4gHz AMD athlon with 2 gigs or ram.  I'm not a gamer so I don't need or use bleeding edge performance.  However, the link I posted above really piqued my interest.  Just don't have the cash for it now.

David

[Brian Moffet]

If you spend the same amount of money in a four year perspective, you get better performance by buying a computer every second year than one every fourth year.

Every second year?  Every fourth year?  Egads, I am so out of date :-)  I think mine is at least 4 years old, more technology-wise...  It's a 2 gig celeron with AGP bus...  The motherboard it the newest thing in it (except hard disks.)  It does have SATA though...  Usually I build my own, I just recycle the case and various bits when something dies or needs replacing...  I'm not a gamer either (except for the occasional flight sim), but I do video work on occasion, and large photos.

Brian

[h2olawyer]

I'm with Brian.  Keep things around, fix or upgrade as necessary.  My desktop is 4 years old P4 2.4 gig.  My laptop is 18 months with a Turion 64x2.  Both machines have 2G of RAM.  My uses are similar to Brians as well - video editing, photos & even the flight sim time.   8)

H₂O

[macroars]

My desktop is a one year old 24" iMac. My laptop is a four years old PowerBook that will be replaced before christmas. My wife have a one year old iBook, and my kids (age 6 and 7) have our old computers (five and three years old).

Well, Scandinavians are electronic geeks, and I am one of the very few that still have a CRT television set in the living room. The only one I can think of now is my 70 year old neighbour Nuclear Charlie.

[Rick G]

Mine are really old , a 2000 windows computer with a 433 meghtz Celeron  with 128 megs of ram  and a borrowed 1999 iMac 400 meghtz with 512 megs of ram. YJ (David) is sending me a laptop with a bit more capabilities.

[Aelwulf]

Just by way of comparison, this is the one I just built to replace mine that failed a couple weeks ago:

AMD 9950 quad-core 2600 Black Edition (2.6GHz overclockable)
4GB OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066 w/heat spreaders
MSI K9N2-SLI Platinum motherboard (nVidia 750a)
MSI NX8800GT OC 512MB DDR3 graphics card (nVidia)
Zalman 110mm aftermarket CPU fan/heatsink
2x Seagate 7200 500GB SATA hard drives
Antec TruePower Quattro 1000w power supply
Asus DVD-RW/DVD-R/CD-RW/CD-R with Lightscribe
Clio full tower case with 2x 25cm fans & 1x 120mm fan
Windows XP Pro x64
Acer 22" LCD monitor

Everything was about $1,750, but that's including the monitor and OS which I hadn't originally planned to get.  Without those looking at around $1,400.  That's not counting mail-in rebates.  Going off that I think he'd be lucky to get $700-800 for the one he offered.  As such glad ya turned the offer down. ;) I'm hoping this one lasts at least four years like the last did, and the one before that. lol

[YellowJacket!]

Sweet.

;D

David

[kiawrench]

i feel so abused by the computer market!  but then , no one makes me buy my stuff from alienware!

  i got tired of packaged set ups, excess useless software and all of thepin on bells and whistles.

go to the wal mart web site, computers, bare bones  systems .

    you can buy top of the line systems ,and i mean real screamers ,for under 500.00. these systems are complete in every way except one-- no operating system. you will have to install either linux, or some form of windows .

keep in mind, windows xp is the most stable version yet, and windows vista is going to back burner status very soon, thank you gremlins and total software lockups !  Mr gates and his buddies are collecting a lot of mail over the useless vista , so a new project is fast becoming the newest and best -- most likely a super tweaked re-issue of XP,, called Windows Seven  right now, name changes will most likely twist buyers a bit ,but all of the incomplete code of Vista is not in it .

[YellowJacket!]

Hmmm  Vista and Vision....started out as two failures, tweaked to infinity and work great after that.  ;D  Is there a connection in the names?

David

[ps2/bikevision]

my old computer was awsome. it cost me $200 for the tower. i dont remember what all it had in it but it was fast on the net. and i could play online games without a problem. it was a pretty bare system with just xp. sadly it somehow got fried when i was gone from the house.  i havent had a decent system since. i really want a labtop cause coming Oct.1 around abouts ill be moving into my motorhome full time and heading to Jacksonville NC. space will be lacking in the coach and even hauling my mobile garage is still going to leave me with little to spare.