Please HELP me decide what PC I Should BUY

tomcruise3230

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Dear members,

Please help me decide on buying a new PC since i dont know much about computers. I already have a 6 year old toshiba laptop and which is still works fine but has fairly old features (256 mb, usb 1.1, 30 GB, old graphic card, etc). These are the minumum requirements I am looking for in a PC:

512 RAM (if windows vista isn't installed)
30 GB
usb 2.0
a way to connect to TV via HDMI or S-video inputs
at least has windows XP home edition or media center
Famous Brand Like Sony, Dell, Toshiba, HQ,
Price Range $700-$2500

I will be using mainly for selling item on ebay, surfing, downloading vidoes from site like rapidshare and saving to an external HD, watching anime/drama by connecting a TV, and playing MMORPG games like world of craft (but not games that require the latest graphic card etc).

I won't be doing nothing like video/picture editing, burning CD or DVD or anything that require a lot of processing power, transfering files from digital camera or phone, and wireless route or internet connection (but wireless keyboard/mouse is okay)

Please also let me know should I get PC that has windows vista (I have window xp home edition which is just fine for me) and any other feature I should also look for. thank you very much!
 
dude, I'm not sure about american prices, but you should be able to get a dope computer for that price!

for about $300us i got a AMD 4000+ dual core, 2gb ddr2 ram, 250gb hdd, 6600gt gfx card.
 
dude, I'm not sure about american prices, but you should be able to get a dope computer for that price!

for about $300us i got a AMD 4000+ dual core, 2gb ddr2 ram, 250gb hdd, 6600gt gfx card.

Let me make some thing clear so not to confuse anybody:

what i meant by minimum requirements was at least it should be that; not i want to buy the exact minimum requirements. so i didn't know the minimum req. of mine is out of date because i didn't buy a desktop pc in 6 years. I am only looking for brand new desktop pc not any laptop. Also what i meant by watching it on TV instead of laptop was not having a TV tuner so i can watch it on my PC, but watch all the dowloaded videos i have saved on my hard drive and watching it on Tv by connecting tv to pc (like one of the cables you get to connect dvd to tv or something similar to it that i want in a PC which is a MUST)

And i don't want any vista editions because of many reports on the internet of having bugs/problems etc, so i will settle for any windox xp edition (or should you think i should get linux OS type PC: will that work for my needs?) I won't be doing much business with it (like use microsoft word) on ebay just list some items normally, so that shouldn't be any concern of what pc i want to buy (sorry for that).

so with this conclusion, I think I should get a pc within price range of $700 to $1100 that has at least these requirments: 1 gb ram, cd-rom (i don't care about cd-dvd combo or any of the kind: if its included thats fine), High Definition 7.1 Sound (is their something better then this), 500 mb memory, 80 gb, last for more then 1 year, and something that connects tv to a pc (A MUST!). The real reason i want to buy a brand new PC and not a laptop is because i don't want to waste time having the laptop power on and off, will have the privilage to use a pc anytime and watch videos saved on my hard drive on a tv by connecting to it from my pc. (sorry to sound as if i am explaining it again)

So from the above notes, do you have any specific suggestion of PCs i should get and just to let you know i will be buying only with a credit card.
 
dude, I'm not sure about american prices, but you should be able to get a dope computer for that price!

for about $300us i got a AMD 4000+ dual core, 2gb ddr2 ram, 250gb hdd, 6600gt gfx card.

Let me make some thing clear so not to confuse anybody:

what i meant by minimum requirements was at least it should be that; not i want to buy the exact minimum requirements. so i didn't know the minimum req. of mine is out of date because i didn't buy a desktop pc in 6 years. I am only looking for brand new desktop pc not any laptop. Also what i meant by watching it on TV instead of laptop was not having a TV tuner so i can watch it on my PC, but watch all the dowloaded videos i have saved on my hard drive and watching it on Tv by connecting tv to pc (like one of the cables you get to connect dvd to tv or something similar to it that i want in a PC which is a MUST)

And i don't want any vista editions because of many reports on the internet of having bugs/problems etc, so i will settle for any windox xp edition (or should you think i should get linux OS type PC: will that work for my needs?) I won't be doing much business with it (like use microsoft word) on ebay just list some items normally, so that shouldn't be any concern of what pc i want to buy (sorry for that).

so with this conclusion, I think I should get a pc within price range of $700 to $1100 that has at least these requirments: 1 gb ram, cd-rom (i don't care about cd-dvd combo or any of the kind: if its included thats fine), High Definition 7.1 Sound (is their something better then this), 500 mb memory, 80 gb, last for more then 1 year, and something that connects tv to a pc (A MUST!). The real reason i want to buy a brand new PC and not a laptop is because i don't want to waste time having the laptop power on and off, will have the privilage to use a pc anytime and watch videos saved on my hard drive on a tv by connecting to it from my pc. (sorry to sound as if i am explaining it again)

So from the above notes, do you have any specific suggestion of PCs i should get and just to let you know i will be buying only with a credit card.
 
Okay let me get to work. Should be able to find some nice systems. Since your using a credit card are you looking for a in store purchase or have any preference on online retailers? I'd recommend Newegg or TigerDirect if your going online. I only ask because if you plan to buy from a retailer like best buy or circuit city i'll just look on there website.

As for you not wanting Vista thats going to be a hard feat. Pretty much all new PC's sold come with some version of Vista. I'm not really sure what your worried about the biggest issue's with vista were hardware related on older hardware. If your buying a new computer its going to be built around that OS so your not going to run into issues hardware wise.

Now depending on the software you run you may have some issues. I'd research your app's that you use first and see if there are any issue's with Vista. Otherwise Vista is great so much better then XP IMO. I've used Vista Ultimate 64bit for quite some time and love it.

Sure it takes some getting used. But on the other end I keep XP on another harddrive for a dual boot on my setup. But I can say since i've got Nero8 installed on Vista now since Nero6 didn't work on Vista I never use XP for anything but 3dsMax9 and AutoCad2008. Only reason there is there 32bit apps and don't work right on 64bit Vista. I'm willing to bet they would be fine on the 32bit edition.
 
Okay here is a great one for $1,009. Installed with windows XP media center and has 2gigs of memory, a core2duo, 600gig HD, and comes complete with a 22inch widescreen monitor! Just click the specs to see everything thats included. Thats a great PC for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107502

Now I also found this for $569 Its not quite as well configured although it has everything you want except it comes with Vista Home premium. If you have good computer knowledge you could downgrade to XP media center yourself. OEM Xp Media Center retails for $114.99 so that would take your price up to $684. Then of course you would have to get a monitor unless your using it as a living room PC in which case you probally already have a TV you want to hook it to. Here are the links to it. Top Is the computer and bottom is XP media center link. I'd recommend XP media center for what you want to do. Although Vista home premium is the new version of Media center but if you really don't want it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883113024

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116049
 
Okay here is a great one for $1,009. Installed with windows XP media center and has 2gigs of memory, a core2duo, 600gig HD, and comes complete with a 22inch widescreen monitor! Just click the specs to see everything thats included. Thats a great PC for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107502

Now I also found this for $569 Its not quite as well configured although it has everything you want except it comes with Vista Home premium. If you have good computer knowledge you could downgrade to XP media center yourself. OEM Xp Media Center retails for $114.99 so that would take your price up to $684. Then of course you would have to get a monitor unless your using it as a living room PC in which case you probally already have a TV you want to hook it to. Here are the links to it. Top Is the computer and bottom is XP media center link. I'd recommend XP media center for what you want to do. Although Vista home premium is the new version of Media center but if you really don't want it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883113024

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116049


I will try windows vista so it doesn't matter if it has one or not.
Also, to let you know i will only be using credit card not store credit card (bestbuy,circuit city) so they won't take my credit card if i buy in store (maybe online and if i buy online how long does it take to arrive?)

I also won't be saving videos on internal hd but an external seagate hds (5 year warranty) thats because i don't want to have my internal hd give up on me very quick because by downloading videos on it some of the time.

I also won't be buying a MAC because it doesn't have enough features like windows, don't play many PC games and a lot expensive.

From your comments, Is this the right hardwares for me (i am not purchasing the exact product but similar to it if it meets my requirements):

Motherboard
[AMD] Asus M2NPV-VM
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=3875

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2 DUAL CORE
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=3805

Ram
Kingston Value 1GB DDR2-667 (2x512MB)
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=4371

Video Card
GigaByte GeForce 7300GS 128MB (256MB shared) QUIET PCI-E
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=3783

Sound Card
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=4487

CD / DVD Rom
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=4479

Accessories
ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI TV Tuner
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=4609

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium (it has windows media center)

Monitor
Undecided (i won't be watching videos from laptop from faraway but by connecting it to tv) should i get a widescreen or normal?

should i get a tower pc or something like this:
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=3889

Keyboard
Microsoft Multimedia Optical Combo (black)
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=1440

Mouse
Microsoft Optical Tilt Wheel
http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=1654

System Price: $1,406.06 (with a monitor)


What must also be included in:

Dial-up modem (if possible build-in not usb connected)

Build-in Fax and Scan without using a fax machine (windowx vista business has it but it doesn't have windows media center so i don't want that)

At least 6 Month warranty

Can play HD dvd download videos


Can you also tell me if I also buy a Remote Control for Windows Media Center will it work only with windows media player or others like zoom player? Thats all i want to know so please help me out! :)
 
That's overpriced, get the HP that Mattie reccomended, or build your own. If you're in canada, tigerdirect.ca is a good site, in USA newegg.com is the best. Let us know what country you're in so we can find you a site, then pick each part (if you know how to build a computer) it should only be about 700 or 800 with monitor for a somewhat high end computer. I'm thinking X2 3800+, 2gb ram, 7300le, 80gb hd, (that's about 450 with case and mobo) and some nice monitor and keyboard mouse and speakers

I'm also sure that some of the members here wouldn't mind building it for you, if you can buy the parts and meet with someone in your area i'm sure they wont mind helping you, on CF we love to build computers, I would build any computer even if it wasnt mine. Then again I could open up a shop and charge money and love my job and still get money.
 
That's overpriced, get the HP that Mattie reccomended, or build your own. If you're in canada, tigerdirect.ca is a good site, in USA newegg.com is the best. Let us know what country you're in so we can find you a site, then pick each part (if you know how to build a computer) it should only be about 700 or 800 with monitor for a somewhat high end computer. I'm thinking X2 3800+, 2gb ram, 7300le, 80gb hd, (that's about 450 with case and mobo) and some nice monitor and keyboard mouse and speakers

I'm also sure that some of the members here wouldn't mind building it for you, if you can buy the parts and meet with someone in your area i'm sure they wont mind helping you, on CF we love to build computers, I would build any computer even if it wasnt mine. Then again I could open up a shop and charge money and love my job and still get money.


i live in staten island, NY 10302 (anyone living near my area?) and if i decide to build my own and purchase all my parts online (can you get the parts in retail stores also) how long will it take to build it and is it hard to do it because i never build one before.
The one Mattie recommendeds doesn't have what i want (fax/scan modem) so if i get one with windows vista ultimate do i need more ram and memory then if i get windows vista home preimium (don't want windows vista business because it doesn't have windows media center).
Also, is their a software that has a fax/scan build in or a external hardware (so i don't need to buy wiindowx vista ultimate only any windows edition that has windows media center).
Also, please let me know what individual part are recommended to build my own computer. thank you very much
 
Can you tell me do i need a sound card if i don't buy an external audio system (i will be only using normal headphones).
 
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