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Search Tech-Forums - link takes you to our Forum's search page. Note: The following is only a text archive! To view the actual forum discussion, please visit our website at http://www.tech-forums.net Pages:1 Help..first Computer...(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)Posted by: ezd20 confused: Hi..Im shoppn for a NEW computer for me and my daughters..This will be out FIRST...It will MAINLY be used for the INTERNET and music and DVD"s...I'd Like to stay around $1000. to 1400 at the MAX...the 2 companys so far that interest me are DELL and HP...I'll get more specific(models) as I learn More...any HELP will be GRATELY appreciated...thanks again.:confused Posted by: Ste Labtop or desktop? If desktop, consider building it as you can build something very nice. The tower won't cost to much, you will be spending most of it on nice moniter and speakers. Posted by: nu2duo [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by ezd20 [/i] [B]confused: Hi..Im shoppn for a NEW computer for me and my daughters..This will be out FIRST...It will MAINLY be used for the INTERNET and music and DVD"s...I'd Like to stay around $1000. to 1400 at the MAX...the 2 companys so far that interest me are DELL and HP...I'll get more specific(models) as I learn More...any HELP will be GRATELY appreciated...thanks again.:confused [/B][/QUOTE] For under $750, pc and flat monitor, dell can hook u up. I've always built mine and I would recommend you do the same but if you don't know much about computers, then Dell has some good deals. Maybe you can shop at a local pc store and they can build one for you. Go to newegg.com and write down prices for all the parts you'll want. Then compare to any local pc store. Good luck Posted by: ezd20 Thanks, so far...I also would like to ADD that I want my Operating system to be WINDOWS XP and Not VISTA....Been lookn at a DELL 520 and the HP m7659n,m7690n both are about $300 more than the DELL.withiout MONITOR but that's not a Problem for my price range... Posted by: nu2duo [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by ezd20 [/i] [B]Thanks, so far...I also would like to ADD that I want my Operating system to be WINDOWS XP and Not VISTA....Been lookn at a DELL 520 and the HP m7659n,m7690n both are about $300 more than the DELL.withiout MONITOR but that's not a Problem for my price range... [/B][/QUOTE] How about a couple of dell $699 laptops? Core 2 duo processors inside. [url]http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=blcwd1s&cs=04&dgvcode=ss&c=US&l=EN[/url] Posted by: cementshoes [url]http://digitalstormonline.com/doneconfig.asp?id=50525[/url] Here's a great computer, 1330, no tax no shipping. It has speakers, a monitor, keyboard/mouse. It'll even run most games on medium. It has a good processor, a pretty good gfx card, and a gig of RAM. You could probably build one very similar yourself for much less, but being someone w/ no computer experience i wouldn't reccomend it. Posted by: Capricorn Really, almost any computer you would find at either Dell or HP would do for the types of things you mentioned that you are planning on using the computer for. For XP, I recommend 1GB of RAM over the more typical 512 MB and 2GB if it fits within your price range. Get a decent-sized disk in the range of 200-250 GB. If you go with Dell and one of their "home" computers, you have no choice but get Vista. If you get Vista, you should plan on having 2GB of RAM. You can order a Dell via their small business selection and get XP. I haven't heard of too many people having problems getting a PC with Vista on it from the manufacturer. (Those of us with home built PCs .. well, that's a bit of another story.) You probably should get a reasonable pair of speakers for your music (or even a surround sound set if you are going to regularly watch DVDs). You may want to order no speakers from the manufacturer and visit a local Best Buy or Circuit City to get a set you like. If you go with an LCD screen (likely), try to get one with a fairly small refresh rate (16 ms or less; 8 ms or less even better) and good contrast ratio. When watching DVDs on an LCD with poor contrast, dark areas tend to become muddled black on black rather than greys on black. A slow refresh rate tends to display "ghosting" as the display can't change fast enough. Get one at least 17" in size and 19" is even more the norm. This assumes that you only want to browse the Internet, watch DVDs, play music and the like. If you or your daughters intend to play games on this new PC, you'd want a better graphics card than found on the typical sub-$750 or even sub-$1000 models in some cases. Such a video card could (almost always) be added/swapped in at a later time. A larger hard drive wouldn't hurt, but even a "small" 200 GB drive takes a while to fill (even with games running 6-7 GB each as they are lately). The better LCD screen is even more important in for games. Having 2GB of RAM for today's games is almost a must any more. Posted by: nu2duo [url]http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DXCQNL1&s=dhs[/url] For less than $1100 Posted by: ezd20 thanks for ALL the INFO..so far..I've been leaning towards the HP models that I've listed even though the 7690 is discontinued..for t he FACT that DELL doesn't offer XP...unless i get a REFURBISHd model...BUt the NEGATIVE i get so far about HP is something about the HD dvd playback or watching HD tuner???'s thanks again... Posted by: TheEnd187 actually as said before you could just order the parts and save some money, some places like best buy or your lcal screwdrive computer store would do it for problaly under 100 dollars, although building it yourself gives you a fun and great experience you could share with your daughters. As for Hard Drive space it would be wiseto egt at least 500gb if you're going to be ripping or copying dvd's or hd movies for backup;) purposes. Posted by: ezd20 The only thing I did not like is that HP did not document well what was required to play HD-DVDs. The computer is fully capable but you must have a monitor that supports HDCP (copy protection for HD discs) So no HD-dvd will play because of the copy protection and their are only a few monitors that support it $700 and up range. Works fine if you use the analog output but then you loose the real HD experience. You can connect it toaHDCP TV which all TVs with an HDMI import will support. Pc has plenty of power. it doesn't record or play high def (with a high def monitor). It isn't geared for that. Confused as to why it will play the High Def DVD's, but, not the high def channels. thanks again...the WARRANTY ISSUES...becuase i'm a NEWBE..is the ONLY reason I don't have a friend build me one... vBulletin Copyright ©2000 - 2003, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited. PPC Management vB Easy Archive Final - Created by Xenon |