Its time for a new PC- what to buy?

Unless you really have your heart set on a new unit I would simply upgrade your existing computer. I stuck 2gb RAM in my 2001 model year HP Pavillion and a 260gb hard drive, cleaned the inside heat sinks and fans of all the accumulated dust and now it performs like a new computer.

You should consider just getting a laptop.....provided you have a router or access point in the house.

When my desk top finally dies, this is the direction I will go. (Wireless throughout the house.)

Most current printers now have network capability so you no longer need a dedicated PC up and sharing the printer.

WiFi with VOIP phone sevice.... what's not to like?

rubicondave33 wrote:Try a MAC, I'm on my second and won't go back to a PC.

He's on a budget....Macs not need apply.

A laptop is a good idea. It saves space and is portable. I did lots of research several months ago when I bought my HP and it always came up with the most bang for the buck. They are always having specials too. The only gripe I have with HP is that it comes with lots of bloatware but you can easily get rid of it all.

Go to http://www.geeks.com and shop there can't beat prices they also sell warranty's or you can get a cheap warranty from http://www.squaretrade.com for whatever u buy

Bill S.

i built my own from stuff off pricewatch.com,that way i didnt have to deal with all the software that i didnt want/use.just have to figure out what you want to upgrade to.

Get a Mac.

I just got a new HP Pavilion, what would you consider bloatware and how do you remove it.
Ray

If you want fast surfing fast downoads and fast page refresh, you're talking about internet speed not the speed of your machine. You say you have that with your fiber service already. Why do you need a new machine? Is your ram up to the limit? By that I mean do you have as many megs or gigs as it can handle, rather than are all the slots full. It's easy to upgrade if your machine can handle more. If your machine is at the limit you can consider replacing the motherboard. You can really supercharge your PC without replacing the whole tower. I just picked up a new motherboard that is twice what my old one is (was), and that one was real good till it just quit. Anyway, for $260 and a little time on my part, I'll have a screamer. That price was for the board, prossesser and 2 gigs of ram. The new motherboard is not as high end as it gets but it's still pretty darn good.
Also, it has a feature called an "Express Gate" that allows you to go online in as little as 5 seconds without waiting for the whole boot up prossess. Sounds like it's right up your alley.

Get Tiger Direct's Email ad sent to your box. They have some awesome sales on new and used and refurbished.
I bought a new Gateway for $250 on an auction site ! Brand new not refurbished with Visata and dual bla bla etc.
I never had it online as wife stole it to play some games her old 98 would not do but she never had a problem with it yet and plays games on it constantly.
Is there a Circut City left standing ?

Buy the most memory and disk you can afford. Every thing else is pretty much standard on most machines today.

As for Vista vs. XP, if I had some old scanners or printers I would buy a machine with XP installed but that option is becoming very rare.

Having said that, I am posting this on a laptop running Vista Home Premium.

I do software development for a living so I tend to stress machines more than most. I have Visual Studio .Net 2005 installed, MS SQL Server, MS Office Professional 2007, FireFox, IE 7, Windows Mobile 6 SDK.

Here is my experience with Vista Home Premium.
1. I have yet to have a blue screen of death, even when testing software. Would sometiems happen on XP.
2. It runs Firefox just fine.
3. It boots way faster than XP.
4. When it comes to using cameras and managing pictures, Vista has it all over XP.
5. I use a Windows based phone so I am synching my phone to my laptop contantly. Vista is way better at this than XP.
6. I like the additional security when I am surfing. If a piece of crud does get through my defenses and trys to access the Internet or execute code, Vista is all over it.

Things I do not like.
I do not like the fact there are directories on my machine that I am not allowed to touch even if I have administrative privs turned on.

Cheap $350 or so
http://www.emachines.com/products/catalog.html?type=desktops
Mid priced Dell
$700

If I was going to buy a brand new machine right now, which I'm not cause I just upgraded most of my key components, here's what I would want.

First, Build for what you want to do with it. I am wanting to play some high end games and also use it for DVD and also for doing graphics and website stuff, so I have the need for a fast processor, lots of ram and a big video card.

If you use it for surfing and document work, then start with the motherboard, and get something that can be expanded, and add in a core2Duo processor. Get a hard drive as big as you can, so you can store digital photos, movies, music, etc. Then get as much ram as you can afford. flat monitors are really cheap. I prefer Samsung for both quality and price. Get a large one, always worth the investment if you ask me. These days you can get a good 20" plus monitor that can double as a second TV.

Most of the new Dells and boxed machines are really intended for this kind of user, so you are fine to get one premade as opposed to building yourself. With the state of the economy, you get a lot of bang for your buck. Have fun, do your shopping around.