Best Store To Buy A New PC?

[Relique Hunter]

I'm in the market for a new desktop (or maybe laptop) computer and don't know diddly at where to shop for good deals and technical support.

I know my location is in the middle of nowhere, but I'm willing to make the commute to a major metropolitan area in order to fulfill my need.

 

[Steel_Wind]

If your intention is to purchase a pre-assembled computer (as opposed to assembling one yourself from components you purchase at Newegg.com) then save yourself the trip and let Dell deliver to the middle of nowhere.

And if you are going to assemble it yourself, order online from Newegg and let them deliver those parts to your door, too.

In short, pick your keyboard up and put your keys down; you shouldn't be driving anywhere.

 

[Relique Hunter]

If your intention is to purchase a pre-assembled computer (as opposed to assembling one yourself from components you purchase at Newegg.com) then save yourself the trip and let Dell deliver to the middle of nowhere.

The last time I did that the power button failed to properly deploy after I took 40 minutes to set it up. I had to package it back up, and send it back to Dell, so that they could fix my power button. I've had too many problems with my current Dell computer and I'm through with hauling it off to Data Doctors or Geek Squad to get it fixed. I've had this comp for 5 years and its time for a new one.

I don't want to have the same experience with Gateway either; hence the title of my thread. I want to be able to purchase it in person.

And if you are going to assemble it yourself, order online from Newegg and let them deliver those parts to your door, too.

I have no knowledge of assembling computers so this is out of the question.

 

[jephlewis]

I'm in the market for a new desktop (or maybe laptop) computer and don't know diddly at where to shop for good deals and technical support.

I know my location is in the middle of nowhere, but I'm willing to make the commute to a major metropolitan area in order to fulfill my need.

Okay. Who sells computers in your area?

Wal mart is pretty cheap, but no tech support, but you can probably buy some type of extended warranty that's ultimately something like "call the 1 800 number-they tell you to bring it back to wal mart for a refund or exchange" type thing. This is actually pretty hard to beat IMO, so long as you back up all your important stuff to an external drive, flash drives, cd's, or dvd's.

Best buy if you have one is fairly reasonable also. I don't have a good opinion on their tech support, though.

A third option is to find a computer repair place who will build your rig after you select what parts you want. Warranty may be an issue if you're not buying the parts from the place that builds it.

What type of rig you looking for, and what amount of money are you going to spend? What do you plan to do with this computer? Many of us could probably go to local places [cuz we're going there to buy stuff anyway] and let you know what some stores have in our areas.

I'd be willing to pick up a sales flyer next time I go to wal mart, best buy, and target; I need to know what stores are in the area you're going to go shopping from. Knowing what kind of computer and what you want to do with it would help a little as well.

 

[ssampier]

With repairs it sounds like either way you're going to be sending a computer back through the mail or driving a long way to a store.

If everything is equal, I would buy from whatever store is cheapest.

By the way, Newegg is owned by ABS computers:

ABS Computer Technologies - The ULTIMATE in Gaming Desktops, Gaming Notebooks, and PC gaming!

You can also buy a pre-configured ABS computer at Newegg.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Best get one made to YOUR specifications and prices at a trustworthy local shop...so do your homework on PCs

my suggestions:

Antec gamer case, think they have "2000" version out now?
Trust me, a good case is a must have, good foundation to build from, those cases keep it all cool and are easy to work on (bad cases I HATE from experience).

Now, how much money do you want to spend?

if well off and/or want a high power rig for art etc, a new i7 CPU and associated motherboard, is killer, but I do 3D render and artwork where that kind of power really shines. May not be so important to you, that kind of rig is not needed for general gaming.
Problem is, i7 CPUs *require* specific motherboards and DDR3 memory which is much more expensive than DDR2.

If you want a cheaper les powerful rig, a DDR2 memory system with Intel CPU (of which there are lots, get one for around £ or US $ 130 to £160, you don't need the mega expensive latest SPUs which are over priced)

Do NOT bother with AMD CPUs, always fans who love 'em and will tell you to get them, but at moment, they aren't as good as the Intel CPUs IMHO and Intel is always reliable

Vista is good, despite what folk say, just get it set up right.

two hard drives, 1 for back up (RAID is a pain in the arse, I just back up or sync files over).

ASUS and Asrock are my fave motherboards. Money well spent. Again, like a case, a good motherboard makes a huge difference.
Many varied versions, always pay decent money for one, good motherboard is VITAL. I expect to pay £70 to £150 for a motherboard.

Are you going to do art work? if so a 64 bit system (and windows version) is an idea, my art rig is 64 bit 8 GIG RAM, bloody awesome for artwork!

But for games/net general use, normal 32 bit version of Vista with 2 GIG RAM will do. (2 gig is a mimimum and no point putting more in, really).

Soundblaster souddn card, that is a genuine Creative Soundblaster. You don't need the ultra expensive one (which is for musicians).

DVD writer (for back ups). Blue-Ray burner if want to do BIG back ups.

a powerful and quiet PSU, it's a huge difference to get a quiet power supply, and for modern systems you need a beefy PSU, say 600 or more watts.

I love HIPER power supply units, very quiet, also, if you get an ANTEC case, make sure the PSU comes with a long lead, or lead extender for the motherboard (a cheap & common item in computer shops), as the antec has the PSU in the bottom of the case, so power lead has to be extra long to rach up to the motherboard

always have spare mouse and keyboard.

when you buy hardware like motherboard, CPU or hard drive, you can qualify for "OEM" versions of windows, much cheaper than normal ones, but have no manual (pfft who needs one!) (have ot buy them at the SAME time)

 

[Felon]

Seems to me that the OP's not ideally suited to be building a system piecemeal. I'd stick with a first-tier vendor, Dell being hands down my favorite.

 

[Woas]

What do you use your computer for, other than obviously cruising the web? Answering some basic questions helps you figure out what kind of computer you need to buy.

Do you want to play a lot of resource demanding (ie: newer) games?
For work (word processor/spreadsheet usage)?
For media editing (sound/video)?
For listening to music?

 

[Elephant]

I'd be cautious about buying computers from Best Buy. My wife and I were browsing laptops there last year, and when I asked about "downgrading" a laptop from Vista to XP (i.e. improving the computer!), the sales clerk said that you ran the risk of breaking the computer by doing that!

I was tempted to ask whether the box would burst into flames if I had the temerity to install Linux...

 

[drothgery]

The last time I did that the power button failed to properly deploy after I took 40 minutes to set it up. I had to package it back up, and send it back to Dell, so that they could fix my power button. I've had too many problems with my current Dell computer and I'm through with hauling it off to Data Doctors or Geek Squad to get it fixed. I've had this comp for 5 years and its time for a new one.

FWIW, I've had four Dell desktops (purchased in 1995, 2000, 2003, and 2008) and one Dell laptop (purchased in 2006). All but the laptop never had any issues (though the 2008 desktop is still pretty new).

I'm to the point now where when asked for recommendations, I just suggest buying a cheap desktop/laptop every two years unless you really have some serious need for more horsepower -- and if you game, get an Xbox 360 or a PS3. Trying to maintain computers just isn't worth the effort anymore; a $500 Dell box comes with 4 Gigs of ram and a either midrange dual-core or low-end quad-core CPU, and unless you're gaming or doing video work, the video's going to be adequate.