I Do Not Understand Buying Computers

[Kaodi]

I tend to think that I need a new laptop. Not that I can afford one, but the one I have has always been kind of janky and I think we got in early 2015 for $700-800 Canadian.

So every once in a while I look at the big websites and see what prices are like and sooner or later my eyes start to glaze over. There are so many variables to consider now, are they not? But one of the things I do not understand is what money gets you now compared to what it used to. Like, at the price point we bought this laptop for most of the options are still 8 Gb of RAM and integrated graphics, with one difference I suppose being that the memory is now SSD instead of the old type of HD. I kinda thought that after 6 years that anything you buying at the same price point would be more obviously better in every way.

idk

I really just want something that I can eventually play Witcher 3 on smoothly at low to medium settings and Skyrim at (hopefully) very high settings. They certainly do not seem to making buying computers easy though.

 

[MarkB]

Most of the serious advancements over the past few years seem to have been in graphics adaptors rather than CPUs, and there's a limit to what sort of graphics hardware you can stuff into a laptop. I bought a new desktop PC recently, and the only really major difference between it and the one I bought five years ago was the graphics card. Everything else is minor incremental improvements.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

One thing I've used as a rule of thumb: "With Computers, you get what you pay for...unless you're buying Apple products". So if you see a 2TB SSD for $100, and another for $225....the more expensive one is going to be better. Graphics card? Ok, pick a price point and buy that. A $300, versus a $750 versus a $2000 video card...the first is ok, the second is great, the last is amazing.

Same thing goes with "pre-built" machines and laptops; that $800 laptop isn't as good as the $1000 laptop which isn't as good as the $1500 and not even close to touching the $2500 laptop. When you go to a computer store...actually, speaking of that... DO NOT BUY FROM A "retail chain" STORE! Unless you like to gamble. Then go for it! Retail chain's like Staples, Superstore, Walmart, BestBuy, etc...they buy in 'bulk' and get deals. Because they are bulk, those items (and especially pre-built machines) are built with a "get as many out the door as possible" mindset, not a "make sure it's working perfectly first" mindset. When you buy from, say, Staples, that $1100 laptop that cost $1350 at a local specialty computer store is a "gamble". The parts that went into it were grabbed, slapped into it, then packaged and sent. They MIGHT have actually turned it on to see if it started first. Maybe. They don't care if it works as listed...because it's cheaper for them to make 500 a day and get back 100 returns than it is for them to make 300 in that day and get back 3 returns.

Bottom line: If you buy from a Retail Chain...you might get a deal, but you might get a HUGE headache too! Or...you could get lucky. My mother had a Staples (or Walmart?) bought laptop that worked great for over ten years! On the other hand, my father in law got a $1500 one from BestBuy (I think), and it fried it's USB connections after about a year...maybe.

As for WHAT to buy...look at those games you mentioned and write down their "Minimum" and "Recommended" system requirements. Take this to a computer seller, show them the "Recommended" stats and say "I want this". See how much it costs. Then show them the minimum stats and say "Ok, that's a bit much. I NEED at least this...but closer to the first stats would be better", and let them figure it out for you.

If the "minimum" is more than you want to pay...well...sucks. As I said, you get what you pay for, and if you find a $900 laptop "on sale" for $500... DON'T FALL FOR IT! You're wasting your money. You'll be buying another $500 computer in a year and a half...if you're lucky! Then another one, and another, and another, etc. I paid a pro to build my first computer back in the mid/late 90's; it cost $6000! It was TOP of the line at the time, and stayed relevant/speedy for about 12 years, but I made it last for about 15 with a vid card upgrade. I since have built all my own computers save for a 'cheap' one I bought at Staples (a 'gaming rig' for about $1200; still works, gave it to my mother in law). I also bought a custom built "super computer" for my 3D stuff from Maingear (...ready for the cost...? Are you sitting down?... Ok, I paid just under thirty k, Canadian for it; most of that cost is a video card and the two Xeon E5 2699 v4 CPU's). So when you see "What?!? Who would pay $4000 for a computer just to play video games on?!?", well, gamer's would. My Maingear isn't for "gaming" it's for "creating all the stuff to make the games"...compared to my actual gaming rig (which is about $4000), well, the gaming rig rendered a 3d scene in 1min, 28 seconds. My Maingear 'work' rig rendered it in 8 seconds flat. As I said...you get what you pay for.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[trappedslider]

I just bought ABS Master Gaming PC - AMD Ryzen 5 3600 - GeForce RTX 3060 - 16GB DDR4 3000MHz - 512GB SSD - Newegg.com as an upgrade from CyberpowerPC Desktop Computer Gamer Ultra 2237 AMD FX-Series FX-6300 (3.50 GHz) 8 GB DDR3 1 TB HDD 120 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - Newegg.com

Right now prices are crazy due to low stock and other issues with a number of computer components, mainly chips and GPUs. GPUs are being sold out almost as soon as they are back in stock. Crypto mining has really taken off which part of the buying out of GPUs, covid related issues have put a wrinkle in supply chains as well. Folks are buying pre-builds just to pull out the graphics card for either use or resell.

Right now if i pulled out my 3060 and sell it on ebay,i could make back the money i spent on the whole tower.

 

[TheSword]

Such good advice from @pming

 

[Blue]

I do understand computers, and prices have not been changing like I would expect them. I wonder if the demand has shot up with COVID as well as the various supply issues with chips. If that's the case (and that's a big if, not a sure thing), then between time resolving demand and vaccination you would be able to get more value for the same cost in the fall.

Oh, one place I differ from others is that the "$1500 is better than the $1000" as a default. There is also value to buying cheaper but replacing more often giving you a net better experience over time for the same money over the period, because that money can buy you more down the road.

 

[trappedslider]

Such good advice from @pming

It is during normal times, but right now some of it is impractical due to the crazy prices/stock issues.

I do understand computers, and prices have not been changing like I would expect them. I wonder if the demand has shot up with COVID as well as the various supply issues with chips. If that's the case (and that's a big if, not a sure thing), then between time resolving demand and vaccination you would be able to get more value for the same cost in the fall.

Oh, one place I differ from others is that the "$1500 is better than the $1000" as a default. There is also value to buying cheaper but replacing more often giving you a net better experience over time for the same money over the period, because that money can buy you more down the road.

Right now the supply for some parts mainly GPUs are really out of wack due in part to covid related issues.

I just priced my tower with PC part picker and it came to $1807.52, walmart has some good deals if they are in stock and getting a prebulit in some cases like from walmart, means you can upgrade parts later on. Also right now some companies like Cyberpowerpc have taken a huge hit to QA due to getting a bad shipment of mobos/GPUs and being overwhelmed by the sudden rush in costumers.

 

[jaycrockett]

I feel you on this. Back in the distant 90's, getting a new computer was pretty easy. CPU clock speed, RAM, and HDD size all doubled every 2 years, so it was easy to just wait 2 years, put down the the same money, and get a box that was obviously superior.

 

[ART!]

My understanding is that the name brand laptop you buy from Walmart for $200 is not the same as the same name brand laptop you buy from Best Buy or the name brand's website for $500. Walmart's is cheaper in part because Walmart gets a version of that same laptop but made with some cheaper parts.

 

[Ryujin]

My understanding that the name brand laptop you buy from Walmart for $200 is not the same as the same name brand laptop you buy from Best Buy or the name brand's website for $500. Walmart's is cheaper in part because Walmart gets a version of that same laptop but made with some cheaper parts.

In my job we specifically don't support mass market versions of the direct purchase versions that we do support, because they aren't necessarily comparable in hardware. There have been cases in which these mass market versions haven't run properly on our Windows installation images because they have different video hardware, sound hardware, etc..