[Help!] Buying a new Desktop

[Raloc]

Falcon Northwest is the only company I'd willingly substitute a custom build comptuer for.

 

[John Crichton]

Falcon Northwest is the only company I'd willingly substitute a custom build comptuer for.

Why is that? Have you run into trouble with Voodoo or Alienware?

 

[Macbeth]

http://www.cyberpowerinc.com[/url]

I just ordered a new desktop from them on Friday! I haven't recieved my PC yet (of course), but I found the ordering process to be great for people with enough know-how that they want very specific parts, but not enough time/energy/equipment to actually home build.

I put together a decent machine (AMD Athlon 3200+, Gig of RAM, 120 GB Serial ATA hard drive, GeForce 5700 256 MB, CD-RW/DVD, Flash media reader, 19 inch display, Keyboard, mouse, case with temp display and some blue lights) for $1,070, plus I got free shipping (becuase of the base model I used) and a free download of Half-Life 2 (for buying an AMD chip). Altogether, not a bad deal.

I'll update you when I get the PC (approx 2 weeks from now, counting the time for them to build and ship it), but so far I've been very happy, and others I know who've used them feel the same way.

 

[Greyhawk_DM]

IME despite the low prices, Dell computers are also surprisingly good machines. Most of the problems I've seen with them have been as a result of user error/choice rather than hardware/driver type issues. Though they have gone to a case design that makes replacing CD/DVD drives difficult until you learn the trick.

The only other thing about Dell is the memory...They always put the minimum amount of memory in to basically just run the operating system. Definitely upgrade the memory. At least 512 megs of PC3200 memory will work fine for what you need to do.

 

[KenM]

I heard ibuypower is a good company to order computers from. http://www.ibuypower.com/mall/lobby.htm

 

[drothgery]

The only other thing about Dell is the memory...They always put the minimum amount of memory in to basically just run the operating system. Definitely upgrade the memory. At least 512 megs of PC3200 memory will work fine for what you need to do.

Dell's midrange and high-end lines use DDR2 memory; it's probably worth the small premium to get DDR2 533 instead of DDR2 400.