I need a new desktop computer - recommendations?

[dogoftheunderworld]

My current Dell XPS is about 6 years old and while I hate to start over , it has been getting radom BSOD errors and I haven't been able to pin down the issue (although I'm still trying).

So, I've started looking for a new system. I have gone with Dell in the past, but their current offerings don't appeal to me for some reason (asthetics & options).

I'm not opposed to building from scratch, although I have not done it before, and wouldn't know where to start exactly. (I've replaced just about everything inside my case (Except the MB), but have never started from scratch.)

Any recommendations on PC brands or other options? I want to build pretty high on the current scale of power to keep the machine current as long as possible. I do video editing as proabably my highest end application need.

Thanks.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Try Newegg.com for a variety of options.

 

[GreyLord]

I used to be a hardcore Dell guy...and then they went to China.

Now days I buy more HP. Partly because of all the free programs they seem to include on their machines. I did get a Toshiba recently...and had to install a DVD burning program because instead of a name I recognized and trusted and could use universally, they had their own program...

So right now have migrated from Dell to HP myself.

Newegg offers a bunch of good options too though.

 

[jeffh]

I don't understand why anyone would buy a big-name computer when it's cheaper and almost as easy to buy the parts and build it yourself, or if you're too scared to do that, let someone like Newegg do it for you. You get exactly the components you want and you aren't paying a premium for a name.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

I don't understand why anyone would buy a big-name computer when it's cheaper and almost as easy to buy the parts and build it yourself, or if you're too scared to do that, let someone like Newegg do it for you. You get exactly the components you want and you aren't paying a premium for a name.

Because it's NOT "almost as easy". These days they're cheap enough that it's generally not worth the additional time and effort. I buy one off the shelf and then just stuff a better video card into it and maybe slave the drive from the last one. Done.

If one needs to pinch pennies then you're not building a whole new machine anyway - you're just repairing/upgrading the old one. If it's a full replacement then the "premium" spent on a name is largely insignificant compared to the convenience of being able to just take one home from Best Buy or Walmart and starting to work with it rather than still waiting to assemble it.

Edit: Oh, and my last few desktop computers have been Lenovo. No complaints and less expensive than Dell. HP I have always found to be less reliable.

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

I don't understand why anyone would buy a big-name computer when it's cheaper and almost as easy to buy the parts and build it yourself, or if you're too scared to do that, let someone like Newegg do it for you. You get exactly the components you want and you aren't paying a premium for a name.

Warranty, support, preinstalled software & drivers, brand loyalty (attached to consistancy, reliability, support). Plus what the Man in the Funny Hat said.

---------------
Thanks for the recommendations so far!

 

[freyar]

For work reasons, I've gotten a couple new desktops recently, one an HP business-line computer and one a Lenovo. Pretty happy with them both so far.

 

[jeffh]

-shrug-

Whether it's D&D rules or computers, I'm such an inveterate tinkerer that by the time I got an out-of-the-box Dell or HP machine set up the way I wanted it - if that turned out to be possible in the first place - I wouldn't have saved any time. Probably not money either - at this point I'd need some kind of external RAID box for my hard drives if I bought anything short of a thousand-dollar gaming rig. Far better to do what I just did a few weeks ago and spend $50 on a case, maybe $200 on a motherboard, processor and RAM, and reuse the power supply, Windows license, hard drives and externals from my old system, and spend a couple hours putting it together. (It also helps that I think the latter is *fun*, at least up to a point.) You can get warranties on the parts too, so that objection doesn't apply.

If your temperament differs greatly from mine, you might be better off getting a name-brand system. Someone must be buying them. But I still think putting your own machine together is at least worth considering for anyone who isn't totally hopeless with technology.

 

[Morrus]

I don't understand why anyone would buy a big-name computer when it's cheaper and almost as easy to buy the parts and build it yourself, or if you're too scared to do that, let someone like Newegg do it for you. You get exactly the components you want and you aren't paying a premium for a name.

I know! And those people who buy ready-made cars and houses are even worse!

 

[jeffh]

Very bad analogy. It does not take anywhere near the time or skill to put a computer together versus a house or car.