Started digging around a tad...how are these?..

RONJON · Jul 25, 2009

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883155007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883113100
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4545407&Sku=A180-1794
**broken link removed**

Any better alternatives? ...

Still looking around

RON

7_Deadly_Sins · Jul 26, 2009

Well, just remember you get what you pay for, wartenys are great on computers...what isy our budget?

RONJON · Jul 26, 2009

about 700 at the most.

Everyone who knows anything about computers tells me that good desktops are cheap as hell.

...just trying to find the best one that I can afford ya know bro

RONJON · Jul 26, 2009

7_Deadly_Sins said:
Well, just remember you get what you pay for, wartenys are great on computers...what isy our budget?

What would you buy bro?

superbeast22 · Jul 26, 2009

costco always has great deals, and good warrentys.

gelatine · Jul 26, 2009

Any of those will serve your basic needs. Keep in mind that many people do not like Vista, and a new operating system, Windows 7, is about to come out in the fall.

Kaiser · Jul 26, 2009

Just for the hell of it, I built an Optiplex 360 brand new online where they are giving a $304 instant discount. System with a new 22 inch widescreen monitor came to a total of $519. That was with a Core 2 Duo. Just understand that there is a difference between Intel Dual Core and Core 2 Duo. Core 2 Duo being the better processor.This is with a 3 year warranty. I built it with Home premium, so you'd have to choose which OS you want at a small additional cost, but nevertheless, I thought you were asking for a monitor as well last time you mentioned it so I built it with one. You would have to buy it under Small Business section which is the same as purchasing through Home Office.

BASE OptiPlex 360 Minitower Base edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic,SP1, with media,32 Edition English edit
ENERGY SMART No Energy Smart Selected edit
POWER SUPPLY OptiPlex 360 Minitower Chassis with Standard Power Supply edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor E7400 (2.80GHz, 3M, 1066MHz FSB) edit
WARRANTY & SERVICE 3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site MEMORY 2.0GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM, 800MHz, (1DIMM) edit
HARD DRIVE 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB DataBurst Cache™ edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD-R SATA, Roxio Creator™ Cyberlink Power DVD™ edit
VIDEO CARD Integrated Video, Intel® GMA3100 edit
MONITOR Dell 22 inch E2209W Widescreen edit
RESOURCE CD AND DVD Resource DVD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers for Vista systems edit
KEYBOARD Dell USB Keyboard, No Hot Keys edit
MOUSE New Dell USB Optical Mouse with Scroll, All Black Design edit
SPEAKERS No Speaker, OptiPlex

RONJON · Jul 26, 2009

Awesome..thanks Kaiser. I will go look at it right now bro

Kaiser said:
Just for the hell of it, I built an Optiplex 360 brand new online where they are giving a $304 instant discount. System with a new 22 inch widescreen monitor came to a total of $519. That was with a Core 2 Duo. Just understand that there is a difference between Intel Dual Core and Core 2 Duo. Core 2 Duo being the better processor.This is with a 3 year warranty. I built it with Home premium, so you'd have to choose which OS you want at a small additional cost, but nevertheless, I thought you were asking for a monitor as well last time you mentioned it so I built it with one. You would have to buy it under Small Business section which is the same as purchasing through Home Office.

BASE OptiPlex 360 Minitower Base edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic,SP1, with media,32 Edition English edit
ENERGY SMART No Energy Smart Selected edit
POWER SUPPLY OptiPlex 360 Minitower Chassis with Standard Power Supply edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor E7400 (2.80GHz, 3M, 1066MHz FSB) edit
WARRANTY & SERVICE 3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site MEMORY 2.0GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM, 800MHz, (1DIMM) edit
HARD DRIVE 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB DataBurst Cache™ edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD-R SATA, Roxio Creator™ Cyberlink Power DVD™ edit
VIDEO CARD Integrated Video, Intel® GMA3100 edit
MONITOR Dell 22 inch E2209W Widescreen edit
RESOURCE CD AND DVD Resource DVD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers for Vista systems edit
KEYBOARD Dell USB Keyboard, No Hot Keys edit
MOUSE New Dell USB Optical Mouse with Scroll, All Black Design edit
SPEAKERS No Speaker, OptiPlex

Kaiser · Jul 26, 2009

Just a correction, I built it with Home Basic, not Home Premium.

RONJON · Jul 26, 2009

Few questions bro...

My computer now has a POS cd/dvd burner..does this one have one and is it a decent one?

And then I heard u sayin windows 7 is way better than vista...what should i do about that because sounds like i might want 7?

...sorry for the questions bro..I know you are the go-to-guy on this stuff

RJ

Kaiser · Jul 26, 2009

There are a number of ways to get what you want. I would deifinitely wait a few weeks as RTM Windows 7 is out. RTM stands for Release To Manufacturer. This means that Dell now has a SEMI final version that the other major hardware venders have. Now, RTM is very much retail version. The one difference is that IF one of the major venders finds a major bug, it will be fixed by the time retail is out. What does this mean to you? Nothing. the version of Windows that you will get from the vender will be the final version. RTM is the final of the versions that allow for changes. Th ese changes would have to be provoked by a major hardware/software problem that is caused by the software side. Either way, by the time you get it it will be trhe same as retail as whatever patches were needed to fix final problems are incorporated into your installation DVD and already running on the hardware itself. This being said, you have a 2 or 3 month waiting period before they will offer it preinstalled. You can purchase one with Vista and a license for Windows 7, but you will have to format and install later if you are savy enough. I would never suggest an in line upgrade, ie: upgrading to Windows 7 from Windows Vista because I find it is not as clean and stable AND it usually takes up much more space, as certain files from Vista may be superceded and not needed from the Vista install YET they still are going to reside on your hard drive taking up space. This also makes for a more cluttered registry which can really complicate things.

On the other side I never adopt a newer version of Windows in a corporate environment until the first service pack is available. This is just from experience that NO Windows is without major bugs until the first service pack comes out. This time with Vista, I found that service pack 1 fixed a lot of problems but it took till service pack 2 before it was really stable. This was the same for XP and Win 2000 in my opinion as well. You are talking years away for that and since you are a home user, I would say go for it and just keep your Micrsoft Updates set to automatic and allow them to install when needed.

RONJON · Jul 27, 2009

Sounds good bro...

So the new windows will be good to go in a few weeks?

Will this deal on the computer you are showing me^still apply? because the price is pretty good right about in my range for what you sent me.

RJ

Kaiser · Jul 27, 2009

Dell has sales every week. Good ones. This one is $304 off of an Optiplex 360. I am sure there will be plenty more in the next couple of months. 1 thing I would look for is about 4GB of RAM, simply because 2GB is a comfortable spot with Vista and you want a cushion. This is one of the main factors in speed of your PC with newer operating systems. I chose 2GB in the online store because that was what the majority of the systems you picked out had. You can check anytime easily on their website. They have a link to the left under "More Ways To Shop" that lists "Dell Deals". All of the sales will be listed under there.

Kaiser · Jul 27, 2009

BTW, there is a Dell deal right now that is almost the same specs as your Dell Vostro you listed for $479. The difference is that it has a 500GB hard drive instead of 80GB, 3GB of RAM instead of 2GB, AND comes with a 19 inch monitor instead of no monitor with the other one. For $479, it blows away the other price with what you get. Do yourself a favor, if you are going to buy a Dell, buy it FROM Dell. You'll find tghe best value there. Also, keep in mind I dont like Vostro's quality as listed earlier on in this thread. I stick with Optiplexes, Precision and XPS for desktops.

7_Deadly_Sins · Jul 28, 2009

RONJON said:
What would you buy bro?

I'd make my own..I've done it before..you get a way better comp for a way lower price. But it's a pain in the ass. lol.

Anyway, dells are good..great customer service..what do you plan to do /w your comp? Just surf the web and such, game?

If you can, I'd highly advise you to get a blank HD and reformat it yourself, and put Windows XP on it.

RONJON · Jul 30, 2009

7_Deadly_Sins said:
I'd make my own..I've done it before..you get a way better comp for a way lower price. But it's a pain in the ass. lol.

Anyway, dells are good..great customer service..what do you plan to do /w your comp? Just surf the web and such, game?

If you can, I'd highly advise you to get a blank HD and reformat it yourself, and put Windows XP on it.

I would love to build one..im a pretty big dumbass when it comes to specs on a cpu though. I know I want a quality computer with good memory about 4GB according to Kaiser and a good dvd/cd burner. Gunna use for school..pictures and videos..and downloading music and shit. Basically lookin to get a bad ass computer for as cheap as possible!

7_Deadly_Sins · Jul 30, 2009

RONJON said:
I would love to build one..im a pretty big dumbass when it comes to specs on a cpu though. I know I want a quality computer with good memory about 4GB according to Kaiser and a good dvd/cd burner. Gunna use for school..pictures and videos..and downloading music and shit. Basically lookin to get a bad ass computer for as cheap as possible!

Well if it's used for only that you're lucky..mine is a gaming one..needless to say I've put around 2 grand into it. lol.
I'd suggest something similar.
4 GB RAM..decent video card...decent CPU(dual core) around a 320 GB HD(never get one over like 350 or 400) just get two 250 or something.
But yea, check around for dell, and for the love of god don't buy any programs! lol

Kaiser · Jul 30, 2009

7_Deadly_Sins said:
320 GB HD(never get one over like 350 or 400) just get two 250 or something.

Why is that?

7_Deadly_Sins · Jul 30, 2009

Kaiser said:
Why is that?

Because it's generally the same price per GB, if you have 1 big one and it crashes, you lose everything, while if you have two say 320s and only one dies you still have some left.
But I know it's a trade off b/c when you format them both you lose some space.