So... my POS HP that i bought from WalMart back in 2001 is basically on the verge of blowing up... or very close to me bashing w/ a sledgehammer. either way, i think its time for a new computer

i'm not tooooo sure if i should go with a laptop or a desktop. couple reasons for me to stay away from a laptop is i personally cannot stand the keyboards. i SUCK at typing on one of them. also, i hate those touchpad mouse things. so... those are some key downsides for me.

i've been lookin into Dell, primarily because i have a Dell credit card... i'm also not lookin to spend a lot of money. i don't do any gaming, so video cards and crap like that mean nothing to me.

i did a couple through Dell's website and basically am lookin for feedback. thanks smile.gif

DESKTOP

$479

Dell Dimension E521 -- AMD Athlonâ„¢ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3600+
Operating System -- Genuine Windows Vistaâ„¢ Home Basic
Memory -- 512MB Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 1DIMM
Keyboard and Mouse Bundles -- Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
Monitor -- 15 inch E156FP Analog Flat Panel
Video Card -- NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU
Hard Drive -- 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cacheâ„¢
Network Interface -- Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem -- 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Adobe Software -- Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
CD ROM/DVD ROM -- 48X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive
Sound Cards -- Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Speakers -- Dell A225 Speakers
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) -- Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD



LAPTOP

$593 (with wireless router)

Inspiron 1501 -- Mobile AMD Sempronâ„¢ 3500+ (1.8GHz/512KB)
OPERATING SYSTEM(s) -- Genuine Windows Vistaâ„¢ Home Basic
LCD panel -- 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display
MEMORY -- 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHZ, 1 DIMM
VIDEO CARD -- ATI RADEON® Xpress1150 256MB HyperMemory™ (Integrated)
HARD DRIVES -- 60GB Hard Drive (80GB Hard Drive for $30 more)
Network Card and Modem -- Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software -- Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08
Combo/DVD+RW Drives -- FREE!8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Card -- Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards -- Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Office Software -- Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
Primary Battery -- 29 WHr 4-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

 

I have owned 7+ Dells and 2 laptops I love them and they have never given me any problems.

On your builds there i would go with at lest 1gig of ram. vista is a Pain with low ram amounts

 

The Dell computers are great..Ive had one for almost 4 years and it runs like a champ. I recommend a Dell comp.

Their laptops arent all that good though..their known to have early hard drive failures.

 

Build your own... You can build a computer that will DESTROY that Dell for the same amount. I built a computer for my brother for $400.

1 gig dual channel ram
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ CPU
Asus X series motherboard (A84-X I think)
256mb Nvidia PCI-E Videocard
New PSU
Powmax case (I don't reccomend)
New heatsink and fan for CPU
120mm fan
160gb Western Digital HDD (SATA)
SoundBlaster live 24 Sound card

Honestly, I spent a boatload more on my computer a year and a half ago, and his is faster now sadly... Plus his has PCI-E and I'm stuck with crappy AGP... Not too bad overall though. If you feel confident you can build one, which is pretty easy, you'll spend about the same money for a better computer, or you can build the same computer for cheaper.

And don't go with laptops... You can't upgrade, if things break you can rarely fix them, the keyboards suck, and I don't like the heating of my crotch personally... Plus they are overpriced. Laptops just seem to bog down quickly as well.

/ My .02

 

having that dell credit card won't help if i build my own....

also.... i wouldn't know what the fvck to do in regards to building a comp

 

It's really really easy man. If you can work on a car, you can def work on a computer. All It is, is plugging everything in and hooking things up. Everything just slides right in place. There is a detailed book for every motherboard letting you know where every jumper is, what it does, and all that fun stuff. But seriously, I can put together a computer in about 10 minutes. It's all about double checking yourself when you are finished. As long as you do that, you're golden. Check out www.newegg.com or www.tigerdirect.com and just look around at prices. Plus there are a number of people on this board that do the same thing with tearing computers apart, so I'm sure we can help you out a bit if you do go custom.

 

Yes its easy to build a computer but as sparticus said that doesn't help him if he has a dell creditcard.

As for the builds above they are fine but with vista you should look into getting another stick of ram to boost it up to at least 1 gig. Vista likes to use a lot of your system ram.

I have had a dell laptop for about 4 years. Its still kicking after all the stuff I have put it through. I have broken 3 screens (currently still has a broken screen) I have dropped it, it has traveled a lot and i also spilt red bull on it. The stuff is a little sticky but luckily it was off when it happened. But after all that it still works fine.

 

^ i actually upgraded my build to include a gig of ram. it was another $60

i'm prolly gonna do this soon.... although the extra RAM put it over $500, and i think my dell card is only good for $500... d'oh

 

I can't help out with the dell cc but you can check out my store. Everything from customs to ibms (lenovo).

http://highpcs.com

dells are usually pretty good, my only gripe with them is the proprietary parts they use. (case, power supply, motherboard) It just causes problems when you look to upgrade or to replace parts. Truthfully anything you buy from them for <600-700 is just a disposable pc. If it ever brakes just toss it in the trash, especially the laptops.

 

HP all the way! Ive had about 4 of them and wouldnt buy anything else. Just like supercow says, try to stay around $1000 anything too much lower is junk.