Buying a new desktop suggestions

I am thinking of buying a new desktop computer and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I thought I would ask for suggestions here since I tend use my computer most for downloading and watching dramas.

As for budget, ideally I would like to spend $1000, but willing to go up to $1700 if there is a good package deal somewhere (I have a 19" flat screen monitor, but thinking of upgrading to a widescreen) . Currently I have a emachines media desktop that runs on Windows XP Media Ediiton. Also, I'm hoping that there is a slimline model out there that is good for media, because my current desktop is huge, which also gets hot too.

Does anyone have any recommendations or maybe some hardware/software specification I should look for when buying for a new desktop? I'd appreciate any suggestions anyone has to offer.

Thanks in advance!

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:20 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

What will you be using this computer for? You can get the most out of your budget if you build it yourself. Or if you can find somebody to put one together for you cheap.

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:58 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

look for bargains at online sites, but buy from a reputable dealer.
www . slickdeals . net
www . xpbargains . com
bensbargains . net
www . techdeals . net

i'm not extremely tech-savvy like some of these folks, but if you live on the continental US, you usually get free shipping for a lot of stuff. that said, perhaps you want to buy a bare-bones model, then buy all the accessories at bargain prices (extra hard drive, dvd burner, etc.)

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:20 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Thanks for your advice. I pretty much use my computer for downloading and watching dramas, email, internet, itunes, and maybe use MS Office for work related stuff every once in awhile.

Hmm... I don't know anyone that can actually build me a model though. Is there a good model or brand that anyone recommends that maybe is all in one? I'm wondering if I should get a media desktop rather than a standard desktop.

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:36 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Well, I think you can save yourself a lot of money if that's what you're using it for. I'm still using a 1.85ghz Athlon XP w/ 624MB RAM that I bought for $300 (+ $70 for a decent video card + $50 for extra RAM + $80 for DVD burner + $70 for TV Tuner) about 5 years ago or so. Handles all the things you mentioned with ease. I know nothing about brand name computers. I bought my PC from FRYs (electronic warehouse type of store). Some no name company called Great Quality. I think they were owned by FRYs. I wouldn't recommend a Media Center PC unless you've got a really nice TV. I've also heard that Meda Center PCs eat up a good amount of resources. Especially Vista Media Center. You'll probably end up using that grand (possibly more) if you got the Media Center route. If you stay with the standard desktop, you can probably buy a PC for 300-700 dollars. If you want to purchase it online, I've heard a lot of good things about newegg.com. Reviews galore. Supposedly very good on returns.

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 7:13 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I agree with Tr4nce, but I would also suggest looking at the specials on geeks.com. That is where I got most of the parts for my main PC.

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:31 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

WOW, $1000. You can get one hell of a PC w/ that. For the use that you stated you can get any $300-500 PC and spend the extra money on the largest hard drive available because that's all you need for downloading dramas. If you want the best components then build it yourself. If you want something that works w/o being fancy and all, get a Dell. HP and Sony will have fancier and nicer looking PCs but Dells are super cheap. When Dell has a sale you can get a PC w/ 19" or 20" LCD for $500-600 total. Why spend $1700 unless you're a gamer or programer? The main difference between a gaming PC and a regular PC is the video card--the top of the line video card will cost $500 by itself.

Build it yourself $1000 super fast PC:

Fry's recently had the Quadcore Q6600 cpu and mb for $300
Seagate 500GB Hard $90 get yourself 4 of them for 2TB ~$360
4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 $150
get a free after rebate case and power supply or get a Sonata II which was $30 after rebate
18X NEC DVD burner $30
any decent video card ~$100
Windows $100

Total is around $1100 but you can make it less than $1000 easily by getting only 2 HD instead of 4 and 2GB instead of 4GB for the memory.