Got a new desktop today...after 10+ years

[Michael]

I had long since said goodbye to desktops and had been working on cheap laptops for the past decade or so. My wife has a very old HP tower that is about 13 years old and I don't go near it as it p$$es me off to no end how slow it is.

I had one of those impulses a few days ago and decided I wanted an "All in one" machine for my home office. I had been batting around getting a Mac, but I just could'nt bring myself to buy a machine that has less power than a PC half it's price.

I realized that a "all in one" would not be nearly the computer I wanted it to be. I would pretty much do me fine except for gaming(actually the only game I would want to play is Microsoft Flight Sim X). I realized this type of computer was priced because of it's novelty and asthetics so I moved to the desktop section and decided on this:

http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/3152/3152075_ra.jpg
A XPS 8300 with the new 2nd gen i7 and a HD6770 Radeon card and 8gb expandable to 16. I did some research on it later that day and all the reviews were very positive...not the fastest gaming machine, but plenty fast enough. I drove 20 miles to VA yesterday(3% sales tax verses 10% here) and picked her up along with a new 23" Samsung LED display. I know I could probably build one a little faster for the same or maybe even less $, but this thing plays FSX maxed out as smooth as silk. I never had worked on a big display before, so I'm pretty happy with my purchase.

Specs:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+XPS+Desktop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+8GB+Memory/3152075.p?id=1218380510247&skuId=3152075&st=xps 8300&cp=1&lp=2

The only thing I could complain about was they added a cheap wired keyboard and mouse, why even bother putting them in at all? I had long since thrown away my wireless keyboard/mouse so I did have to get those today.

[Karin]

Congratulations on your new computer.

:popcorn:

[Roman Legion]

If my family were not so poor, I would tell my father to get a new one.. He is running off a 2004 Dell Dimension 8300; before that we were using a 1999 custom buit desktop with a pentium 2 processor.. It has recieved several small upgrades by me and we keep it clean, but it pisses me off to use it as it takes forever. I used part of my bonus to get a computer that will last.. I went with an Alienware M17x.. It is now about a year or two old, but it works just fine. I would never reccomend Alienware to anyone.. Overly priced and a real pain in the arse. Also, their customer service screwed me out of over $100 on the promotional offer. XPS is a good choice, hope it serves you well for another decade..lol

[Dangermouse]

We had been looking at that very model about a month ago. Nice machine. My son wanted it for Minecraft.

We had just scored a great deal on a refurbished quad-core AMD Phenom 855 HP machine (1TB, 8GB) and added 4GB more memory and a great graphics card, when my son saw the XPS8300.

But I couldn't justify the extra cost just for his gaming. We had gotten just a huge performance jump from our old '06 Celeron machine and I didn't think that the incremental boost from the AMD to the 8300 for our normal web-brosing activities would have been noticeable

[Karin]

Wow, I feel left out about not telling the short story about my upgrades I got for my computer a few months ago. What is wrong with me? I wanted to brag, too. :bash:

Anywho, I had my PC upgraded after four years. I didn't buy a new computer, I just bought some new parts for it and I just can't let go of XP. It was finally decided after my graphics card died on me; that one I had was a good graphics card...for 2005, but it was still good since I didn't play any newer games.

Okay, my first upgrade was a new processor; much better than the old one I had. Now I have the Intel Pentium 4 2.80 Ghz; what my brother-in-law said this is the number one processor for XP. A lot of bad things my old processor did died altogether. My games, especially WoW, were running much smoother afterward (I had no idea the hiccups of slowdowns I was getting while playing the game came from my processor), and my internet was actually behaving itself. I used to have problems with my internet and the processor was to blame.

To put the rest of it short, all I got was a new power supply, a new graphics card, a 2TB hard drive (mine before was only 80 gigs), and 2 gigs of RAM. Overall, the performance is slightly better than it used to, and my games run like a pro now. Only problem is my computer is no super computer but that will definitely have to wait for a while. Besides, there are still some old things I just can't let go of that only XP can do and I'd rather buy a new computer than upgrade what I have anymore.

[Michael]

I tried doing that to my last tower, the PS went bad and I replaced it along with a new graphics card which only modestly helped performance. Not long after the motherboard went bad and I pretty much went to laptops after that. I do remember having Delorean wallpaper even then, almost a full decade away from my Delorean purchase.

I was pretty impressed with the staff at Best Buy(I'm always treated good there). I drove there after work to buy it since I was already in Bristol working, and I'm sure I looked pretty rough. I was wearing worn out jeans and shoes with paint all over them and a T-shirt in the same shape. The attendant was just as helpful as he could be, but I pretty much knew what I wanted by then.

What suprised me was in the short time I was there buying my machine, they sold 2 more computers (that I saw),and I wasn't even around the laptops. There were a few others there looking seriously. I considered this to be a fairly major purchase and I was in a pretty small town, so I was a bit suprised to see sales on high ticket items that rapidly. One guy walked in right behind me, went straight to the cheapest all-in-one(still about 500.00), took it, and was back in his car and gone in a flash.

[Roman Legion]

I could build you guys a better computer for about the same price they charge.. Hmm.. Might make a good small time source of income.. :wrenchin:

[AdmiralSenn]

I do that locally. Or at least I advertise alongside my repair business it but so far haven't had any takers.

It's surprising how cheap the corporate chains can make something when they're subsidized by software makers and get stupidly cheap knock-off hardware.

When you get into performance builds, yeah, DIY is king. But everyday machines seem to end up at about the same price point regardless of your source. It's something I've fought against and haven't yet found a solution.

[Dangermouse]

worth a repost methinks:

http://www.dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/100000/20000/9000/800/129848/129848.strip.gif

[Karin]

I remember that strip.

Course, some of us prefer the old over the new, like me. I mean, hey, we love our beloved old car here.

[Lenny]

I usually buy at least one dell computer a year for my business. I have bought nothing but dell for the last 15 years.

The only thing I do differently is I usually buy them from the Outlet Store http://www.dell.com/outlet?dgc=ST&cid=56134&lid=1448281

I save about 20% on average. Sometime there are even coupons that make them cheaper.

[1Mcfly4u]

Wow, I feel left out about not telling the short story about my upgrades I got for my computer a few months ago. What is wrong with me? I wanted to brag, too. :bash:

Anywho, I had my PC upgraded after four years. I didn't buy a new computer, I just bought some new parts for it and I just can't let go of XP. It was finally decided after my graphics card died on me; that one I had was a good graphics card...for 2005, but it was still good since I didn't play any newer games.

Okay, my first upgrade was a new processor; much better than the old one I had. Now I have the Intel Pentium 4 2.80 Ghz; what my brother-in-law said this is the number one processor for XP. A lot of bad things my old processor did died altogether. My games, especially WoW, were running much smoother afterward (I had no idea the hiccups of slowdowns I was getting while playing the game came from my processor), and my internet was actually behaving itself. I used to have problems with my internet and the processor was to blame.

To put the rest of it short, all I got was a new power supply, a new graphics card, a 2TB hard drive (mine before was only 80 gigs), and 2 gigs of RAM. Overall, the performance is slightly better than it used to, and my games run like a pro now. Only problem is my computer is no super computer but that will definitely have to wait for a while. Besides, there are still some old things I just can't let go of that only XP can do and I'd rather buy a new computer than upgrade what I have anymore.

WoW player and into Deloreans...where were you a few years ago? :wink:

And grats on the new PC! I usually build a new one every year and filter the old ones to my wife and kids lol.

[Roman Legion]

I do that locally. Or at least I advertise alongside my repair business it but so far haven't had any takers.

It's surprising how cheap the corporate chains can make something when they're subsidized by software makers and get stupidly cheap knock-off hardware.

When you get into performance builds, yeah, DIY is king. But everyday machines seem to end up at about the same price point regardless of your source. It's something I've fought against and haven't yet found a solution.

Maybe you want to hire a certain someone here to work in your repair business?:mallet::8ball:

I have experience on every major platform from DOS to Windows 7, Linux and Mac and do most of my father's computer repair and upgrades..

[Karin]

WoW player and into Deloreans...where were you a few years ago? :wink:

I started playing WoW in late 2007 and much earlier that year that was when my dream for DeLoreans was realized. My little story. :wave2:

It does sound if someone wants a gaming computer, it's better they build it themselves. It's interesting how just putting together a computer is less expensive than buying a new one, but selling individual parts of a car is more expensive than selling the whole vehicle. I saw a picture of a very sick-looking (in a good way) custom-made gaming computer that was barely over $1,000. It only cost me over $300 to buy the better parts I got.

[AdmiralSenn]

Maybe you want to hire a certain someone here to work in your repair business?:mallet::8ball:

I have experience on every major platform from DOS to Windows 7, Linux and Mac and do most of my father's computer repair and upgrades..

Sure, if you can move to Florida and spend a lot of time making sure I actually have business! I need a card monkey to go around and drop business cards anywhere that'll take 'em.. :tongue_stick:

I'm still struggling to get it off the ground so I can do something besides watch it sink into debt or break even.

[Roman Legion]

Sure, if you can move to Florida and spend a lot of time making sure I actually have business! I need a card monkey to go around and drop business cards anywhere that'll take 'em.. :tongue_stick:

I'm still struggling to get it off the ground so I can do something besides watch it sink into debt or break even.

I don't mind moving anywhere if it meant that I would finally have a job, especially doing something I like. You get it off the ground, when I get back in country in about a year, hire me..

[XZypher]

about 3 years ago i was looking for a new pc and found a very nice HP tower, i hate laptops like a max twice the price for 1/2 the computer. And a friend at work told me dont but that build one it will be better and cheaper so I told him go for it. In a few days I had a shopping list from newegg and bought the stuff over 2 weeks waiting for the deal of the days and other promos to go active. I got a faster Processor, twice the ram, twice the HD, and the 2nd best Video card on the market at the time. If you arent looking for a gaming machine you can save a lot as my video card cost about as much as the rest of the pc. With places like new egg and tiger direct you can save a bunch if you are willing to do your own customer support (which is most cases you will be come competent than the person on the other end of the phone) Also with custom built you generally have an easy time upgrading stuff if you remembered to buy a big enough power supply