New computer???

[Sir Mandorallen]

I'm getting a new computer, but we havent decided on what kind to get. We are going to get the most state-of-the-art computer we can afford, (well state-of-the-art for that particular month anway. ) and we were thinking on getting a Dell, but we recieved some dire warnings on how bad they are, so now we are seconed guessing ourselves and, I need to know the public consensus.

What is the best kind of computer to get?? [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img]

Just put in the name, and maybe any problems you have had with other systems please. And no Macs. Sorry. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Saltheart Foamfollower]

Dell is a very good machine to get...

But, what you should really look for is a machine that has the components that you want...

If you have the money to spent on a top of the line, fully loaded gaming machine, I would recommend either

1. Voodoo F-Class computer see them at www.voodoopc.com
or
2. Alienware Area 51 series see them at www.alienware.com

Both are pricey systems, $2500-4000, depending on what you would like installed in the cases... They are both well built, very nice to look at, tweaked, and good support...

Either one of these manufactures are what I would like to get, if I felt like dropping that much money on a game machine...

Personally, I just bought a VPR Matrix...

P4, 1+ gig memory, Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Platinum, Geforce 3 video w/64 meg (soon will upgrade this) 120 gig hard drive, cd/rw, dvd, flat screen monitor... It is plenty fast, runs all of my graphic intensive games, and was priced very, very reasonable ($1200 before rebates)... I am happy with it, and have room for expansion/upgrade..

If you wish to get a computer that will last longer than 1 year, before becoming obsolete (damn chip upgrades), spend a bit of time researching/listing what you want in the machine, then look for something that meets those requirements...

Good luck, and happy computing...

[Loumistro]

Dell is a very good machine to get...

Ya I agree all of my friends have dells. Their computers are much better than mine. But I have faster internet and that is all that matters. I love having Satellite Internet.

[slackerboy]

what did you hear about a dell that was bad?

[Hayashi]

Don't have any personal experience with Dell myself, although I must say that I have heard (hearsay only) somne people saying that Dell is no good. Don't know why.
That said, I was browsing their site the other day. One of the things I like about their PCs is that the case is swings open & you can access the innards easily. SImple ergonomics, but it makes a difference.

[Animal]

Depends on the $$$ you have to spend, I guess. I can't say as I've heard anything bad about Dell, although they do tend to be a little wimpy on their components sometimes.
State of the Art? P4 2.53Ghz on a 533MHZ bus, 2 WD 120gig HD w/8mb cache running under RAID 0, Geforce 4 4600, SB Audigy Platinum, Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Speakers and Sony 21" Monitor. So far, that's state of the art for consumer PC's. Doesn't really matter where you get it from.
My advice would be build it yourself, but if your not so inclined look at price and warranty. Voodoo's got the best in the bus, 3years complete plus a pretty sweet upgrade policy. Alienware rocks too.
Do you want a DVD burner or just a plain ol' CD burner. How about Personal Cinema?
You need to ask yourself one question and be honest about it: What will I be using my computer for? Yeah, a P4 2.53GHZ on a 533Mhz FSB is nice, but there's no software available now or probably in the next 2 years that will even come close to harnessing that power. Benchmark Testing is cool, but can you really notice the difference between 140fps and 120fps in Quake3? Will your monitor even hit those refresh rates?
State of the art is nice, but 1 generation old is just as nice, but half the price. Just my two cents worth

[Sir Mandorallen]

Well, I just heard that Dells wern't very reliable and kinda sucked. I don't know exactly what the problems were, but Calaethis Dragonsbane said that the sucked and some other people said that they arn't very good machines.

So I kinda got curious on what kind of computer is the best.

[ 07-11-2002, 09:40 PM: Message edited by: Sir Mandorallen ]

[Megabot]

Why not build one by your self? Then you can get what you want whitout any crap inside the computer like "build in video and sound" and things like that i have allvais built my computers by my self and it wery easy to do!

But if you dont want to do that i think Dell is great but be SURE that you can upgrade it with new grapich cards and sound cars later on so NO build in thingie in your new computer!

[ 07-11-2002, 09:46 PM: Message edited by: Megabot ]

[Animal]

Originally posted by Sir Mandorallen: Well, I just heard that Dells wern't very reliable and kinda sucked. I don't know exactly what the problems were, but Calaethis Dragonsbane said that the sucked and some other people said that they arn't very good machines. So I kinda got curious on what kind of computer is the best.

Phone Dell and ask them if there computers suck. No seriosuly, if your going to be forking over $4000-$5000 for a new system, they'll want to make you as happy as possible. It boils down to: research, research, research. Dell has got some pretty decent reviews in the past, the only downside is that sometimes they use proprietery components, so you can only get upgrades from Dell.

[LennonCook]

You can get some good ones fairly cheap nowdays, because they`re old... but I have found a 486 8 meg RAM 800 MB HDD 75 MHz Processor Win 3.11/DOS6 to run faster and more reliably than a 256 meg RAM 9 GB HDD 433 MHz Processor Win XP Home.