Computers?

this will make you think lol! Hi I just went to Circuit City and they have a pretty nice selection of computers! and to get to th point, I'm thinking about getting a new pc but which one do you think will be better? 1st: HP Pavilion Desktop pc. Price: $1,249.99. Prosser type: Pent. 4. pross. speed 2.26GHz. Bus speed 533. Ram 512MB DDR SDRAM. SYS expandable to 1GB. 80GB UltraDMA.CD-ROM no. CD-RW yes. DVD-ROM yes. Video mem: ITU V.90 k56flex modem, Data/ Fax only. Audio: Intergrated AC97 Audio. Mic. windows XP home. Monitor sold sep.


okay next PC! lol.

Sony VAIO desktop pc. Price: $1,449.99. Processor. type Pent. 4. Processor speed: 2.0 GHz. Bus speed 400. RAM: 512 PC-2100 DDR. RAM expandable to: 1GB. Hard Drive cap: 80GB Ultra ATA/100. NO CD-ROM drive, CD-RW yes, DVD-ROM no, DVD-RW yes. Video mem: 32MB SDRAM shared mem. Modem V.90 High-speed Data/Fax Modem. Audio Card: UNAVAILABLE!! Micro. windows XP home. and last Monitor sold sep. have fun and tell me what you think is the best to get. thanx... ;) :D

you would better tkae the first choice. You can save a litle money...

Here's an idea for you before you jump into buying from a store - if you don't mind waiting, try a computer show near you, if you have them, and see if you can either...

a) Build your own computer from parts which will teach you a lot about the hardware (as I noticed in your profile you are trying to learn all you can).

or

b) Pick up a 'puter at a computer show - generally they're a lot cheaper and the people selling them will add whatever you want right on the spot. I just did this two weeks ago and saved myself a fortune.

The drawback to this is that either way, you really don't get tech support or warrantys that are worth a darn. But, if you want to learn, sometimes the best way to learn is to dig yourself out of everyday computer problems.

Just an idea for you...

Yeah the first one is the one i would go for, you are paying for the sony name on the second one, If you get the first one though, try to get a better sound card than whats in there, the AC97 is not really that good

But the second one has a DVD-RW and those things kick total ass.

Basically it all depends on what you want to use the computer for.

I've had no end of trouble with the AC97 on my newest computer, in fact I still haven't been able to get alsa working for it. If you can I would suggest staying away from integrated things, less trouble in the long run if you plan on using any OS other than windows. And yeah, it all comes down to what you plan on doing with your pc, whether you play lots of games, whether you program, it all affects what you want. You don't go buy a P4 2.26GHz with an 80GB hard drive and 128MB video card if all you do is read email and occasionally surf the internet.

Yeah I agree with the earlyer post, building your own one is the best way to go, not only do you learn how pc's work, but you also might be surpised at how much cheaper doing it your self is.
Also building your own allows you to pick everything in your pc yourself, Rather than being stuck with what the store gives you, although some do build them to what you want
Anyway Good luck with what ever happens

Flatline yep they do kick ass but the problem is the empty DVD-R cds are around 20$. Thats quite expensive if you are not going to make illegal copies of your dvds and sell them;)

I too would vote for a visit to a computer fair..
you can haggle with the vendors.. saying "well this guy over there will give me this.. etc.."
most of the vendors will have a "somewhat local" shop for warranty repair.

I did a search of marketproshows.com (they do fairs all over) and came up with this one..

7/13/2002
7/14/2002 Metrolina Expo Center
Charlotte, North Carolina Sat 9:30 to 4pm Sun 9:30am to 4pm
directions link
http://www.marketproshows.com/Visito....asp?idVenue=7

AcidBurn... Build your own. HP does not update their drivers if you change your OS... Just one FYI... and I can go on, but I'm sure everyone has covered everything I could say..

DVD-Rs are on the way down, which could mark the beginning of the end for our CD-Rs. I was at Circuit City the other day and noticed a DVD-R for 5 bucks, still expensive. The sad thing is it costs about the same to manufacture a DVD-R and a CD-R. I say build your own, and all the individual parts should have their own warranty.

Thanks guys for the help. You know have an old computer I found in my closet. but its like made in 1987 soo....... I took it apart today too. Man was it dusty!! :)
Oh and thanks for the dates of that computer show Somdumguy. lol like the handle. will any of you be going? I'll try and see if i can go.

If you purchase from a major manufacturer, HP, Compaq, Sony whatever...bump the warranty if possible to include onsite. Nothing worse than hearing the wailing of someone when they find out they have to ship their PC back to the manufacturer for warranty work and they'll be down for 2 weeks.

Quote:

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Originally posted here by Pecosian
I've had no end of trouble with the AC97 on my newest computer, in fact I still haven't been able to get alsa working for it.

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What do you expect? it's made by SiS (**** in System)

SiS does not support Linux or any other OSs at all. I also have an onboard AC97 sound card, and I would love to use it in Linux, but it doesn't look like I ever will. Im gonna have to get myself a new sound card soon; I'm tired of booting into Windows just to play RTCW.

--Sudo

with the money that you are going to spend, why dont you just build one. That way you can get experince on how computers work and communicate .For example i got a H.P. box(from a friend,i messed up all the screws from all of the opening the box and closing) with a smelloron opps i mean celoron 733mhz 256meg dual boot win 98se,win 2k, sound blaster live,21 inch flat monitor,yamaha cd-r.Man your mind can go wild. good luck.


But i would go with the sony vaio

i would say with the money u r going to spend custom make u r new puter then u know what u r wanting in u r new box just my 2 cents

HP has a faster CPU that the Sony, so better buy the HP. But for me I rather assemble my own PC. You can have more for only less than $ 1000.00. And they are easy to upgrade.

Builing your own is the only way to go IMHO. Especially if you desire to learn much about computers. As someone said earlier stay away from integration as much as possible. Not only will it change your option of running an alternate OS, but if something goes wrong with the motherboard, then you lose the integrated hardware also, and Vice Versa. Check out http://www.pricewatch.com for great deals on all computer parts.

semper fi do or die