choosing between 2 new comps

ok, my moms gonna buy a new computer and theres two that were looking at im not too sure which one is better so id like to ask for some people who know their stuff (cause i dont)
i already asked if we could build one but she said no....

here are the two different ones

computer A

hp pavilion pentium 4 proscessor 2.8GHz
512MB PC2700DDR, 160GB hard Drive (thats big right?)
48x cd-rom (max speed), dvd=rw/cd-rw combo drive,
7-in-1 media card reader, 6 usb ports (2 in front),
HP image zone software

*no monitor
$1080

computer B

hp, amd athlon 2800+ processor (is that better than pentium 4?)
17" flat screen monitor, 512MB RAM memory, 120 gigabyte hard drive, cd-rw and dvd drivers

$750

B doesnt give as much information...
which one would you get? which processor is better?

thanks



Ammon

Well basically, your paying for the pentium name. That is why computer B is less expensive. One thing about AMD and Pentium processors though is that even though the AMD says Athlon 2800, it won't actually run at 2.8 ghz. It will run somewhere around 2.2-2.4ghz I believe.

Your not getting as big of a Hard Drive with computer B, but I don't think that you would actually need a 160GB HD. So my choice would probably be Computer B. Now of course if you wanted to be adventurous, then you could build a computer yourself.

I do suggest though that you look into a Dell, or some other brand, as I have had bad experiences with HP/Compaq Technical Support people. I'm sure you could find a similiar deal on another computer.

thanks, i thought 160 was realy big but i wasnt sure

160 is very huge believe me. 80 GB is more than sufficient as u can write all movies,mp3s,warez on a cd as u have a writer.
Abt processors, AMD is also supposed to be very good though both processors vary quite a bit & cannot b compared.But with 512 MB ram u neednt worry at all.

The real question is what is it going to be used for?

For normal domestic or office use both are perfectly adequate. Computer A has a "combo drive"..............I am not happy with those on reliability grounds, although the newer ones are probably better. Computer B has a more traditional seperate DVD and CD drives.

IMHO you will not spot the difference between processors in real life, other than the price. AMDs are generally better value.

As for drives, what are the speeds? The 120Gb should be 7200Rpm, but the 160Gb might be 5400? I would say that 120 is more than adequate, unless you have some very special requirements.

I always say that there is no point in paying for bragging rights when the kid next door will have a better one in three months time. Also remember that software is aimed at what the supplier sees to be the average equipment on the market, not at very high spec. stuff?

You do not have any specs for video or sound? Also what empty slots are there for memory etc....In other words, how "future proof" is the kit, in the way of supporting upgrades?

At this stage I would go for B as it seems better value for money, and is better integrated insofar as it includes the screen.

If you go to the HP website, you should get a better like for like comparison in terms of basic specification details?

Cheers,


BTW: This machine is a PII/266 with 128 Mb of RAM, and is perfectly adequate for home use. If you want to play fancy games, remember that PCs were NOT designed to do it. I generally advise to get a Playstation or X-Box or whatever as these are purpose built and have 64 bit processing (maybe even 128 these days?)

If money is not a problem, go for :-

computer A

hp pavilion pentium 4 proscessor 2.8GHz
512MB PC2700DDR, 160GB hard Drive (thats big right?)
48x cd-rom (max speed), dvd=rw/cd-rw combo drive,
7-in-1 media card reader, 6 usb ports (2 in front),
HP image zone software

*no monitor
$1080

its a better spec.Dont forget , you'll have to add monitor on top of that.It all depends on what you are going use it for and how much $ you can burn!


Dr_Evil :p

I would say, for home use choose the cheaper AMD box, it will be fast enough to do all your office work, play music, games, dvd,... but you should get some more specs on that box.
What kind of ram for instance? DDRAM and DDRAM is not always the same, there's a huge difference between 'no name' pc2700 ram and Kingston HyperX low latency garanteed. I'm not happy with combo drives either, cause they tend to be bad and fail faster (allthough I experienced they did so). But if you only want a box for general use, both will satisfy your needs. So it all depends on budget and personal choice.

I realize that HP and Compaq offer really great packages that are affordable and great pricing plans and rebates, as I own a Compaq myself, but their support is absolutely horrible.

There's nothing more frustrating than removing everything off a computer, and then sitting there setting up partitions to reinstall and when you put "Compaq's XP cd" in to start the process you get a blinking red screen that says "Contact COMPAQ support".

I got stuck on the support line with some guy with a thick Indian accent that didn't seem to understand a word I was saying. I had to wait and get a recovery cd from them that would specially partition my drive so that I could put their version of windows xp back on my box. That's the stupidest thing ever. Not to mention, I was still under warranty, and they CHARGED me for it.

Luckily, I knew someone who also owned a Compaq, and in the mean time, I borrowed theirs to set up the partioning.

Honestly, though...stay away from this proprietary crap, it's nothing but a bunch of trouble if you decide to customize your computer at any point. (Yes, upgrading hardware will void your warranty, be sure to read the very small print at the bottom of your contracts.)

If you know someone who builds computers, ask if they'll sit down and help you to build one, the experience would be good and I believe that you'll be better off.

Thanks for your help everyone i think ill go with computer B

Now I never had any problems with compaq if I needed to reinstall an OS.

I never had to make extra partitions or anything. I just absolutely hate talking to there support people.

Sorry dude, but HP/Compaq scares me...go build your own box...it's cheaper and you'll end up with more bang for your buck. Or at least consider a Dell...I've seen far fewer issues with Dell computers than HP/Compaq...HP/C is only a rung above emachines on the pc ladder (in my experience).

There is no good customer support. I went to fix a problem on my friends Dell laptop, and when I got there, the Dell custy support was on the phone with him for about an hour, trying to diagnose a problem(His window scrolling was choppy, in IE and such). I take it from my friend and start talking to the guy, to see what theyve done so far. The first thing I check was device properties- and see that the video driver was disabled(yellow !). So I ask the guy, "Have you checked the device manager yet?" he says "Uhhhhhhhh" I hung up and enable it. Problem solved.

Theres tons of free tech support online- if you can still get on the internet, or go to another computer, theres tons of forums everywhere you get get answers.

One thing you may want to consider is heat, the amds run quite a bit hotter than the pentiums. So if you are doing heavy duty work (rendering,compiling,gaming) and in a fairly hot climate you will need good cooling in the summer with the amds (more cooling= more noise or hassle). I recently got a athlon 2800 barton and it runs much hotter than my pentium. The benchmarks and such i looked at prior to going with the amd 2800 were very close to the p4 2.8 some most were just under (just over the p4 2.66) and a few surpassed the p4 2.8.

yeah i agree with VictorKaum, amd is better, and cheaper. dont buy hp stuff or bargain basement puters, they are nothing but crap. but something not from a company like that (hp, compaq, dell, sony, gateway) i have had nothing but problems with compaq's and their software, alot of those puters sell u software that u will never use. or extra software that loads at bootime. jus not worth any of the hassle :)

I must agree with allen, at very least *consider* a Dell. HP's still scare me. I had one about 5 years back, and ever since I first pulled it out of the box I had nothing but trouble with it. From Win95 (at the time) crashing 2 minutes after fully booting up, to the CD-ROM drive dying after being used no more than 15 times, to mysteriously loosing the himem.sys file (and rendering the comp. temporarily useless), I went mail order and never looked back. Granted all this was 5 years ago and they could have gotten better since then, but I still haven't touched them since.

Another thing to consider when purchasing a computer is service and tech support. Any store-bought box is going to have to be shipped out if anything goes wrong with it in order to *not* void the warranty. This can probably take a while...much longer than I'd be willing to wait. I had a Quantex box (mail order), which worked fine until I started ****ing with it, that, when the modem crapped out, Airborne Expressed me a new one the next day. Unfortunatley they're now out of business, but I'm sure Dell does the same. I haven't had any hardware problems with my Dell yet. Also, check to see if you'll be able to understand your tech support folks if you ever need to call them. Last I checked, Compaq's is done out of India. My roommate once called them for help and didn't get anywhere because he couldn't understand them. Now, I've got nothing against the Indians, more of the one's I've met are very bright, just the language barrier can be tough sometimes, especially in a stressful situation like trying to fix a busted PC.

Just some extra thoughts...and if you have the know-how, don't rule out building one yourself either.

alpha

well u definitly need a monitor...so maybe computer B??? at least u can see what ur doin...unless u have an old monitor laying around. Is it a flat screen or flat panel? i know it sais flat screen but maybe it could also be a flat panel? those r sweet...if its a flat panel definitly go with B.