any suggestions?

wangotango68

with tax season here me and the wife are selling our computer to a friend she works with and buying a new one. so wehat do you guys suggest? the computer i have right now is a hp 8770c 875
mhz. 45 gighd,cd burner dvd drive 128 ram. now i don't need a dvd drive i have used the one i got maybe twice! so that would be a waste. let me know.:)

scott:cool:

juice21

get something with at least 256 of ram, 512 is really nice. ram is pretty cheap though, and if you feel fine putting it in yourself, it is really cheap to buy right now. ram comes in very handy when multi tasking or doing graphic applications on your desk top. i have an HP now that i am vey happy with. 1.4 ghrz, 80 gig hard drive. DO NOT get a compaq, my dad went through 2 in the first day he got his last week!!! P.O.S.!!! he replaced it with a sony vaio and seems to be happy with that. what do you intend using your computer for mostly???

sean Bourg

IMO you can't go wrong with a Dell. I have had a few in the past and vary few problems ...what problems I had were taken care of by thier great CS staff.. As far as RAM goes, from what i remeber, on win 98 (not sure about the newer windows) it won't use more than 256 megs unless you set it as a server...It's been a while but I could be wrong.... if you call the dell guys prior to purchase they will help you out!

jcaut

For what it's worth, I think Dell's customer service and tech support have really gone downhill over the last couple of years. They're real helpful when you're buying, but not when you have trouble.

I had a Compaq for a while, and I did have some problems with it. Their tech support was actually pretty good, and my problems were resolved without much hassle. (BTW, I think Compaq and HP are now one company).

I outgrew the capabilities of the Compaq system, and everyone advised me to buy Dell, so I did. I had a few problems with the modem and the CD-R/W soon after I got it, and Dell's tech support was a JOKE! I talked with a couple of techs who actually acted like they thought it was funny that I was having problems! That was after I had been on hold for about an hour! I ended up fixing the problems myself without any help from Dell. Since then the machine has been solid.

Jason

scottvamp

I bought my Compaq P5000 over ayear ago after the Year 2000. I did the we build it for you thing dirrectly through Compaq. Awesome computer. DVD and CDRW burner. Good deal and vip service. I know people that bought a computer pre DVD and CDR, and suddenly found there computer shamlessly out of date. I am very happy with mine.

Aaron

Not to step on anyone's toes, but I would avoid Compaq and HP computers like the plague. I would go with a Dell or possibly a Gateway. I would get at least 256MB of RAM (512MB if you can spare the cash) and at least a 1.4GHz. processor. Regarding the hard drive size, I'd shoot for the 70-80GB range because it usually only costs a little bit to upgrade to that from a 40GB drive. You'll eventually need the room; it always happens. If you plan on playing a lot of fancy games, then pay special attention to the video card. You'll want one of the nicer Nvidia cards. Get a DVD drive; eventually everything will go that direction. It costs practically nothing extra. If you're interested in burning CD's most companies are practically giving CDR drives away. Finally, regarding the operating system, I haven't heard too much good about Windows XP, but if you're going to get it, get XP Professional, not Home.

Aaron

juice21

i was leary about getting an HP for home use, my bro. is a computer geek and he really suggested against it. i have been nothing but happy with it. i do agree on compaq, my dad got one, actaully two last week and both crapped out on him right away, took them both back... as for dell, we run them at the office, i run an 866 with 512MB. the damn thing fails up to 6 times a day on me!!! (had the same thing in our computer lab at college) now i do push my machines hard, as i am an architect and do memory intensive computer rendeings and animations with form-z modelling, but my HP hasn't failed me once yet... our office does seem to be pretty happy with the dell customer service though, and that is probably the most important thing. just wanted to give my experiences between HP and dell, everyone is going to have their own opinion....

sgtgto

Hi:

I am in the computer business as a sideline and I don't care for most of the big company computers. I build, or have the company I deal with build them for my customers, custom made. All top notch components, lots of memory, large power supplies, and multiple cooling fans. My rig has a tower Super Micro case 300W power supply, with 9 fans. The AMD 1.2G cpu temp runs around 129 Degrees F. The case temp is around 86. I have two harddrives, two video cards, an Abit KT7A Raid MB, 512MEG PC 133 Ram, and all the other necessary goodies.

Must of your Dells, Gateways, and so on, have integrated motherboards, very low wattage power supplies, practically no cooling fans and cheap parts. How do you think you can get them so cheap. You get what you pay for. I am a gamer and my PC takes whatever I throw at it without a burp. The problems you are having with your computers sounds to me like a lack of power to supply components when they need it.

Win 95 can not use more than 256Mb of Ram. Win 98, Me, 2000, and on up are ok with memory.

Want a good PC? Email me and I will tell you what I can do. I have been on this forum for a while and most here will vouch for me.


Gary

sgtgto@aol.com