Buying a computer; any suggestions?

cindy100

Hi! I just found out I need to get a computer for someone who is coming through town tonight so this will have to be purchased today. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what and where to buy? The only places I know around here are Best Buy, CompUSA and Micro Center. It will mainly be used to access the internet and check email so he doesn't need anything fancy. I know nothing about a PC since I own a Mac so any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I know this is short notice as far as asking for help but like I said, I just found out myself. Thanks so much for your help and opinions.

Cindy

jcaut

Well, this may not help much, but if all you need is the ability to get on the internet and check email, etc., then almost anything will work. My initial thought would be to check the goodwill stores for something used, but on second thought, that might be more trouble than it's worth, especially if you've got time constraints. I'd probably go to BB or CC and look for the best deal I could get on a low-end HP- something that has the appropriate hardware for whatever internet connection method you'll use (modem, network card, etc., should be basically the same deal as on the Mac). I don't think anything else is going to matter much, as even the minimum hardware capability is going to be plenty. Will you use it for anything else, later, or sell it?

Like I said, I don't know if that helps any

Jason

Mike682

cindy100 wrote:

Hi! I just found out I need to get a computer for someone who is coming through town tonight so this will have to be purchased today. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what and where to buy? The only places I know around here are Best Buy, CompUSA and Micro Center. It will mainly be used to access the internet and check email so he doesn't need anything fancy. I know nothing about a PC since I own a Mac so any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I know this is short notice as far as asking for help but like I said, I just found out myself. Thanks so much for your help and opinions.

Cindy

Out of the three stores listed, I would go to BestBuy because they are the only store offering instant savings instead of mail-in rebates. Instant savings = instant rebates, no forms and nothing extra out of pocket.

As for the computer, any basic entry level computer (desktop or laptop) will do the trick. You will have a choice of AMD and Intel processors. Either one will be fine as AMD and Intel are both excellent processors, with AMD usually costing a little less.

bobman1235

Yeah, if you don't care about customer service, and are hoping to be pestered about warranties that are not honored, go to Best Buy. Otherwise, go anywhere else.

I'd rather buy something from a white van than give Best Buy my business.

Poee7R

If it truly wont be used for anything other than basic stuff, surfing, email, mp3's etc then i would think about running down to walmart and buying a 350-400 eMachine from em. No i dont endorse eMachines in anyway, but for what you're asking you might not find a better deal.

cfrizz

Cindy, go to Microcenter. You will get personalized service & they will hook you up with a good basic pc.

PolkThug

my .5 cent:

Out of those three stores, Micro Center is my favorite.

ND13

Don't buy anything with a 386 or 486 processor:D

bobman1235

Well, 486 is OK, as long as it is a DX2/66 or better.

ND13

bobman1235 wrote:

Well, 486 is OK, as long as it is a DX2/66 or better.

I had a 486/DX4/100 that was , for the time, faster than a P120 in everything except math applications. It was a pretty nice puter.

PolkThug

My P120, purchased new in July of 1995 cost $3K. It was the best of everything at the time. The hard drive was <2GB.

bobman1235

Yup, I had a 486 DX2/66 in '94 or '93, with a 540MB HD and a 14.4k baud modem. 8MB RAM. THe modem was like, lightning fast at the time. And I just couldn't imagine filling up that much hard drive space... never even came close really. I've downloaded single files bigger than that in the past week.

The computer cost about 2 grand. From Dell, actually.

ND13

I remember getting my first Pentium 90 from Gateway(when Gateway was the **** and a direct only company). My uncle ordered 5 from GW before Pentiums were even known by the general public. 486s were state of the art at the time. It was $5k w/ a 17" crt, 32 mb ram and a 16 gb HD. It blew a friend of mine's custom built 486, away. He had to have it and bought it from me when I needed some cash. He had his own computer biz in Nashvegas, building custom puters and had only read about the "New Pentiums".

Think what $5k could buy in a computer these days. It'd have a 50" LCD monitor.

faster100

BOBman, even back then the 14.4 wasnt fast.. LOL in 94 or 95 we got our first computer on a big time tight budget.. a 386 w/ 16 megs ram and 200 meg HD and got it used.. slower then **** but it would get online.. now windows uses 3-4 gigs of space just to run..

bobman1235

Haha, yup, I have twice as much RAM now as I did HD space then.... now THAT'S progress.

Polkersince85

It may be too late but this would be a decent deal. $99 + $99 shipping with rebates.

http://earthlink.com.com/2100-1041_3-6111924.html?part=earthlink


no affiliation

cindy100

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I ended up buying from Micro Center and all I know is it was a PC. The guy was so happy with it which is all I wanted. I did run across the E-Machine but feel the one I bought will hopefully be a better computer and it ended up costing less. As a rule, I normally stay away from extended warranties but they made an offer of $50 for a 3 year deal which includes them coming to the guy's home if he ever has a problem so I took it. Again, thanks for all the help and I hope you all have a great weekend.

Cindy