Buying a Desktop Computer

• baseball4

  

  Anyone a computer junkie? I'm looking into buying a desktop before I start school up in the beginning of 2012. I am looking for something that is pretty basic, just something that I can use to write papers and do research.
  
  I'm assuming it'd be a good idea to wait until the holiday sales all kick in to go shopping, but I'm just trying to get an idea of what I should be looking for.
  
  Thanks.
• sleeper

  

  Don't buy a MAC.
• se-alum

  

  If you don't mind me asking, why a desktop as opposed to a laptop?
• I Wear Pants

  Build. It. Yourself.
  
  If you are a sissy and afraid to do that/too lazy to learn how (it's really easy) then find a local person to build one for you. You'll likely save cash over a comparable system from a big box retailer and you'll be able to customize the hardware to exactly what you want/need.
• FatHobbit

  

  Get an ipad2
• gorocks99

  

  I Wear Pants;956027 wrote:Build. It. Yourself.
  
  If you are a sissy and afraid to do that/too lazy to learn how (it's really easy) then find a local person to build one for you. You'll likely save cash over a comparable system from a big box retailer and you'll be able to customize the hardware to exactly what you want/need.

  +1
• sleeper

  

  se-alum;956025 wrote:If you don't mind me asking, why a desktop as opposed to a laptop?

  Cheaper.
  
  Book it.
• baseball4

  

  se-alum;956025 wrote:If you don't mind me asking, why a desktop as opposed to a laptop?

  I have a laptop, but it's a mini. It's definitely not convenient for writing papers. It's nice to have on campus because I can pull it out anywhere (pun intended).
• baseball4

  

  I Wear Pants;956027 wrote:Build. It. Yourself.
  
  If you are a sissy and afraid to do that/too lazy to learn how (it's really easy) then find a local person to build one for you. You'll likely save cash over a comparable system from a big box retailer and you'll be able to customize the hardware to exactly what you want/need.

  I'm a sissy because I don't build my own computers? Do you hear yourself when you talk???
  
  I understand the benefits from doing so, but I'm not the kind of guy that can just sit down and "make" a computer.
• justincredible

  

  baseball4;956045 wrote:I'm a sissy because I don't build my own computers? Do you hear yourself when you talk???
  
  I understand the benefits from doing so, but I'm not the kind of guy that can just sit down and "make" a computer.

  Pretty sure he doesn't mean sissy in the normal sense.
  
  What's your budget?
• Automatik

  

  Cnet reviews are usually pretty good to go by.
  http://reviews.cnet.com/desktop-computers/?tag=hdr;brandnav
  
  But yea....when talking deskstops you can definitely get more bang for the buck building your own. Its not too difficult and pretty fun actually.
• I Wear Pants

  baseball4;956045 wrote:I'm a sissy because I don't build my own computers? Do you hear yourself when you talk???
  
  I understand the benefits from doing so, but I'm not the kind of guy that can just sit down and "make" a computer.

  Understand the joke broheim. And I'm deaf. Thanks for reminding me of that dick.
  
  But I was serious about my advice. Either research a little bit and buy the parts from Newegg and put it together or find someone to do the same for you. You'll save money, likely have better components, and if you did it right have a better idea of what's in your machine so when something goes wrong you can more easily fix it/identify the problem.
• baseball4

  

  I Wear Pants;956053 wrote:Understand the joke broheim. And I'm deaf. Thanks for reminding me of that dick.
  
  But I was serious about my advice. Either research a little bit and buy the parts from Newegg and put it together or find someone to do the same for you. You'll save money, likely have better components, and if you did it right have a better idea of what's in your machine so when something goes wrong you can more easily fix it/identify the problem.

  Well then my apologies. I didn't mean to offend you.
  
  @justincredible
  
  I don't really have a budget. Not trying to sound like a snob, but I'm sure that with the sales all coming up for the holidays and buying something basic -- none of it would be out of my price range.
• I Wear Pants

  baseball4;956079 wrote:Well then my apologies. I didn't mean to offend you.
  
  @justincredible
  
  I don't really have a budget. Not trying to sound like a snob, but I'm sure that with the sales all coming up for the holidays and buying something basic -- none of it would be out of my price range.

  Protip: This is the internet and as such I'm not really deaf but that seemed like the proper response. Otherwise my "What are you listening to?" thread would be kind of silly.
• baseball4

  

  I Wear Pants;956082 wrote:Protip: This is the internet and as such I'm not really deaf but that seemed like the proper response. Otherwise my "What are you listening to?" thread would be kind of silly.

  Touche.
• justincredible

  

  baseball4;956096 wrote:Touche.

  Pretty sure it starts with a "D".
• I Wear Pants

  justincredible;956102 wrote:I like the "D"

  FIFY
• j_crazy

  

  Build it in newegg. Cheapest option.
• justincredible

  

  How much did you guys spend to build your last machine? I built one a little over a year ago and spent ~$500. I think.
• I Wear Pants

  justincredible;956151 wrote:How much did you guys spend to build your last machine? I built one a little over a year ago and spent ~$500. I think.

  2005, $700 and it's still the machine I use and doesn't have any slowdowns or "old computer" symptoms for the things I use (Web, Media, Office, Adobe Suite, games (ones like Oblivion, Half-Life 2, etc not brand new games anymore).
  
  You can certainly build a system that is more than adequate for web browsing, and Office use for under $500.
• wes_mantooth

  

  justincredible;956151 wrote:How much did you guys spend to build your last machine? I built one a little over a year ago and spent ~$500. I think.

  
  Not sure.
  
  How this helps.
• justincredible

  

  wes_mantooth;956159 wrote:Not sure.
  
  How this helps.

  I dunno, how does it?
• justincredible

  

  I Wear Pants;956158 wrote:2005, $700 and it's still the machine I use and doesn't have any slowdowns or "old computer" symptoms for the things I use (Web, Media, Office, Adobe Suite, games (ones like Oblivion, Half-Life 2, etc not brand new games anymore).
  
  You can certainly build a system that is more than adequate for web browsing, and Office use for under $500.

  Mine is pretty beastly. I bought a dual core AMD processor that I was able to unlock into a quad core. No video card, though. Because PC gaming is for dorks.
• j_crazy

  

  i built mine for 1400, but it was a high powered machine. built to burn blu-rays and game on. at the time a similar alienware machine was about 3200 bucks.
• wes_mantooth

  

  justincredible;956162 wrote:I dunno, how does it?

  
  Lol...fucking swype