Company.. for quality/price/service

[PCnewbie]

Hello all, new poster here. and hopefully soon to be a new PC owner. All my years of having a PC I've always bought "shelved" or store made units, like Gateway (horrible, never again) Compaq, HP, they all stunk up my office. so now I am in need of a new computer. BUT i definatley DONT want a store boughten shelved unit where everything is basicly intergrated and cant upgrade, etc. This is why I am posting here, for advice and some help on trying to find a good quality system for a decent price. I've Checked out Ailienware ( which was nice! but a tad bit too expensive for me) and a few other online companys i.e. dell, amber PC usa, ABS, sony viao, internetishop, IBM, etc. I just dont know much about the quality of thier work /parts and the service they give for warranties/repair. the system I am trying to go for in a price range of $1500 (w/ monitor) is compiled of: P4 2.4ghz, 512 MBddr ram, 80gig HD, GeForce4 ti4200 128MB 8x GC, CDRW, basicly not top line system, but not midline. something that I can game on for a few years withought having to worry about little upgrades here and there. If anyone has any advice about the systems I mentioned (good or bad) or would like to point me in a direction to a company they know is good. please reply and help out a new PC buyer.

Thanks alot,
PC Newbie

[thehig]

If you are not going to build it yourself. Which it looks like you would not be comfortable doing. I would go with a Dell. They have great systems and good support.

I know I will get some that will disagree with me. But this is my opinion.

Good Luck and Welcome to Techimo!

[hawkeye177]

I would also agree on getting a dell.. They have good prices and their computers are good.

[PCnewbie]

yes but dont dell computers intergrate most of thier system? I dont want what happened to me with gateway when I bought that POS a few years back. example: I bought an average system for the time ( 3-4 years ago) and when it was time to upgrade my PC I couldnt because the power sorce was not upgradeble I had a 200 W power sorce and with the new upgrades in graphics cards and such it couldnt run it, etc. anyways my hole PC was crap then cause of intergrated stuff and a few things more. so what I'm actually trying to say is I know dells customer support is great, but are they the best for an upgradeable system in the future? cause I dont wanty to have to go through that mess again.

thanks,

PC newbie

[PresterJohn]

your reasoning about wanting to upgrade the machine in 3 years is a little flawed. in 3 years, it will be generally be cheaper to just buy a new box than it would be to upgrade it.

[Samuel M.]

Visit Voodoo or Falcon Northwest. Built your own computer piece by piece and decide if that is what you want to spent. I think they have life warranty and factory costs for upgrades.

[Richard Cranium]

Unless you're a competent builder, or know one close, I suggest a Dell 4500 series.
We've seen them with P4's, Gforce4 32mb, Turtle Beach sound, LAN, 56k for less than $475 pretty often, sometimes less..

The 128mb video Gforce is a $110~ upgrade.



The 4500 has an AGP slot, obviously with the Gforce, and DDR, and choice of Soundblaster or Turtle beach Santa Cruz[great card]

They absolutely fly on the internet, faster than any Duron or XP system I've built, [gulp]as bad as I hate to admit it.

A new 2.4 homebuilt will cost more than the unit I mentioned.

If this interests ya, stick around till the deals appear, with RAM dropping I expect to see more steals, with LCD's too.

[JiminElkGrove]

I configured online from BOLData in Fremont, CA. They will build a system on any platform you choose: P4/Intel, AMD/Via, AMD/nVidia or a cheaper processor if you want. My system as follows: GA-7VRX/Via KT333, AMD Athlon 1900, 512 MB RAM,nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4400, US Robotics PCI hardware modem, CDRW 48x16x48, CD playback 52x, 80G Western Dig HD other features and was $1231 including shipping. You can view reviews at Reseller Ratings, all positive, including mine. Systems are non-proprietary and fully upgradeable, unlike Dells. Go here:
http://www.boldata.com/

[ZepplinStones]

Definetly go with ABS! I just got a great system from them (using it now) and it kicks! They give you the same quality parts as alienware and voodoo, but so much cheaper. and you dont have to worry about anything being integrated so they are easy to upgrade! If you have any Q's about ABS, PM me.