Please HELP me decide what PC I Should BUY

[tomcruise3230]

Dear members,

Please help me decide on buying a new PC since i dont know much about computers. I

already have a 6 year old toshiba laptop and which is still works fine but has fairly old

features (256 mb, usb 1.1, 30 GB, old graphic card, etc). These are the minumum

requirements I am looking for in a PC:

512 RAM (if windows vista isn't installed)
30 GB
usb 2.0
a way to connect to TV via HDMI or S-video inputs
at least has windows XP home edition or media center
Famous Brand Like Sony, Dell, Toshiba, HQ,
Price Range $700-$2500

I will be using mainly for selling item on ebay, surfing, downloading vidoes from site

like rapidshare and saving to an external HD, watching anime/drama by connecting a

TV, and playing MMORPG games like world of craft (but not games that require the

latest graphic card etc).

I won't be doing nothing like video/picture editing, burning CD or DVD or anything

that require a lot of processing power, transfering files from digital camera or phone,

and wireless route or internet connection (but wireless keyboard/mouse is okay)

Please also let me know should I get PC that has windows vista (I have window xp

home edition which is just fine for me) and any other feature I should also look for.

thank you very much!

 

[Vaanish]

Use XP. And build it instead of buying. Its really not difficult.

 

[Poemaster]

I will build you a computer with much better specs for $1000 PM if your interested

 

[tomcruise3230]

I will build you a computer with much better specs for $1000 PM if your interested

Let me make some thing clear so not to confuse anybody:

what i meant by minimum requirements was at least it should be that; not i want to buy the exact minimum requirements. so i didn't know the minimum req. of mine is out of date because i didn't buy a desktop pc in 6 years. I am only looking for brand new desktop pc not any laptop. Also what i meant by watching it on TV instead of laptop was not having a TV tuner so i can watch it on my PC, but watch all the dowloaded videos i have saved on my hard drive and watching it on Tv by connecting tv to pc (like one of the cables you get to connect dvd to tv or something similar to it that i want in a PC which is a MUST)

And i don't want any vista editions because of many reports on the internet of having bugs/problems etc, so i will settle for any windox xp edition (or should you think i should get linux OS type PC: will that work for my needs?) I won't be doing much business with it (like use microsoft word) on ebay just list some items normally, so that shouldn't be any concern of what pc i want to buy (sorry for that).

so with this conclusion, I think I should get a pc within price range of $700 to $1100 that has at least these requirments: 1 gb ram, cd-rom (i don't care about cd-dvd combo or any of the kind: if its included thats fine), High Definition 7.1 Sound (is their something better then this), 500 mb memory, 80 gb, last for more then 1 year, and something that connects tv to a pc (A MUST!). The real reason i want to buy a brand new PC and not a laptop is because i don't want to waste time having the laptop power on and off, will have the privilage to use a pc anytime and watch videos saved on my hard drive on a tv by connecting to it from my pc. (sorry to sound as if i am explaining it again)

So from the above notes, do you have any specific suggestion of PCs i should get and just to let you know i will be buying only with a credit card.

 

[turtile]

Try Riptide Custom PC Systems - Desktops, Workstations, Gaming PCs, Notebooks, and Home Theater PCs

2GB of memory is the average - HD Sound is normally onboard sound (low quality) the best is a dedicated sound card. (Xonar, X-Fi)

 

[Sora]

Build your own for much cheaper...you can build a PC that will do what you want it to for around $500 instead of your original price. Or you can build a much more powerful PC yourself than a pre-built.

 

[Poemaster]

Once again I will sell you a Brand New Desktop PC with much better specs for the low low price of $1000
Same as buying from a Proprietary distributor but a much better PC for your buck

 

[saltynay]

poemaster stop bugging him a computer should be selective to your needs just because you have one to sell doesn't mean its the right one for him!

Here is what I recommend for a right here right now system:
cpu: E2180
Ram: 2gb of a named brand (we can help choose them as models of brands also vary in performance and price)
hdd: 320gb Samsung spinpoint (may sound like a lot of gigs but its cheap,fast and reliable, you never know when you need that extra space)
If you feel up to it you can add the harddrive from your external enclosure which is very easy to do and having it internal also gives better data transfer rates.
gfx: 8500 should be enough or a slightly old school 7 series card if you don't have a main use such as media playing (has dvi which can be converted via cable to hdmi and you can use your tv as a monitor)
Capture card: Can take the information of off external media to play on the pc
Tuner card: Will pick up tv signals and play tv through your computer
(I am unsure what you meant by connecting to a tv)
windows xp media centre

You can self-build which is the cheapest route, you can tell a local "computer guy" to get the parts and build for you will be about $100 more then self-build. Or you can lose the quality of parts, the upgrade ability and the control over processing power hogging software for a generic brand. Unless spending under $500 for a full pc, monitor, printer then there is no reason at all to buy from any big name brand they are a company they overcharge and maximise profits by using bare minimum components that aren't god enough for individual retail.

Example:
My gaming computer "in signature" cost me to self-build £1600 ($3200) I then added and improved by modding the case to make it completely unique end cost £1750 ($3500) my components individually have a warranty length between 3-5 years
Went on the dell website the day I got my components to build to check the money I had saved. With the dell configuration I got a free monitor, mouse and keyboard, Less gb of hd space, 1 year of repair and warranty and everything pre-installed price was £3300 ($6600) plus I would then mod it and that would make it £3450 ($6900)

^^^^^that is why the general consensus here with desktops is that pre-made brands suck we can give you repair advice if you need it which is very unlikely as The components we choose are known for good quality so if anything does go wrong its software related^^^^^

p.s. I said best build right now as we are on the eve of a new chain of hardware, for both graphics and cpu

 

[tomcruise3230]

poemaster stop bugging him a computer should be selective to your needs just because you have one to sell doesn't mean its the right one for him!

Here is what I recommend for a right here right now system:
cpu: E2180
Ram: 2gb of a named brand (we can help choose them as models of brands also vary in performance and price)
hdd: 320gb Samsung spinpoint (may sound like a lot of gigs but its cheap,fast and reliable, you never know when you need that extra space)
If you feel up to it you can add the harddrive from your external enclosure which is very easy to do and having it internal also gives better data transfer rates.
gfx: 8500 should be enough or a slightly old school 7 series card if you don't have a main use such as media playing (has dvi which can be converted via cable to hdmi and you can use your tv as a monitor)
Capture card: Can take the information of off external media to play on the pc
Tuner card: Will pick up tv signals and play tv through your computer
(I am unsure what you meant by connecting to a tv)
windows xp media centre

You can self-build which is the cheapest route, you can tell a local "computer guy" to get the parts and build for you will be about $100 more then self-build. Or you can lose the quality of parts, the upgrade ability and the control over processing power hogging software for a generic brand. Unless spending under $500 for a full pc, monitor, printer then there is no reason at all to buy from any big name brand they are a company they overcharge and maximise profits by using bare minimum components that aren't god enough for individual retail.

Example:
My gaming computer "in signature" cost me to self-build £1600 ($3200) I then added and improved by modding the case to make it completely unique end cost £1750 ($3500) my components individually have a warranty length between 3-5 years
Went on the dell website the day I got my components to build to check the money I had saved. With the dell configuration I got a free monitor, mouse and keyboard, Less gb of hd space, 1 year of repair and warranty and everything pre-installed price was £3300 ($6600) plus I would then mod it and that would make it £3450 ($6900)

^^^^^that is why the general consensus here with desktops is that pre-made brands suck we can give you repair advice if you need it which is very unlikely as The components we choose are known for good quality so if anything does go wrong its software related^^^^^

p.s. I said best build right now as we are on the eve of a new chain of hardware, for both graphics and cpu

Also, to let you know i will only be using credit card not store credit card (bestbuy,circuit city) so they won't take my credit card if i buy in store (maybe online and if i buy online how long does it take to arrive?)

I also won't be saving videos on internal hd but an external seagate hds (5 year warranty) thats because i don't want to have my internal hd give up on me very quick because by downloading videos on it some of the time.

I also won't be buying a MAC because it doesn't have enough features like windows, don't play many PC games and a lot expensive.

From your comments, Is this the right hardwares for me (i am not purchasing the exact product but similar to it if it meets my requirements):

Motherboard
[AMD] Asus M2NPV-VM
ASUS M2NPV-VM

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2 DUAL CORE
AMD Athlon 64 (AM2) x2 4200+

Ram
Kingston Value 1GB DDR2-667 (2x512MB)
Kingston ValueRAM DDR2-667 512MB

Video Card
GigaByte GeForce 7300GS 128MB (256MB shared) QUIET PCI-E
Gigabyte GeForce 7300GS 256MB Silent

Sound Card
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Creative X-Fi Extreme Audio

CD / DVD Rom
Asus 16x DVD-ROM (black/beige)

Accessories
ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI TV Tuner
ATI TV Wonder 650

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium (it has windows media center)

Monitor
Undecided (i won't be watching videos from laptop from faraway but by connecting it to tv) should i get a widescreen or normal?

should i get a tower pc or something like this:
Antec NSK2400 Black/Silver MicroATX Desktop 380W

Keyboard
Microsoft Multimedia Optical Combo (black)
Microsoft Multimedia Optical Value Combo (Black)

Mouse
Microsoft Optical Tilt Wheel
Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer Tilt Wheel

System Price: $1,406.06 (with a monitor)


What must also be included in:

Dial-up modem (if possible build-in not usb connected)

Build-in Fax and Scan without using a fax machine (windowx vista business has it but it doesn't have windows media center so i don't want that)

At least 6 Month warranty

Can play HD dvd download videos


Can you also tell me if I also buy a Remote Control for Windows Media Center will it work only with windows media player or others like zoom player? Thats all i want to know so please help me out!

 

[saltynay]

Newegg.com is seen as the best all round American online store and is always recommended.

ok AMD is not the way to go atm the new chips aren't quite out yet if going amd then get an AM2+ board (has to have a +) as that is the new chip type and you can get the 4200+(as you have listed) as a gap cpu for a month and then upgrade to a phenom core later which should leave the current Intel cpu's in the dust

If you don't want the hassle of changing the cpu later then intel is the way to go as they are currently the best bang for buck processors.

The 7300GS won't play hd media well if you do want to centralise this on hd media then the 8400 or the 8500 are your best choice as they have onboard encoder specialised for HD media playback they can also be passively cooled so are silent .

Unless you are an audiophile there is no point buying a soundcard, onboard motherboard soundchips are actually very good and fine for the average person. If you are buying a soundcard then get a decent high quality one which means a $100+cost, I personally don't think its worthwhile though.

Hauppage tv tuners are generally the most recommended and used and the ATI tuners are known to be a bit temperamental.

Any special reason for going with vista? If you do go vista then you will want an extra gig of ram to stop it running slow as it does tend to overload systems with low amounts of ram.

Buy any case you like the look of doesn't matter there is a large selection of htpc or desktop cases around know that are suitable for home media use styled to look like normal audio or video equipment.

The keyboard you chose already comes a mouse....

Dial up bit old now,you need to use a dial up pci card they are very cheap and easy to set up and are internal.

With a home built pc you don't get a warranty on the whole system you get individual warranties on each component. All companies offer a free 3+year warranty on there products. We tell you only the tried and tested products though so the chance of anything breaking is minimal. If it does just post here and we can help you with all of your issues as you can see by other peoples threads by reading some other posts on the forum.

I have never used a microsoft remote, I think they're ugly and a bit limited in their use. depending how you go you can either get a keyboard and mouse with a gyro (the mouse reacts to hand movements like the Nintendo Wii remote) or get a third party remote hich depends on how much you want to spend you could go full out and buy this:
Kustom PCs Logitech Harmony 1000 Remote
middle of the road:
Kustom PCs Logitech Harmony 525 Remote
then the standard vista remote