Buying a new PC ($500-$700) - Need opinions

[goosenamedal]

I've got some extra cash and I would really like to purchase an extra PC so me and my g/f stop fighting over the one we currently have.

I would only like to spend around $500-$700 dollars on it, I'm not an extreme gamer so I dont need the greatest PC. Pretty much all I do is listen to music, watch videos and play WoW. Maybe a few FPS's here and there.

The computer I have now I built buying all the parts at New-egg and even though it was only around $600 and was better than most you can buy pre-built at the time its just not worth the hassle of shipping/building.

I work at wal-mart so I would prefer to buy one there so I can use my 10% discount to my advantage. The problem is they only have select PC's avaliable.

The brands are:

E-Machines (Havn't heard anything good about)
Everex (never even heard of them)
Compaq (Heard some bad things but never experienced one)
HP (Not too bad, probably the one I'm going to go with.)

I'm wondering what your opinions are about these different brands and if you have any suggestions they are more than welcome.

Thanks for your help in advance,
Goose named Al

 

[gmanych]

Well here is a list of parts for building. If you dont know how to or dont want to build then email me at gmanych@hotmail.com and i will sort something else out. But be assured you wont get much out of $700

Cpu:AMD Athlon 64 3800 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 - $109
Mobo:ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX - $85
Graphics:BIOSTAR GF 6600GT 256MB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express x16 - $119
Ram: Mushkin Value 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 - $97
HDD:Western Digital Caviar 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE - $55
Case:COOLER MASTER Black /Blue Aluminum Bezel - $44
PSU: JUST PC JPC-P4DF450C-BLUE ATX12V 450W - $31
Optical:NEC Black DVD RW - $29
Os: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 w/SP2B - $109
Mouse & Keyboard:Logitech Cordless Internet Pro Desktop USB - $25

Total $594

This system is pretty good. Its pretty good value and it would be great for music apps and games. It will run most games. It will run WOW on high. Again if you dont want to build I can get you a prebuilt system as well but you will have to sacrifice in power. My email is gmanych@hotmail.com

Cheers

P.S All this information was found on www.newegg.com

 

[aliasaid]

even after a 10% discount, you still won't get as great a computer as building it yourself... BUILD IT YOURSELF!! either do what gmanych suggested, or something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811119068

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813135011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814150186

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817104954

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231051

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103735

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152020

total: $701.93

i guess you could downgrade some stuff to make it more affordable....

 

[goosenamedal]

I appreciate the input you've both given me. Biggest part for me is the wait. I'm incredibly lazy/anxious so that combo makes for nothing good. I also need a monitor with the $500-$700 price range. Its possible I might build something but I'm not sure. I'm going to go out shopping later today to check it out and I will see then..

Thanks!