Need advise on computer shopping.

[Jim Oaks]

Hey all, I'm looking for some advice from you computer savy guys.

First, a little background:

I have (2) computers;

1) A Compaq Presario I bought in 1998 that I still use strictly for running my vinyl cutter.

2) A Toshiba Satellite laptop I bought at the end of 2004. The laptop has an 'A' key that won't stay snapped down in place and the screen has had a wide blue line in it for almost a year because the screen is shot. Also, my laptop has been sent back to Toshiba twice for repairs because it was overheating. Once required a new fan.

I need a new computer. and I spend a lot of time on the computer.

I don't use my computer for music or games. Just for maintaining my websites, email and editing photos.

Vanessa and I was in Best Buy tonight and I looked at (4) computers:

A new Compaq Presario,an emachine, an HP and another Toshiba laptop.

I'm not sure what to get. The emachines are the most economical. A decent computer and monitor can run up around $500-$600 for computer and monitor. The Toshiba laptop was around $650 and had 3gigs of memory.

I'm not sure about the Toshiba because of the bad luck I had with my current one from 2004.

Not sure if I want to get rid of the old Presario for a new desk top computer and get the Toshiba fixed, or just get a new laptop and get rid of the old Presario and desk tops completely.

I figured I'd ask you guys for advice on what type of computer you would get. What to stay away from as far as brands and models.

I want to stay under $700.

Thanks!

 

[pocket-rocket]

My friend does some pc repair on the side, and out of all the brands he has seen, Toshibas seem to be at the top for problems. I myself have an old Sony Vaio I bought back before XP was out that I use in the garage to play my mp3's and for computer tuning in my car and I haven't really had any problems with it. My friend that does the pc repair has an HP himself, and personally I think HP builds a nice system. I can't say much on the Compaqs or Emachines because I haven't messed with them much myself, but I figured I would let you know your not alone in your problems with your Toshiba.

 

[Will]

They are all shit. They are made on every island in the Wast Pacific and who knows. You just have to pick one and hope you dont get a lemon.

I think the Apple ones are the best built. But I hate their operating system. Its probably wonderful but I bought my wife a Mac Mini a year ago and still have trouble navigating it. But she uses it and I've never had to fix it--rare for me to have an object within site or hearing for very long that doesn't show its ass. I am too used to Windows. I also had 3 years of Spanish and didnt even learn the bad words. But you can put WIndows on a MAC. I'm going to do that for my next computer. The MAC seems just so much better built. Everyone builds a PC. Windows on a MAC is like the Cummins in a Superduty I think.

 

[SawyerRanger]

I've had an emachine since 2004, and it was the most economical (most bang for your buck) at the time as well. I freakin love it. The only thing I've done to it since then is a new graphics card for playing video games. It may not run the most top of the line extreme 2008 games, but it still competes fairly well. and I use it for pretty much everything, school, games, music, pictures, projects, etc. I'm not very forgiving but it still puts up and runs great. For some reason, people in my area (the computer buffs) seem to think emachines are crap.. Personally I don't think they've ever had one. But anyway, they're still the most economical and last long, mine came with technology that wasn't outdated for about 2 years afterwards, which I believe is a decent amount of time with the way new technology flies out.


EDIT: I love Will's analogy haha, Cummins in a Superduty. My brother has a macbook pro and they're pretty fun to use and they are really nice.

 

[3 of 7]

Hardware-wise, it's pretty hard to beat a dell desktop for what you described..

 

[srteach]

e machines are junk. they are the cheapest hardware, and one of the best markup computers out there.
Older toshibas have had problems, and recent ones are much better. I like Dell, but others dislike them. I have also had good experiences with Acer.
Whichever way you go, make sure that the computer system has at least twice the minimum ram that the operating system needs. If you have Vista (spit), figure out how to disable all the unneeded processes (search online). That alone will stabilize the operating system tremendously.
Stay with XP if you can.

 

[SawyerRanger]

Actually once Gateway took over they're quality increased and they got pretty good reviews.

 

[Jspafford]

I had an e-machines laptop bought it new at best buy. Within a month both hinges were cracked. I glued them and it worked until I sold it to someone on here because I never used it.

I bought Heather a Dell laptop for Christmas one year (for her college) Biggest POS I've ever owned, it locked up constantly right out of the box. It overheats all the time, and refuses to charge sometimes. I've had the Motherboard replaced twice under warranty.

I've always used HP's for my desktop. I will stick with HP.

I suppose if I was going to buy a good laptop I would buy an HP.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Does it matter if I have a Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800 processor?

 

[Jorley]

I have a Compaq Presario that I bought in Dec. 2004. All I've done is add a Nvidia graphics card and some RAM. I use it for gameing and going on-line. No problems until I installed Vista(Dec. 2007). But other then that I'll most likely get another HP if this one ever dies.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I was just looking at these:

eMachine

HP

Compaq

The eMachine and Compaq are close in price and seem to offer the same. HP is more but has a different processor.

 

[Jorley]

Isn't Compaq made by or a division of HP? When I googled it to get some info on it, I ended up on the HP website. Mine has the Intel P4 Celeron 2.53G processor and 1G ram. I also run a wireless mouse and keyboard.

 

[smokey]

E-machines are JUNK the Motherboards die in them all the time. Built with the cheapest parts they can find.
Compaq and HP are more or less the same computers. Hp owns compaq.
Of the two listed I would pic the HP.
I prefer Dell desktops. The main problems with them is the Harddrives. they use hatachi deathstar drives. the Hd's die quickly, but before they die they cause lock ups.
I am a dell tech and do Hp /compaq warrenty work.

 

[superdave1984]

I own 4 Dell desktops and 3 Dell laptops. All work perfectly and I have no complaints. What computer you get depends largely on it's intended use. I am not a fan of the AMD processors, but many are. My best advice is figure out the minimum requirements for what you want to run, then multiply your RAM by 8 and your processor by 16. EG if you want to run XP it's minimum is 200MHZ processor and 128 RAM. It will run, but just barely. Do the multiple and you have a 3.2GHz processor and a GB of RAM.

 

[Jaymz9350]

Does it matter if I have a Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800 processor?

for basic computing needs it doesn't really matter much, but as of now pretty much Intel is killing AMD in the performance sector.

For brands, HP is good and I've had no problems with Compaq since HP bought them (basically Compaq is just HP's lower end). I've also had good luck with Acer, though only had laptops from them. E-Machines is basically the bottom of the barrel when it comes to OEM pc's, yeah you might get lucky and and have one last forever but it's kind of like buying a RBV with an A4LD, may last forever but most likely will die prematurely.