so yeah im moving out and going to community college
I am getting 500 from my dad..... im thinking about building a computer but not really sure
can anyone reccomend me a new computer w/monitor or a good laptop?
thanks!

there are tons of options out there,
btw i really recommend those sites that built a computer for you,
you will save lots of money.

build your own man! with how fast part progress is now a days you can build a decent PC for ~1k.
mine came in at ~1400 with monitor, speakers, headset, and an expensive gaming keyboard and mouse(gotta have the best to pwn the nubs!)(edit: also mine is built for OC'ing so its kinda different)
i build pc's for friends, so feel free to pm me if you have any questions or need advice or anything

This post has been edited by aflacattack: Aug 13, 2008 - 1:06 AM

if you have not built a computer before, i would HIGHLY not recommend you build one.

The main reason is because compatibility of the parts with vista.

I suggest you get a dell computer or laptop.

I've been researching on building a new computer, and its is very very hard to build the same system dell can make at the price they offer.

newegg!

these are what some other people said:
1.uh go with a compaq model like s142 comes with pentium 4 160 g mem cd wrting but you just need to buy a extra cd port to burn. Only like $599 so you should look into it.
2.macbook+free ipod?

or build it yourself

e8400 wolfdale
169.99

geforce 9800 gtx
219.99

antec 900
119.99

ASUS P5E motherboard
224.99

seagate barracuda 500 gb hdd
99.99

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W
59.99

that puts you at 894.94...

whats the best right now in the thread that everyone has said?

before i go any farther, have you built a PC before or do you have a friend that can build a PC?

AND... NEWEGG FTW! also svc computer, and tigerdirect, but mainly NEWEGG!

This post has been edited by aflacattack: Aug 13, 2008 - 4:15 AM

As an IT tech I'm going to say if you don't know what your doing or have a friend that knows what they are doing go buy a Dell they have sum great deals on 160gig HD 2mg RAM at the moment.

Then at least you have onsite service and a warranty friends suck when it comes to a warranty.
Hope you find what meets your needs

PS you need at least 2gig RAM to operate vista reasonably well so don't grab the 1gig Package thing your going to save a lil cash if you decide to go the dell route.

Ok I'll shut up now

i was gonna give him a parts list that i used with a couple of updates ^_^ thats why i wondered if he know how to build one or not..
and i hate dell, i'm completely anti dell, even though when i worked in networking we were a dell reseller(why i hate them actually)
and i own a dell laptop, but if i could build my own laptop i would! and Ninjas>pirates! dont even start that! hehe

There is no such thing as a good laptop under $1,000. And I agree...my Dell did suck. Overheated a lot and even fried my hard drive.

I'd get a desktop.They are less expensive and you can build a mini-ATX style so it's wicked small. Don't listen to the people telling you NOT to build one if you haven't before...people are so afraid of the world...I'd like to remind people... IF WE DIDN'T TALK TO STRANGERS AND DIDN'T TRY AND LEARN NEW THINGS THE WORLD WOULD NOT EXIST!!!!!!!

At any rate...I'll be the first and most intelligent observer and ask the RIGHT question...considering I OWN a computer company...


What would you be using the computer for? List everything.

I would deffinatly build one, 1k is a decent amount although limiting if your buying everything (monitor/speakers etc.) but you can get a decent desktop together for that price.

Newegg FTW.

if you really want a cheap build all you need is a mobo, cpu, ram and hard drive. (of course a monitor keyboard and everything else).

I priced out a quadcore AMD build with an Asus mobo (onboard video/sound for now) 80GB HDD 1 gig ram for about $350.
Everything is really plug and play. All you need is an operating system, which can be installed to a USB drive (Linux works well for this however XP also works [since people have gotten XP onto an eeePC which lacks optical drives, I assume its possible])
If you really need an optical drive, they're dirt cheap aswell (like $20-$40 for a DVD-R drive)


However this is just my own style of computing, I like to think small, efficient and econo.
I own an Acer Aspire One sub-notebook and I run Ubuntu 8.04 on it. It gets the job done but its kind of hard dealing with the SSD (Solid State Drive) and the Intel Atom.

The only touph part about building you're own is figuring out what parts are compadible. Otherwise it's pretty simple. You can find a pretty decent laptop for a little less than $1k if you look around enouph, or get a decent desktop (not including monitor,mouse,keyboard,ect..) for $500-$1,000. I definately wouldn't go to a Mac with that price range, you won't find hardly anything...but HP,Toshiba, and ones like that you can find with about 2 gb RAM and 250gb HD for $500-$700, then just get some less-expensive accessories.

I'm actually in the same boat (sort of). I'm looking at either getting a good deal on a desktop from Fry's Electronics or building one...Still gotta save up a little though

>

i will be using the computer for school and mainly music....as I DJ im always on the keen to find new music
also i love videos....and would prefer a decent output as i am not gonna buy a TV when i move out as its a waste of time and money thanks

then you'll want to invest in a decent video card and sound card
a 9800gtx or w/e nvidia is calling it now a days and a high end soundblaster sound card.
then a decent processor and a good base motherboard.
for memory its cosiar or nothing for me. But a couple other brands make good memory.
and for a hard drive, if your gonna spend some money on it, get samsung spinpoint F1, single best hard drive on the market. i have one and a WD raptor 10k drive, the samsung outperforms it by a mile!
oh i forgot power supply. Stick to antec, enermax, or thermaltake(sp, and i dont have one, but i've only heard a few bad things about them) get one with over 500w rating.

now because the modern computer blasts out more heat then a hair dryer, your gonna want a case that has good airflow, but since its a budget pc your not gonna want to spend a lot on it. honestly, my server is living in a 25$ case modified to fit a couple 120mm fans in the side. but if you dont want to modify a case, then do research, google is your friend.

spend time looking up things on all the parts you want to buy, and run them by everyone you can. The more time you spend looking up stuff the less head aches you will have later. and i agree completely with what 97celica said, building pc's is fun, and i love doing it! plus, its a great skill to have cause you can save some money!(or lose it if your not careful, yay overclocking!)

This post has been edited by aflacattack: Aug 13, 2008 - 11:39 PM