A little feedback please - I need a home use desktop computer?

Question

I am shopping for a decent and simple desktop for the house. that can be used by the kids , and the wife. Has windows operating sw including Word and other tools. I would love to look at MAC's but know they are very expensive.
typical web surfing, homework projects, game use.
Dell and HP advertise desktops from $399 with free monitors sometimes. I am trying to find out if those computers are good quality and the deals are too good to be true.
I do not want to spend a lot of money (would love to spend just between $300-600) but do also want the best value and no problems.
Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

I recommend getting a Mac. They are not particularly expensive -- you can get a new Mac mini (which I recommend) for as little as $549, and you can often find good deals on used Macs. If you are affiliated with any sort of educational institution, Apple gives big discounts.

While Macs may cost slightly more than a rockbottom Windows computer, they are worth it: Mac OS is a much, much better designed operating system than Windows (almost no viruses!), and if you really need Windows programs, you can run them on a Mac (particularly one of the new Macs with Intel chips), whereas you can't easily run Mac software on a Windows computer. Apple's hardware also tends to be of high quality.

You can also save money by not buying Microsoft Office -- you don't need it. NeoOffice/J for Mac ( http://www.neooffice.org ) and OpenOffice for Windows ( http://www.openoffice.org ) are very similar to Microsoft Office, and understand Microsoft Office files, but are available free of charge.

Answer 2

Those will be fine computers, so as long as you take care of them. Run a good anti virus/antispyware program and keep a good firewall up and any computer should run for a good deal of time. They will not run any processor intensive games or serious applications though. So be careful and make sure you get a computer for your needs. You mention Word and other tools, I could guess email, web, etc. These computers would be fine for these tasks.

If you do go to the Dell route, here are some coupons: http://www.24houredeals.com/dell-coupons-23-mer.html

If you go the HP route, here are the HP Shopping coupons: http://www.24houredeals.com/hpshopping-coupons-359-mer.html

Answer 3

My advice to people looking to purchase a computer is to ask themselves 3 questions.
1. what do i want the computer to do for me?
2. What software package or programs do I need to accomplish these tasks
3. What computer package is best suited to run these programs that are in my budget range.
I thing that both HP and Dell would meet your requirements.
One more suggestion, get a computer with 1 Gig of Ram and a 100 Gig hard drive as minimum requirements.

Answer 4

You need to make comparisons other than price. Compare OP speed (GHZ's) Hard drive memory (MB's) RAM (MB's) monitor size etc. If you are playing games also watch for video card memory. For each of these items, the higher the better.

Answer 5

For that money it really doesn't matter what you go for, it's going to be mediocre in performance. I would take HP over Dell because Dell's are easier to upgrade and replace parts.

Regards EDD

Answer 6

Dell is a good deal, but stay away from their printers, the cost of ink will bankrupt you.

Answer 7

pls which part of the world do you come from
let me know

Answer 8

you can try this : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2705729&Sku=G153-GT4016%20KIT