Whats a good computer to get?

Question

OK well I'm thinking of getting a new computer either a Laptop or a Desktop, I'm wondering what the best brands are that are out in the world today? I'm looking for something that has lots of memory(or be able to add memory in the future), and one that has lots of Hard drive space(or be able to add space in the future), also it has to have a cd burner. I'm looking to not spend more than 2,500.00 or so

Answer 1

if you are looking for hard working pcs then go for a Dell or HP... other wise Apple, IBM, TOSHIBA are good..

I recommend Dell or HP.. visit to the HP web.. you can customize and decide..

Answer 2

If you have the time to read about building desktops. You can learn how to put them together and buy the parts online and design your own system. Make it as expandable as you want.

Laptops generally aren't as expandable because of their size and are limited on space. Additionally they costs more due to smaller sizes of hardware.

You could build a sweet desktop for around 1800-2000 that would be upgradeable in the future.

The downfall is you have to purchase all your software OEM and absorb that costs additionally.

The other route is to look online for customizable desktop purchasing. Plenty of places out there. Tiger Direct has some options like that for desktops and laptops. Most non computer savvy individuals will buy a Dell, HP, or Sony though.

In the laptop arena I'd probably go with Sony VAIO, Dell, or a custom one. But your limited in the Hard drive space as well as expandable space.

If you going to build a desktop just find an Integrated RAID (redundant array of independent disks) setup and you can expand that with hard drives in the future. This also allows you to backup your data so its never lost. I used to run Raid 0 with 4 hard drives (60 gigs per drive, and had 230 gigs space appearing as one drive). But it crashed and I lost it all so I reverted to a Raid 1 (2 - 240 gig drives) that are mirroring each other so if one drive dies, the other is there to run the system until I replace the failed drive.

All laptops and drives are cheap these days even for DVD / CD burner combos.

If you goto http://pricewatch.com/ you can find some good Bare Bones deals with is basically a case, motherboard, cpu, ram, graphics card, monitor, keyboard, mouse for around 600-800 unassembled.

Answer 3

For $2500 you can get a whole lot of desktop computer and fairly good laptop. Basically all the Windows PCs manufactured use an Intel reference design, now it's just a matter of who do you trust to buy it from? The top vendors are Dell, HP and Lenovo (bought IBM's laptop business).

My recommendation is to get the one with the fastest, newest Intel CPU that you can afford. Don't bother with the extended warranty. If you get a desktop buy one in the "larger" chassis, they do a much better job of cooling themselves than those slim line chassis, which helps prevent things from crapping out. You can always add memory/HDD space later. Getting the latest CPU means you also have the newest CPU support chips and fastest bus.

For Vista you should get at least 2Gb of memory. 80Gb or greater HDD are common now. For a desktop get a big flat screen monitor (I have a Dell 21" it's bitchin), for a laptop get a 15.4" or greater screen. Also, consider a DVD/CD-R combo burner. A DVD can hold 4.7Gb of data, very sweet if you want to back up a large music library or picture library. CDs hold 720Mb, which seems like a lot, but a pain when you want to back up 100's of MP3s.

Also, down the road consider getting an external backup HD. I have an external Seagate that holds 300Gb of data(~$150), connects via USB. Yet another, faster easier way to do regular backups and/or move all your data between computers.

Another must is a Uninteruptable Power Supply, if you go the desktop route. Another thing for small $(~$50) that you can add later, but is the best protection you can get for that investment.

Also - don't bother with Symantec(Norton), McAfee, Zone etc.. virus programs. Get Spyware Doctor (w/Virus) or F-Secure. Those are the only products on the market today capable of detecting rootkits, which is the latest ploy used to hide malware/virus etc.. from the traditonal virus scanners. I have current McAfee on my system, got an email from my service provider that spam was being sent by my pc and to run a virus scanner to get rid the trojan on my machine that was doing it. McAfee says' I'm clean. F-Secure found 9 virus's.

Answer 4

The Mac Pro with two processors, two cores each for fast multitasking of demanding apps. Able to upgrade up to 16 gigs of ram and 3 terabytes (3,000 gigabyte) of hard drive space in "the future"

Answer 5

With that money u'll buy the best computer. Usually, Dell' s more popular & cheaper. HP, IBM are all more or less same. Sony's a bit expensive and looks nice. Panasonic looks cool and expensive. Bottom line is basically there's no huge difference in performance, but expensive ones have more cool outlook. Checkout cnet.com for reviews.

Answer 6

Get HP, you may customize it the way you like at http://hp.com/ . This is a very good company, it would have all the things you want and you may add extra if you want to. Have 3 hp two desktops and 1 laptop and they are working real good.

Answer 7

wow, I haven't spent over !,000 on a cpu in my life, and have a one gig memory, 100 gig Drive C, 90 gig extra drive.

I buy mine from a dealer who BUILDS them to my specs, to accomplish what I desire them to do.

I have only utilized a desktop.

As for laptops/notebooks -- my son builds those and he again would build one to spec.

So my idea -- find a local, REPUTABLE, dealer, who builds, guarantees, computers/laptops.

I've found the problem of buying generic computers is the cost of repairing, and the long down time when something goes wrong. I am usually down only over night and do not have to ship my unit anywhere.

As for the keyboard and Monitor. I purchase the microsoft natural keyboard with operations to the computer -- $50.

I would invest in a flat screen monitor. HP offers them from 90 to 400 dollars.

I would also invest in an HP all in one for the work I do. The one I have allows me to scan (color b/w) fax, copy (color b/w) print and print photos from my digital camera.

Answer 8

You can buy a Dell and get it custom made for your requirements. Vision also makes a good PC, HP of course is also a good name. I recommend Dell as they have been good machines and provide decent support.

Answer 9

you can get a seriously amazing computer if your willing to spend that much

buy something GOOD, like HP (which are great...i have one...its working out excellently...)

i would get a panasonic tough book if i had that much money...they will NEVER fail you...

Answer 10

Dell has great laptops and excellent warranty. Stay away from Gateway.