I'm in the market for a new computer...

[NightTrain]

...and found one at Staple's that's within my price range. It sells for $459.98.

Before I buy it, however, I'd like to be sure that it's something that will give me a few years of good service in terms of ripping, posting and downloading MP3s, and creating my own CD comps. Those are the main things I do on my computer now (besides visiting DU, that is).

Anyway, here are the specs:

Compaq Presario S5000NX

Intel Celeron 2.5 Ghz
128 MB DDR RAM
40GB hard drive
48x CDRW
56k modem
64MB USA Graphics
10/100 Ethernet
6 USB (2.0) ports

I figured, I could get a computer-savvy friend to pull the CD-R burner out of my current computer and throw it into the new one, as well as put my current 30GB hard drive into the new computer, thus giving me a combined total of 70GB of storage space.

So, whaddaya think, computer experts? Would this machine be adequate for what I'd need a new P.C. to do?

[toddzilla]

1. find a local shop

pre-built computers suck ass, especially compaq, HP etc..

post your geographical location and i'm sure someone will have a recommendation.

and that graphics card is a joke. (edit)

[NightTrain]

2. I'm in the Hartford, CT, area

n/t

[Shakespeare]

5. DON'T BUY A COMPAQ! I might know of somebody you can buy from...

My ex-boyfriend's dad runs a build-it shop in New Britain, CT (which is pretty close to Hartford). I'll PM you his email addy so you can check with him. He's a real whiz, and even if you don't buy from him, he may be able to point you go a good deal elsewhere.

on edit: I bought a Compaq desktop a couple of years ago, and it was nothing but trouble from day one (and their customer service dept. SUCKS). I ended up building my own this spring--it's an excellent learning experience, and will save you money.

[Vitruvius]

24. Also, at least as of 6 years ago, a lot of standard PC parts wouldn't fit

in a Compaq. Forcing you to buy their parts at their price. (I had occasion to repair a friend's Compaq, and it was a bear.)

I never had this experience with any other PC.

[trotsky]

3. At a minimum, upgrade to 256 MB RAM. Memory is cheap.

If you can afford it, go to 512 MB. You will never regret having more memory. I assume this is a Windows XP system? It will be dog slow at 128 MB, reasonable at 256, and you shouldn't have any memory-related issues with 512.

Everything else looks more than adequate for what you plan to do.

On edit: My experience with pre-builts has varied all over the place. About the only thing that has annoyed me with the Presario line is that they tend to put on "fluff" software & whatnot for the novice home user. I don't know if it's as bad as it used to be, but you don't have to be leery of buying a Presario. The hardware itself, from what I've worked on, tends to be pretty decent.

[IronLionZion]

4. that graphics card blows

but should be fine if you never play games.

check out www.cyberpower.com to get a custom made one pretty cheap. also www.ibuypower.com is good.

if you plan on using Windows XP, you need at least 256 MB of memory to do anything, but I recommend 512MB since its cheap. I would also go for an Athlon processor instead of a Celeron. Athlon is good and cheap, Celron's are just defective Pentiums.

[Warren Stuart]

6. It's not the hardware as much as the software

Without an OS it won't do you much good.

A celeron processor with only 128 MB of Ram don't do much for me. You can barely load XP with 128 MB, 512 is more like it. Unless you have a home network the 10/100 card isn't going to do you much good. All machines should have USB 2, CD writers and video cards.

Only as 40 GB hard drive, well what do expect for less than $500?

No monitor? Printer?

Ya get what you pay for, and ya ain't paying much.

[Intelsucks]

7. As long as it doesn't have an INTEL processor, anything will do

I'll give you a hint... Buy AMD.

[jayfish]

18. I've Used AMD Processors Since...

the 386DX-40. I have always been a huge AMD supporter. Now I'm not so sure. It seems that AMD has developed a case of outsourceanoma.

AMD ready to extend Indian outsourcing plans

-SNIP-
SOURCES SAID AMD has not quite finished outsourcing jobs to India.
At a meeting held in AMD last Thursday, a plan was outlined to extend the outsourcing it undertook in June, when it laid off IT infrastructure and support staff.

See AMD completes Indian outsourcing move.

Staff working in the development and enterprise application division are to get their marching orders early in Q1.

The redundancies will be irrespective of performance, and when the latest move is completed, less than 20 AMD IT staff will be left working in the USA.

There will be more chiefs than endians left, the source claimed.
-SNIP-

Would someone give me just one thing to believe in?

Jay

[Intelsucks]

22. It doesn't stop there...

All AMD CPU's are manufactured/fabricated in Dresden, Germany. They just broke ground on another factory on the same property in Dresden a few weeks ago. We used to make them here in Austin, but now we have converted our fab to nothing but flash memory. :( The first 1GHz processor in the world was made in the building I'm in now, during the latter part of 1999.

[jayfish]

23. I Did Not Know All AMD Fab Work Was Done...

in Dresden now. Since I joined DU I haven't devoted nearly as much time to nuts and bolts PC stuff.

Jay

[ClintonTyree]

8. I bought an HP laptop..............

2 weeks ago. Compaq and HP are the same company now, ANYWAY, after spending 5 days on the telephone with customer service techs (who are all in INDIA by the way) and not being able to access the internet via DSL, (bad ethernet card I guess) I returned the piece of shit for a refund.
Now I have nothing against the people of India, but I have a VERY difficult time understanding them. We went over the same bullshit for 5 days, then they wanted me to send the computer in for service! A brand new stinking computer! I told them, "no thanks, I'll get a refund instead". You're better off getting something from someone locally who will support your purchase with local service.
That's just my humble opinion of course.

[frylock]

14. buy a toshiba..

best laptop on the market.

[trotsky]

21. I agree.

Toshibas are workhorses. They'll run and run and run. I have several of them that are 5+ years old doing various things around the office (Linux servers).

[catmandu57]

9. Why don't you get your friend

to install a larger hard drive and memory in your present system?

[madrchsod]

10. don`t buy it-

have someone build one for you,it may cost more but it`s worth it.crt monitors are dirt cheap. do not use x-home,it`s so full of crap you can`t go back 4-5 pages without freezing. my son put in x-pro, works great and i can go back and forward as fast as i can click.also check into linux os.

[Nlighten1]

11. Never ever buy a Presorryio

Or a Pavillion.

For that matter stay away from all consumer models of PCs. Go to HP.com or Dell.com and order a business model PC. They are better quality and easier to work on.

[Gloria]

12. What's the story on the e-Machines which are at Best Buy?? They

seem to have a choice available of chips (AMD Athlon, Celeron (never!) or the Pentium 4. The Best Buy guy here told me they could be worked on very easily, much easier than the Dells, Compaqs etc. that tend to shove in parts that are the cheapest at the time and then are hard to locate later. He said they charge double to work on Dells since they are a pain for that reason. He said the Compaq isn't quite as bad but....He said they had the "open" architecture that I've always gone for...all my computers have been built at a computer shop. Which means I've been considering one of these e-Machines.

[frylock]

17. i would advise that you don't purchase an emachine..

my dad had a bad experience with one, and he's an engineer. Too many onboard components, very cheaply made.

[Voltaire99]

13. Not a good idea, NightTrain

I've built several PCs for friends and family over the years, and here's my .02.

1) Build or have some one build it. At the low end, Compaq and other prefab machines are built from cheapo components. You'll end up paying in sluggish performance. You won't have an upgrade path, either.

2) You can easily assemble a reasonably good PC for between $500 and $700, depending on your needs (gaming needs drives up the price, however). It will be upgradeable. It isn't brain surgery, either: go into Barnes & Noble and you'll find several good books with pictures showing you how to do it.

3) If you were into gaming, I'd say go with the PC. But you'd need to add another $500 to have a decent PC gaming rig (that "2.5 ghz" Celeron is a crippled discount chip that lags way behind the speed of a Pentium 4; plus you'd need a much better video card).

4) Since you want to do music ripping and burning, why not get an Apple? They're superior in most respects for music (although with iTunes available for the PC now, that advantage is slipping) and more importantly for lack of crashes, bugs, viruses, etc -- I have one running right here alongside my PC. For sheer portability, get an $800 close-out iBook and take the tunes with you. If you need more hdd space, hook up a portable firewire drive. Bear in mind that if you go with the PC and run Windows XP, you're up against Microsoft's DRM, which is promising to get a lot more intrusive...

[denverbill]

15. I've got 2 similar machines at home.

Both of my have Athlons in them, but other than that, very similar. My comments?

Definitely need more memory, but for $70, you can buy another 256meg and install it yourself. I did that to both of mine.

Graphics card is bad, as is the sound card. I replaced both on the machine I use for playing computer games.

My stepdaughter uses the non-gaming one for downloading MP3s, etc, and hasn't had any real problems, afaik.

You get what you pay for. I had a 1 gig Athlon in my old computer, and both of these new machines kicked it's ass. Windows XP is also a tremendous step up from 98/ME for stability, imo.

I think it's not a bad machine for the price.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

16. first off

the specs are too low. 128 meg ram. 40 gig hd. 64meg graphics (USA GRAPHICS? LOL!). All of those specs are far too low, and by far too low i mean you should multiply each of those specs by two before its a computer i'd buy.

My suggestion, and I used to be a tech for one of the big boyz, is A) do the research and buy from a reputable online dealer of AMD cpu's B) go to a place down the street that will hook you up with same. EIther of the above two options could get you twice the computer for the same price Staples (ugh) has given you.

C) or go Dell. Have you seen how ridiculously low priced Dells are? (Granted, it's because most of their helpdesk techs are now in INDIA and most of the big boyz advocate prison labor to make components. The Government's take? Create a drug war, imprison african americans, teach them to be skilled techs creating computer components while serving extended sentences, outsource vast harvest of FREE labour to Dell,Compaq/HP. Welcome to the new world of Privatized Prisons, and the new slavery - Wackenhut http://www.wackenhut.com/) You will pay about $800, but you will be getting twice the computer than what staples is offering. You also get the assurance of knowing you are paying 200 more than you would if you went with A or B, and that all of that money is going to Michael Dell so he can do blow off strippers asses.

[BlueJazz]

19. Nighttrain...Look at this page before you buy.

http://www.pricepc.com/

[onebigbadwulf]

20. Stay away from

compaq and celeron at all costs.