What are the best computer brands out there?

[Joe the Liberal]

My computer is on it's last legs, I may need to buy a new one soon and this time I want to buy one that is reliable and that will last for years. Can anyone recommend some good brands?

[CK_John]

2. Computers are no longer branded and have reached the level of a commodity, IMO.

They no longer pretend to last forever or claim to be unique.

It's now a lb for lb world, or how much did you get for each buck you spend. To me they are all the same, buy on looks and price and expect 3yrs of usage.

This is just my opinion and market people will still be shilling for their brand or OS.

[Joe the Liberal]

4. Ah so brand no longer matters......

so I should just buy whatever one has the best specs within my price range?

[CK_John]

1. to me the amount of RAM is the deal maker, you need at least 3GB.

Also a great misconception is the amount of Hard Drive storage you need. The average machine I work on uses about 9 GB if the person is over 40 and 20 GB of usage under 40(mostly music).

Also I have noticed the larger the HD the sooner it has problems and the more sensitive it is to shock and head crash. To me a 60 GB drive will be more than anyone will need.

[Joe the Liberal]

3. Yea RAM is a deal maker for me too.....

The computer I'm on now doesn't have very much which is another reason why I'd soon like to upgrade to a better one. When I bought this one I really didn't know anything about RAM or storage space until I tried installing a few games and it told me I was almost out and that I would have to uninstall a few things. Anyways thanks for your input, I'll keep that in mind.

[Statistical]

10. Another +1 on RAM. RAM is so cheap go w/ 4GB.

Anyone buying a new system should demand 64bit and 4GB in 2 DIMM (2x2GB) that ensure later you can upgrade to 8GB.

I disagree with your HDD claim. HDD are stuck at 7200rpm. They get faster by increasing size. Since physical size isn't larger and capacity goes up density increases. This means for a given amount of time more data passes under the head and is able to read or written.

Since HDD are slowest component a change in speed of drive is substantial to overall performance. Now Solid State Drives (SSD) leap ahead in performance however they are much much more expensive right now.

[Dead_Parrot]

5. Personally, I'd get one built by a local PC shop

That way you can go and kick some arse if it dies on you in the warranty period, and they should be in a good position to help after it expires.

You might also find you save a bit of money, get a machine free from the usual crapware, and if they're half sharp they can talk to you about getting the right spec for your needs: Just ask around first and make sure they have a good reputation.

If you do want a branded one, my choice would be Lenovo since even with their sliding standards they're still pretty solid. HPs are mainly good but some machines turn out to be turkeys and the support can be teeth-grinding: Same for Dell, although they make up for that with decent prices.

I wouldn't touch Acer with a barge pole.

Disclosure: This PC is cobbled together from spares (80GB HDD, 384MB RAM and a 900Mhz Duron - thank god for linux :)), Mrs_P has a shop built machine, and I've a slightly used HP Pentium D box sitting here waiting for Mandriva 2010. (tick, tick, tick)

[canetoad]

6. Along with what the others have said

It helps to list the things you use the computer for as a guide to what you should look for in a new one.

If you have a lot of portable devices it helps to have a few front usb ports. If you see yourself ever needing two monitors, make sure the graphics support this. If you plan to use it for media storage (movies, etc) mabye you do need extra drives. If your printer only has a parallel connection, check the back for same.

Other than that, I agree with getting a No Name from your local computer shop with the best components your budget allows.

[madokie]

7. Of the ones I've had or have had apart

for others has, for the most part, had the same components in them whether they were one brand or the other, mostly tiawain made or china made motherboards, drives, memory etc. I'm going to be building mine from now on unless I happen to find a deal that I can't pass up on a branded one. I have a dell 4700 now that I bought in 12 - '01 that had to have the maxtor 160 hd replaced under warrantee and it seems to still be chugging along. I added a gig of memory early on but other than that I've just been using it. Oh and it has the same ole china and tiawain made parts in it as the others do too.

[david13]

8. I think what the others have said. HD size is not that important,

like somebody said. But RAM can be. Brand names don't seem to mean much. White box special is your best bet.
Be able to change components yourself.
I don't trust any of the local build shops. They sell used (not working) junk as new. They aren't always that sharp, and they don't tend to honor any warranty.
Here there are some bad 'local' shops.
Fry's allows you to do a build your own. That way you know what's in there.
dc

[CK_John]

9. What do you need on your computer? This is something that drives rigid

personalities crazy. Example, someone with over a 10000 floppy disc went bonkers when she brought a new machine at Wally world and about 10 days later realized there was no floppy drive. Finally convinced her to get a couple of flash drives and different color tags and showed her how to save her files to the flash drives, and promised I would get her a USB floppy drive if she needed it.

Another un-needed device is a printer, IMO. We have a local shop that provides office services.

I think a cd/dvd players is a also coming up fast on my do not need list.

Set aside a few bucks(about $80) and buy several 2 to 4GB flash drives and a couple of 10GB drives.

[Joe the Liberal]

19. I don't need too much......

I mostly just browse the web on it these days and occasionally play a video game so more RAM and storage space is high on the list. I usually buy a graphics card separately and install that on my own. cd/dvd players I already have on this one, i think those are pretty standard these days.

[DainBramaged]

11. Dell is no longer a good value, HP is bloated with crapware

Gateway is owned by Acer (who owns Emachines too).Tough call. Depends on your needs. Are you a gamer or do you simply surf the web and maybe save pictures from a camera? Today, EVERYTHING is dual core with lots of memory, so anything under $500 would be fine.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+Desktop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Dual-Core+Processor/9174458.p?id=1218044490195&skuId=9174458


And then there is this beauty for $199


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+AspireRevo+Nettop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Atom%26%23153%3B+Processor/9535434.p?id=1218120545008&skuId=9535434

[Cassandra]

12. When I had this problem 4 years ago...

several people here suggested a custom build and gave me a suggested list of components. I enlisted the help of a subsidized 19 year old who spent 12 1/2 hours in my apartment putting together the components I got from newegg.com. Actually, building took about an hour and a half. The rest of the time was spent in partitioning the hard drive and downloading on dial-up. I only put in 1G of RAM but am expandable to 4 and will put in the rest soon. Soon after I was up and running, a friend asked me for the list of components, showed it to a friend, and found something almost identical on tigerdirect.com. I have been very happy with this computer. Here's the list of what I bought back then (prices on much of this have probably come down since then):
MS WIN XP HOME w/SP2 SINGLE PACK % - OEM (Qty=1,Price=$93.95)
CASE FAN|SS 120MM BK| RL-FN121 R - Retail (Qty=1,Price=$7.49)
MB ASUS A8N-VM CSM GF6150 939 - Retail (Qty=1,Price=$86.00)
KB&MS LOGTCH|INTERNT PRO DSKTP BLK% - OEM (Qty=1,Price=$16.00)
CASE ANTEC|SLK3800B BK 400W RET - Retail (Qty=1,Price=$99.99)
MODEM AOPEN PCI V.92 FM56-SVV RTL - Retail (Qty=1,Price=$9.99)
DVR|PIONR DVR-110DBK DVD+/-RW-RAM % - OEM (Qty=1,Price=$39.99)
CPU AMD 64 |3200+ ATHLON 64 939P RT - Retail (Qty=1,Price=$171.00)
MEM 1G|CRUCIAL D400 CT12864Z40B % - OEM (Qty=1,Price=$92.00)
FD 1.44MB|SAMSUG SFD321B/LBL1 % - OEM (Qty=1,Price=$8.50)
HD 160G|ST 7K 8M ATA100 ST3160812A - OEM (Qty=1,Price=$85.00)

What it cost for 1G of RAM then is more than 3G are now.

[CK_John]

13. In 4yr power requirement have doubled, OS (Vista/Win7)need 2GB to boot, motherboards

require liquid cooling systems(dual/quad core) processers.

Just like trying to find a local car shop that has the tools and the know how to work on new cars, the local computer guy is now myth. The small towns are loosing their supply outlets and it is cheaper to replace than fix most systems.

[Cassandra]

14. Wow!

I think I'll stick with XP for a while longer.

[RoyGBiv]

15. Well, that may be overstating it ...

Certainly the "local computer guy" is a myth in the sense of that guy having a shop out of which to work. The Big Box stores have taken over pretty much. Oddly enough, it's sometimes easier to find a local shop in a smaller town if there's a market at all. There's a guy in the town where I grew up who still has a shop that he's had since, oh, 1984 or so. Town only has a population of around 15,000 and can't support a Best Buy or what have you. His biggest competition is Wal Mart and mail order.

The larger power requirement is largely a function of graphics cards. High-end "gamer" systems can have up to four high-end, power hungry graphics cards in them sucking out every last drop of power they can pull. The higher requirements of operating systems is indeed a part of this since all the eye candy requires a decent graphics card all by itself, and then the games, the 3D modeling, the playing of 1080p video all put a heavy strain on the graphics subsystem. But these systems are vast overkill for most people. Hell, some of them aren't even necessary for the people who use them, but those people *think* they need all that horse power or simply want it for bragging rights. Gamer forums will often give some insight into this. My piddly dual-core system that was high-end four years ago can play most modern games just fine, and it really torks some people I've just managed to smash to pieces in an online game when they find out I'm running an old Buick while they've got a modern Ferrari. It's turned into golf. "My game sucks ... I must need a new club." So, they go out and spend a billion dollars on a new set of custom made clubs, but their game still sucks.

As for liquid cooling, no one really *needs* that. That continues to be the arena of hardcore over-clockers and those who just like the bling for the sake of bling. In fact, one of the advances in motherboard and CPU technology has been, overall, to reduce the power requirements of the CPUs and to build boards with proper advanced heat sinks and heat control systems that don't even require the kind of case ventilation that was necessary four years ago. Of course, exceptions exist, but, again, this is the world of the over-clockers, which tend to be hardcore those gamers.

The quad-core system I built for my cousin not long ago, to use an example, doesn't go over 50 degrees Celsius at load, and it's using the stock CPU heat sink and fan. It also has a 430W power supply, which supplies more than the juice she needs.

And I guarantee you I can still fix most systems less expensively than you can purchase a new one *of the same quality*. Sure, you can get really cheap systems, but they're not good systems. They are the kind they are hard to work on and aren't really meant to last more than a couple years.

If you really want a quality system you have to build it yourself or find the hidden local shop or individual who can do it for you. That system I built for my cousin would have cost her around $1200. I actually modeled it off a system she'd seen that she thought was "pretty." The one she got was actually better, and I put it together for around $800, OS, monitor, and a small amount for my labor included.

[Dead_Parrot]

16. rubbish

Unless you have it decked out like a Christmas tree, power requirements aren't stupidly high: 300W will cover a basic system nicely, 400W will push a core 2 quad w. 4GB ram, DVD burner and a TB HDD easily. You only need to go higher if you got multiple HDDs or a fat-ass graphics card in there. Or it was built by monkeys.

Vista & Win 7 will boot with 512MB, but it will be faster with more: 1Gb is recommended for basic stuff, more if you plan on gaming. W7 will burble along on 512MB and a 600Mhz processor quite happily.

Liquid cooling on a normal PC is for those people who put stripes down the side of their car to make it go faster. Epic fail.

A quick google suggests dozens of small IT shops scattered around NY: The tricky bit will be finding out which are the good ones.

[CK_John]

17. Around here (town 3500 biggest in the county) computer repair shops are

as rare as TV repair shops.

[Dead_Parrot]

18. Possibly

But Cassandra's in NY, and Joe's in Denver: They both seem to have options on local suppliers without resorting to the box-shifters.

[CK_John]

20. Just to show MS specs for Vista/Windows 7 before we confuse everyone

Win7
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/system-requirements.aspx>

Vista
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/get/system-requirements.aspx>