<p>Definitely second ctnjpamom's suggestion. Before you make any purchase, check up with the school and see what they have to say regarding recommended systems (PCs/Macs/Specs, etc.) and required/recommended operating systems.</p>
<p>I recommend a Dell. Many people I know (friends and family) have had them with no problems whatsoever.</p>
<p>One thing that most people don't realize is that most computer companies use the same components. Dell doesn't make its own processors, hard drives, or much of anything. It uses the same stuff that other companies do. So it doesn't much matter who you buy a PC from -- it's the stats / components you choose that matter the most.</p>
<p>Since you seem rather inexperienced in computer buying, try to buy from a company with a reputation for good support.</p>
<p>okay, if you care about the name, dell is the way to go. But there are discount retailers (i.e. ibuypower or cyberpowersystems) which offer much cheaper prices (<$400). </p>
<p>i am also a little lost with those who say that spyware has anything to do with the computer itself? spyware is an executable SOFTWARE program that YOU have downloaded on your computer which usually is the cause for popups. Sometimes companies take advantage of the low security settings on your computer and download it on your computer themselves illegally.
it has nothing to do with the computer hardware itself</p>
<p>dukedreamer, the cheapest complete system (with 512MB Ram, WinXP Home, monitor, etc) is $739 from ibuypower.com and $669 from cyberpowersystem.com. Each almost $200 more than the complete Dell system. If my numbers are incorrect, I am more than happy to be proved wrong but throwing around "guesses" regarding the pricing at ibuypower and cyberpower isn't going to help the OP.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies. I will check out Dell, cyberpowersystems, ibuypower and other websites to get a desktop. But shoiuld I get an AMD Athlon or Intel? I dont know the difference between them. And I dont know how they measure speed of Athlon. Apparently athlons are cheaper.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Either will work fine. It's a bit tricky and difficult to find a place that offers complete AMDXP systems (they are really streamlining the AMD64 chips) and those AMD64 systems will be more expensive than Pentium 4 powered units (with 533MHz FSB ala the Dell). Your best bet would be to take a look around, window shop, and then post your proposed specs here and we can help you out.</p>
<p>AMDs are your best "bang for you buck." IMO only the P4 is better than a AMD</p>
<p>How about getting a new desktop from "Dell Outlet". I think that is the "Refurbished Dimention Stockroom". The prices there are pretty low. Like there is one deal where you get a P4 2.8 Ghz, with 1 GB RAM, and other softwares included for only $400. Does someone know how bad these products are? THey have very attractive deals.</p>
<p>anyone??? can someone reply ?</p>
<p>They aren't bad. They are refurbished, previously used models. Double check the warranties on the products and you'll be safe.</p>
<p>We have a Dell and the hard drive did crash but they were there two days later to replace it. The service is pretty good enen if the foreign tech expert named "jason" has a hard to understand accent.</p>
<p>Oh , so it is allright to buy from the Dell Outlet (the refurbished store). I found some really good machines on there, I hope it would be fine. Anyone having hard time with Dell Outlet?</p>
<p>get a mac mini. </p>
<p>you don't know how amazing macs are.</p>
<p>if you're into multitasking (like having aim on, playing music, watching a video, downloading a huge file, scanning for viruses, typing up a document, while running an internet browser and burning a dvd) on a pc you wouldn't be able to do it. Well you can but it stalls a LOT, and becomes extremely slow. However on a mac, it feels llike it didn't get slower if you let the computer running with no applications on.</p>
<p>macs also last a lot longer (in terms of becoming obsolete). pcs need to be upgraded constantly otherwise they become old and are not up to par with new software.</p>
<p>macs are more durable hardware and software-wise. </p>
<p>and they look a lot nicer as well.</p>
<p>thus, the extra money spent on buying a mac is better in the long run (meaning the next 4 years). don't forget that you should wait to get a computer until your college gives you school benefits and you can try checking out the refurbished sections also (oftentimes the "refurbished" orders are just items where people configured computers and received the wrong specifications!)</p>
<p>Do I need to get higher memory to work with a mini mac?</p>
<p>Don't buy a compaq/hp, they're crap. They don't include operating system CD's in the package. All they give you is a crappy recovery CD that wont help if your hard drive gets fried forcing you to buy the OS again(happened to me). If you can, buy xp pro too. I've heard of universities that sell windows xp pro for a little as 10 bucks.</p>
<p>sincerestudent, most users can stick with the 256 and not feel a thing. if it does feel kinda delayed (which it never does), see if yoru old computer has the same ram that is compatible for the mini mac. if so, you can plug it in.</p>
<p>if it isn't compatible or u need it for the other computer, just buy some ram from staples or online (cheapest). Apple doesn't tell u this but apple RAM IS NOT DIFFERENT FROM PCS. go on google.com and type Apple RAM.</p>
<p>and if u dont believe me that apples are superfast, go to an apple store and open up like 100 internet browsers, a movie, and open a lot of programs. </p>
<p>then try it on a pc :)</p>
<p>edit: apple already comes with its own suite of word editing programs that are very similar to microsoft word, powerpoint, excelt, and are compatible with microoft office.</p>
<p>and if you need microsoft office for apple 1) its 100 dollars cheaper than the pc version (kinda ironic isn't it?) 2) its more stable and most users say its beter than the pc version 3) find someone on campus (there's like 14,000 people on campus) and just borrow their microsoft office disc for apple. microsoft charges 500 bucks for office xp on pcs (for a piece of fricking software!!!!!!!)</p>
<p>Whoa. Where are you getting that $500 figure from? Office 2003 (Student/Teacher edition) can be had for less than $40 bucks up here at BYU while the Professional edition costs about $80. Compared to the Apple Store that sells the software at $150 and $500, respectively.</p>
<p>office xp professional was 500 in the staples flyer</p>
<p>Hi, I'm a second-year at UVA.
What I recommend is that you buy a laptop instead of a desktop.
As you'll prolly find out, laptops are a lot more convenient to deal with.
Just purchase any laptop from a decent company (Dell is the best as far as I know.), and you'll be satisfied all your times at college.</p>
<p>Or you could just live without one if you wish to save money. That's what I'm doin' right now and I feel little discomfort, since you could use public computers just about anywhere on the Grounds.</p>
<p>"Don't buy a compaq/hp, they're crap. They don't include operating system CD's in the package. All they give you is a crappy recovery CD that wont help if your hard drive gets fried forcing you to buy the OS again(happened to me)."</p>
<p>Dell does this too now, and they have strange motherboards. Other than that they are the best big OEM. If you want some solid AMD systems, check out Polywell (I think its polywell.com) but really the best thing to do is build it yourself. On the college campus you will have plenty of support (other students and the school helpdesk), so you can get help with any problems. Since most colleges provide WinXP and office for low prices (like another poster said...~$10 vs. several hundred for everything). I guess that wont help you now, but maybe you can buy it on an accepted students weekend type trip (or you can stick an old version/double up on licenses until you get there). Dell may be getting discounts on everything, but you are still paying a fair amount to get XP pro and a full Office on the computer that you wouldnt have to pay if you ordered parts from newegg or a barebones system somewhere.</p>