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homer_simpson

homer_simpson

Well-known member
Alright, so I don't have a desktop at home but will be needing one, mainly for work. 

Would it be cheaper to just go buy one off the shelve or have someone put one together for me?

What do you guys recommend?  I'm not looking for anything special, just something that supports me surfing the web, using excel, access and sql server.  Not looking for a gaming comp with a gazillion speed.. but I do need something that supports dual monitors and wifi? 

As you can tell I don't know much about computers.  :(
 
I just purchased one last week for about the equal price of building it on my own.  I have built my own systems in the past but don't really have the time/patience right now to deal with it.  Maybe paid like 5-10% extra cause I upgraded the video card and of course, they charge 100 for like a 50 dollar upgrade.  But if I didn't upgrade that, probably would about been the same as building it myself.

What resolution/size montiors would you be doing dual monitors on?  Also, do you already have the monitors or is that part of the price?

 
i've been putting together my own desktop for years, but have recently gave in and just went and bought one from Dell.  Dell's and HP's are much quieter, since they're not spec'd with heat generating high end graphics cards etc.  I got a XPS 8500 i7 with 24" IPS monitor for around 899 + tax.  This is a pretty high end configuration for non-gaming desktop.

 
Buying pre-built is better for what you want to do.

And I would recommend getting a notebook as that supports dual monitor natively and makes it easier to move it around if you have to.

They are cheap nowadays... $350ish gets you something that will work for your needs... $500 will get you better features and $700-$1000 will get you either a bigger screen with more powerful internals or a nice slim ultrabook (I highly recommend ultrabooks... so thin and light). Also... I would stay away from 1366x768 resolution... higher resolution lets you open more windows and has crisper graphics... but you also need some good eyes.

How can a young buck not know much about computers... are you Amish? :)
 
I would consider buy something like HP TouchSmart  or similar one instead of buying a desktop + Monitor.

These are good for general use as well as work.  These will be future proof for a while keeping Windows 8 in mind.

http://www.amazon.com/HP-TouchSmart-520-1030-Desktop-Computer/dp/B005M1ADN6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1348166550&sr=8-3&keywords=hp+touchsmart+520
 
gaogi said:
i've been putting together my own desktop for years, but have recently gave in and just went and bought one from Dell.  Dell's and HP's are much quieter, since they're not spec'd with heat generating high end graphics cards etc.  I got a XPS 8500 i7 with 24" IPS monitor for around 899 + tax.  This is a pretty high end configuration for non-gaming desktop.
Click to expand...
  Thats pretty much the exact one I got.  Which video card was in yours?  I haven't received mine yet, but am curious how quiet the HD 7770 is since it seems AMD/ATI is really pushing quieter/lower power draw/ and less heat on their newer low/mid cards.  So you are happy with it?

Also, have never really looked into IPS monitors last week til I came across that one.  Are they really that much noticeably different?  I'm excited for that, reviews on that monitor have been amazing.  I have never had a monitor bigger than 22inch so I am excited for the higher resolution.

I think this will be great computer for the Valve/Steam games I play and whenever the next SC 2 comes out.

As for Homer, I agree these systems are a great value for the price and it will be nice and quick for what you do.  However, you probably don't even need to spend that much to get the things you need to do done.
 
Thanks everyone!

I'm going to look into a desktop as I have a designated in home office space for it.  We have our ipads for our "laptop" use..

We don't have monitors yet so that's another added cost.  So would bestbuy or frys be the best place to look?
 
homer_simpson said:
Thanks everyone!

I'm going to look into a desktop as I have a designated in home office space for it.  We have our ipads for our "laptop" use..

We don't have monitors yet so that's another added cost.  So would bestbuy or frys be the best place to look?
Click to expand...

The system is nice, much quieter than my home built system.  I keep it in a closed cabinet, so when I open the cabinet door, it does feel pretty hot inside.  But no system crash yet, and it's been up for a few months.  When I got mine, they gave me a 150.00 Dell gift card, so I used it to buy another 24" Ultrasharp.  The only problem is that the XPS 8500 only has 1 DVI and 1 HDMI output, but the Ultrasharp only has DVI.  I just bought a HDMI to DVI cable and now I'm running dual monitor.
 
homer_simpson said:
Thanks everyone!

I'm going to look into a desktop as I have a designated in home office space for it.  We have our ipads for our "laptop" use..
Click to expand...
Oh sure... don't listen to me. What advantage does a desktop have over a laptop? Another advantage a laptop has is if the power ever goes out, it stays on.
So would bestbuy or frys be the best place to look?
Click to expand...
Frys has good prices and a larger selection but buying stuff there is crazy. Best Buy has a more limited selection, but at least BB doesn't have a restocking fee anymore so if you don't like what you got, you can return it.
 
I guess I can always get a docking station for my laptop as I need a dual monitor to do my work.  Trying to spend less than $500 on a laptop  :P
 
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