new computor or upgrade?

[unluckydog]

I have an old ibm 300pl,it has a big case and several plug in ports.
Its old and I dont know if I can upgrade it much.
My goals are to surf the net,burn cds,gaming for the kids,watch dvds,nothing to heavy but I would like to kick this up anotch or buy a new comp.
I see dell has a comp ad on tv thats $500.00 after rebate, pent4.If my current computor isnt upgradable is thi dell a good deal, and can it be upgraded in the future?
As you can see I dont know much about this stuff.
Thanks for your help and opinions in advance.

[david eaton]

Upgrading your present computer is likely to be difficult, and any great increase in performance impossible.

To do what you want, any current basic machine will be satisfactory.

I have no experience of the Dell machine you mention, but Dell, in common with some of the other big names, do tend to use "proprietary" as opposed to "standard" hardware sometimes. This can make future upgrades/repairs expensive as parts must be obtained from a registered dealer or the manufacturer.

Local stores may offer a better deal. Can't speak for your location, but I can buy a good general purpose machine here, complete with 15" flat screen for £400!

[unit731]

:rolleyes: You really gotta do your homework. I just dumped my Dell Dimension 2100. Barebones. Inexpensive but not upgradable. Everything is cheaper on these barebones computers. Whenever you read the word "integrated" move on to a better computer. My Dimension had no AGP slot. Do you know what an AGP slot is? 'Cause I sure didn't. Well, my cheap Dell ain't got one. You guessed it, "integrated". Everything was integrated in the motherboard and therefore not upgradable. Just not worth it unless you are getting a computer for your grandmother. Go look up ATI Radeon and learn about "graphics cards".

[Budfred]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

I wouldn't buy a Dell unless you are sure you will never want to upgrade. There are a number of companies that offer computer with standard (and therefore upgradeable) hardware that would be for a similar price. MicroCenter offers their own brand, for instance, and the prices tend to be pretty good.

You might want to find a couple of systems that look appealing to you and post the specs here to see what people think about the quality and price. If you pick up a computer magazine somewhere, you will find lots of ads for a bunch of companies with details about the systems.

[Catuela]

A company I like for budget minded boxes is EMachines. I bought their top of the line comp for $700.00 about a year and a half ago and it performs the functions you are looking for flawlessly. I also found that upgradability is a viable option on those machines (at least for mine it was) They change products very often so if you look at them and don't like what you see, you can just wait a week :p

[cyber_surfer]

Have you considered building your own?
If you can read and follow instructions well it has gotten much easier to build your own. If your kids are old enough to participate it could be a great experience for the whole family.

Most of your time (and fun ) is spent figuring out what to get. After you do that, if you order from New Egg, your hardware and OS arrive in 2-3 days and you have it together and running in 1-2 more.

The benefits are you selected the quality and features of every part. With any commercial purchase you have little say about the case, power supply, motherboard, memory brand, hard drive brand, etc.

Everything is upgradeable (off the shelf) and you know how it goes together.

I have purchased 4 Dells (all worked great and still do) and have recently built 2 machines. The folks on this forum were very helpful when I had some concerns over cooling on the first one. The second one was two weeks later for a relative and went with no problems at all.

If it doesn't sound like fun you got some great advice earlier in this thread - Enjoy your new computer.

[unit731]

I agree that this is a valid option.

It certainly can be an adventure especially if you have children that want to learn about computers.

And as a hobby, this is a great idea.

But there are serious drawbacks for the novice. Warranty being one. Tech support being another. What happens if you get the thing together and it does not work or work properly? What if a component is not functioning. Each manufacturer will try to blame the other. And it becomes a round robin as to which component manufacturer is at fault. Each will blame the other.

[Budfred]

unit731,

Please check the date on the last post before you open a long dead discussion... This one ended more than 2 years ago... Start a new thread if you want to discuss the issue... :)