Buying a Computer

[Yaza2]

I cant find a good pc around 700 bucks, can someone help :blink:  

[FragMaster1972]

are you willing to buy parts and assemble one yourself? It's the cheapest way to go and you'll get exactly what you want; you won't have to settle for what the company offers. I and several of the other techies here could offer some assistance in the assembly process if you needed it, and theres some walkthroughs on how to assemble a pc if youre up for it.

[Yaza2]

Sounds cool but I dont have a place to get the parts    

[FragMaster1972]

online. www.pricewatch.com

[Yaza2]

you would have to tell me what to buy.  

[FragMaster1972]

Well first things first: If youre not looking to spend a lot, Intel CPUs and NVidia GFX are out of the question.  
An AMD Athlon XP 1800 runs at 1.53 ghz, only costs $50.
An ATi Radeon 8500 will run around $70.
PC2100 DDR Ram 256mb - $31, 512mb - $64.  
60gb Western Digital Hard Drive - $55.
Asus A7S333 Mobo - $55
Soundblaster Audigy - $50 (optional, mobo has built in sound, but audigy is much nicer)
Ethernet card - $10 (only if you use broadband)
Lite-On 40x10x40 cdrecorder - $31
Samsung 48x cdrom - $17 (only need it if you want to do direct cd-to-cd copies w/o copying to hard drive first)
case - $20-30 for a cheap generic one, $50-100 for a nice one

add that up and see if you like the price    there's still some other things (cables, keyboard, mouse, speaks) but that stuff doesn't cost too much, and you could always use your current ones if ya wanted.

[Yaza2]

*writes it all down* damn thats kool man but i would need somebody to do it for me and thats a hassel, but i might consider. Today i went to costco and saw a emachine with 2400 AMD xp processor, 512mb ddr and S3Prosavage8. It comes with a cd/rw and dvd drives, speakers subwoofers, keyboard, mouse, and a 17" flat panel monitor. Does that sound cool or should i just build my own.  :unsure:  

[FragMaster1972]

whats the price for that? and s3savage sucks, can you upgrade that?  ya know, you could always find a small computer store (not a place like best buy, circuit city, etc. some small privately owned place) and have them build one for you. You still get to pick what you want, without all the bs the big companies give. emachines isnt as bad as the rest, but they still irritate me.

[crazyboi]

do you live in cali? or what? just find a fry's or another good site is newegg.com ^_^

[Yaza2]

yeah i live in cali    but frag where i live we dont have personally business owned place  <_<  i think im gonna get the emachine.  :unsure:  oh yeah and the price is $629.99 thats pretty cool.  

[FragMaster1972]

none? you're not looking hard enough, there's gotta be one somewhere. look in the yellow pages, probably under computer repair. most likely sales will list major companies, repair should have the smaller businesses. personally, id recommend looking into a custom-built (even if not self-built) computer over any preassembled one, but....... *shrugs* your money.

[Yaza2]

but i can always change the pre-assembled one right? like upgrades and other stuff.

[SS]

Yeah, probably. But best to start with a base that suits your needs.

[Yaza2]

yeah i think im gonna stick to the emachine thanx guys    

[FragMaster1972]

but i can always change the pre-assembled one right? like upgrades and other stuff.

within limits. I dunno bout emachines, but some companies put special adapters and stuff in their systems so you have to upgrade through them. again, limiting your options and forcing you to spend more than necessary. and their systems usually arent meant to be easy to work inside like a custom system--wires everywhere, hard to access stuff, no rolled edges=cuts, etc. but once again.....your money.