Lincolnite

4 terabytes should almost be enough to run Vista.

What a great opening for me to ask for some computer advice.

It’s time to upgrade the old clunker before it crashes. Anyone bought a home desktop recently? Anyone find any good online resources to help find the best ‘puter to meet my needs—email, surfing, music, digital photos and video of the kids. I’ve got external storage. I like speed and power. Dell? Acer? HP? Other? Best prices? Buy direct from manufacturer or go to Best Buy?

If you *really* want to save money, you could always build your own computer. Otherwise, Dell offers the best price/quality ratio (and on the low end, their computers are actually cheaper than a DIY one).

I’ve had good luck and have been pleased with Dell. I am on Dell #5 right now.

*cough*Apple*cough*

But, if you’re looking on the PC side I would probably lean towards HP.  I don’t have any experience with their tech support (good thing), but have been impressed with their hardware.  With every Dell that I’ve had (laptops), I’ve put the extended warranty to good use (bad thing) - and their tech support is/was a nightmare.

I’ve heard the Dell horror stories*, but I’ve had good luck with Dell for several years. Like Swid said the price/quality ratio is typically very good.

Have you considered a laptop paired with an external monitor?

* And Apple horror stories, and Gateway horror stories, and HP horror stories, and ...

You really cannot go wrong with any of the name brands.  Especially with the rebate deals offered at local electronics stores.  It used to be that a cheapo rebate deal would not have enough RAM, but now with vista loaded on them they are loaded with RAM to run it.

I used to build my own PC’s, but I am currently running a compaq which I updated a few times over the years and am quite happy with it.

As long as whatever box you do get has 2 or more gigs of RAM and a discrete graphics card (i.e., something made by ATI or NVIDIA and not by Intel), it should be more than adequate for your needs.

To further flesh out my own (and other peoples’) observations: There’s not a whole lot of difference among brands on the desktop side. Acer has had a reputation for shoddiness for a while, but they may be better these days. On the laptop side, it’s still best summarized by “you get what you pay for”. Apple and Lenovo suck less than the other brands, but you pay a premium for them.

Thanks for all the feedback. I’m leaning towards an HP primarily because of all the positives I’ve read about their support. Any thoughts on a AMD Phenom vs. Intel processors?

I don’t know what your time frame is, but the AMD Phenom II processors will be available any time now. Intel’s offerings had been crushing recent AMD processors in performance and energy efficiency; the Phenom II line appears to have nearly caught up to Intel.

Those phenoms hit newegg as a new arrival today.

I have not paid too much attention lately, but from what I can tell AMD is a bit cheaper, but the intels would be faster on models out right now.  The state loves HP and their support in the server dept.  Lot of dell desktops with HP / Compaq (same thing) taking 2nd place.  That all comes down to bids though..

I would echo Swid’s suggestion. I purchased a new desktop a few years ago. After doing the research, I opted to build my own (not literally, but through a local vendor in town).

What I did is I identified the model and cost of all the hardware I wanted on newegg, had them priced out, and then asked the local vendor to order the pieces and put it together. That way, I knew what the prices were and how much the labor cost was as well. A similar build with the same specs by one of the big companies was I think about $200-300 more.

I have been very satisfied with my computer, but I would say that I have been less than satisfied with the service that this local vendor has provided me since I purchased it. In the service area, I have had very good experiences with Dell.

If I were to do it again (and I am sure I will in a few years when my current desktop expires) I would also build my own computer, but just look for a vendor with better service. Good luck!