Convince me: Dell vs. Apple vs. Home Built

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Dell because there might be a college class that requires you to use a software package or web page plugin that is Windows-only.

If you get the Mac Mini you need 1 GB of RAM and either to dual-boot or run Parallels, and to pay extra for a copy of XP.

this is very true. my friend bought an ibook and ended up later bringing his dell desktop from home because he had a class which needed windows.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Dell because there might be a college class that requires you to use a software package or web page plugin that is Windows-only.

If you get the Mac Mini you need 1 GB of RAM and either to dual-boot or run Parallels, and to pay extra for a copy of XP.

this is very true. my friend bought an ibook and ended up later bringing his dell desktop from home because he had a class which needed windows.

that is a good point. more specifically, the class uses a plugin that is IE only

I was going to vote for mac mini, but it would not fit in your price range (you need 1GB of ram IMO, and a monitor.. heh).. so dell it is

 

[ForumMaster]

you can get a dell notebook with accidental damage warrenty which would cover a coffee spill. if you're willing to try, a Mac Mini is great and you can put XP on it too.

 

[SSSnail]

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/...s&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=bdcw5bz&s=bsd

Select no monitor option and it comes to $389 (tax excluded). Features AMD X2 3800+, 1GB DDR533, 160GB SATA, NVidia 6150 (for your moderate gaming need if you ever want to kick start that Solitaire).

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: Quasmo

Originally posted by: sao123

Buying Microsof tOffice is probably the most expensive part of buying a PC. Depending on which applications you use can add between $200-$500 to a PC.

Student and Teacher Edition for $150 includes word, outlook, excel, and powerpoint.

Or even less if you're school offers some kind of special deal. I got Office Pro for $25 at my school.

I get it for Free. Same with Windows. Although Im sure it comes in somewhere on my tutition and fees.

 

[JujuFish]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Monitor -I'll have to get one, was thinking about a sub-$200 newegg deal (19")

Buy.com currently has the Viewsonic Q19wb 19" widescreen LCD for $149.31 after rebate and Google Checkout. No DVI though.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

Originally posted by: sao123
I'd like you to expand on your Dual Core requirement... unless you are doing CAD, heavy video editing, or file serving, I dont see any need for dual core.


Buying Microsof tOffice is probably the most expensive part of buying a PC. Depending on which applications you use can add between $200-$500 to a PC.

Other factors to consider...
Size and preference of monitor?
DVD Burner?
Warrenty terms?

Hey,
I've used a 3600+ Athlon 64 and sometimes I get a little annoyed with sluggishness when I'm listening to itunes, downloading on bittorrent, have a window open and have to wait while the cursor catches up in my word processing app. My dad's lowly Pentium D 805 is snappy in comparrison so, while it's not completely necessary, I think I'd find the small premium worthwhile for better multitasking.

Office - I'm going to use OpenOffice and buy office on my own later, on my dime not the parents.

Monitor -I'll have to get one, was thinking about a sub-$200 newegg deal (19")

DVD Burner - have a USB 2.0 one

except that if you have crappy RAM and a slow hard drive a dual core isnt going to speed anything up.
I have an Athlon 3800+ with SATA300 drives, and 2GB of RAM, and its faster than some of the top of the line dual core systems today.

 

[kalster]

you can build a really cheap system, if you have hdd/ram etc you can get a mobo/cpu combo from fry's. this week they have a e6300 with ecs mobo(that takes both ddr and ddr2 as well as agp) you can use existing ddr if you have and upgrade to ddr2 later when ram prices are more reasonable

 

[Demon-Xanth]

The ONLY thing I really don't like about prebuilts is that you can't look inside them well before you buy. Especially when they're online. Some are great and have a ton of expansion slots, others you're lucky to get two PCI slots.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
The ONLY thing I really don't like about prebuilts is that you can't look inside them well before you buy. Especially when they're online. Some are great and have a ton of expansion slots, others you're lucky to get two PCI slots.

Dell has the manuals posted online, so you could take a look at what kind of expansion slots the computer contains, along with the size of the PSU and number of hard drive bays.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
The ONLY thing I really don't like about prebuilts is that you can't look inside them well before you buy. Especially when they're online. Some are great and have a ton of expansion slots, others you're lucky to get two PCI slots.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/pr...10?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&~tab=specstab

Look at the bottom:

Externally Accessible
Video: 1 DVI, VGA and 1 S-Video (with add-in PCI-Express video card)
Optional IEEE 1394 - 1 front-panel 6-pin serial connector
USB: 10 Ports (2 Front, 6 Back, 2 internal)
Audio: Audio ? six back-panel connectors for line-in, line-out, microphone, rear surround, side surround, SPDIF interface in rear, two front-panel connectors for headphones/microphone. integrated HDA 7.1 ch sound
Network: Integrated Gigabit7 Ethernet
Integrated 10/100/1000 network interface
Quality GbE networking for consumer desktop PCs
Support for new Digital Home capabilities and programs
Basic manageability support: WoL, PXE
10x10mm BGA, Pin compatible with 82566DM


Legacy:
PS/2: two 6-pin mini-DIN (with optional PS2/Serial card)
Serial: 1 (with optional PS2/Serial card)

Expansion Slots
PCI: 3 Slots
PCIe x1: 1 Slot
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 Slots
PCIe x4/x8: 1 Slot

Chassis
375 Watt DC Power Supply Heat dissipation: 1280 BTU/hr
Voltage: 90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz
Backup battery: 3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell


3.5" Bays: 4 bays (two external; two internal)
5.25" Bays: 2 bays
Memory DIMM slots: 4 available

 

[BabaBooey]

Build your own or have someone that knows what they are doing build it.

Apple is overrated.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: bababooey
Build your own or have someone that knows what they are doing build it.

Apple is overrated.

Building your own is overrated. I built my own for almost 10 years now. The next one I buy will likely come ready to go out of a box.

There simply isn't a siginifant cost savings building your own any more and the geeky appeal of it has lost any luster it once had.

 

[timxpx]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Building your own is overrated. I built my own for almost 10 years now. The next one I buy will likely come ready to go out of a box.

There simply isn't a siginifant cost savings building your own any more and the geeky appeal of it has lost any luster it once had.

agreed. last computer i built took me about 5 months to finish because of the space i put between parts looking for deals on the parts i wanted. (see p4 machine in sig)

so nay to the built-it-yourself option.

if your school offers free you a free (or paid in tuition) copy of xp pro, the mac mini would be nice if space is a concern, but i think it should be pretty clear and this is the umpteenth post stating it, that a dell will be more bang for the buck in the long run.

 

[Captante]

For a non-enthusiast, just save time & money by getting a Dell.

 

[irishScott]

For your purposes, a good cheap Dell will serve you well.

Building a computer requires knowledge of what parts are good/bad, what prices/deals are good/bad, and just knowing how everything fits together inside a computer. In short, stuff that only Computer Enthusiests would want to know.

Linux > OSX (and it's free)

Another note about macs: While they're nice-looking and virus/spyware free (Mostley), I've found that my fine-tuned (through various registry/other hacks) XP Pro/Ubuntu Acer TravelMate 8200 beats the sh!t out of my neighbor's Macbook Pro in terms of overall performance, and it was $600 cheaper.

Also. it's possible to have a virus-free Windows machine if you've got the right software. I can direct you to some nice free ones if you want.