Decent pre-built desktop brands?

[Worthington]

It's finally time for my mother to get a new desktop. She's using one I built for her 7+ years ago and it's getting a little long in the tooth. I don't live anywhere near her now, and frankly don't want the hassle of building another for her, supporting it, etc etc. Her needs are pretty minimal so she should be able to get away with a $500-700 without a problem.

It's been a while since I've paid any attention to the major PC brands. Last time I actually bought a pre-build PC Dell was new, with great support and reasonable prices. I hear that isn't really the case anymore. Any suggestions as to brands I should focus on? It doesn't have to be a Tier 1 vendor. I'm a fan of Asus laptops, anyone have any experience with their desktops?

Thanks!

 

[xSauronx]

ive had zero issues with dell support. getting a unit from their outlet can get you a great price with 1 yr standard support, but you may be better off getting her something with 3yr support. dell has covered me with their 24 hour part replacement support plenty of times (all business customers)

might also want to look into getting her a laptop...lots of people are going that way these days. my parents have pretty much given up the idea of a desktop, and if it wouldnt be a hassle for me to sell off my rig and try to run 3 monitors on a laptop, id be tempted to do the same.

 

[JWade]

i will second delloutlet i have gotten countless number of machines from there for my family and friends, never had a problem with support when it was needed (laptop screen needed replaced, i think my wife sat on it but she swears she didnt, they replaced it under warranty)

 

[DaveSimmons]

I've had an Acer i3 small form factor PC for a little more than a year now, it's my media player and music jukebox. We got my mom a similar Gateway SFF last August for her birthday and it's also worked well.

Acer - $449 i3-2100 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883103420

Gateway $379 pentium - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883113219

We buy Dell Vostro desktops at work and they've been decent.

 

[HeXen]

might look at Ibuypower, cyberpower, velocitymicro,, maingear and digitalstorm.
all of them put together some nice rigs

 

[Zap]

I third Del Outlet. Since her machine is still running, just troll the hot deal forums for coupon codes. Pretty common to see 20% off or higher coupons. They may or may not be for what you are looking for (sometimes only on one particular model) but that makes a warm deal HOT!

 

[bookwormsy]

I haven't had a problem with HPs.

 

[sgrinavi]

If I were getting a PC for a family member I would not hesitate to go with Dell Outlet... Maybe one of their touch-screen all-in-one models

 

[corkyg]

Since I don't know how tech savvy your mom is, I go along with the laptop, but not bought on line. She should buy locally and thus be able to take it right back if there's a problem. Don't saddle her with shipping, RMAs, etc. If she buys locally, then her tech support is also local. Does she live in a decent size town?

 

[Worthington]

Thanks for all the input. Yeah, she lives in Miami so local support generally wouldn't be an issue.

I've been considering a laptop as well, and was going to give her that option. She has a TON of peripherials though (2 monitors, and wants a 3rd. multiple printers, etc) and a desktop would make that whole mess easier.

 

[marcplante]

3 monitors sounds like a pretty involved build. While the Dells of the world will be OK, they will be less extensible (IMO) if you do want to go in and tweak a component or two in the next few years. Perhaps go to a Newegg or local PC builder in FL and have them build her a box to spec with less compromised components. For support, I use Logmein's free service for my mothers PC for SW issues. When I stop by in my visits a couple times a year, i can pop in new HW if needed.

If you buy a Dell or other prefab, make sure there's a little headroom on MB etc for tweaking.