New computer--recommend a retailer?

[Yocona]

In the next month or so, I will be purchasing a new computer. I am not capable of building it myself, so I'm looking for manufacturer recommendations.

I definitely want to go with AMD this time, and so far the reviews I've found have led me to Atlas. Any opinions about this company, or recommendations for another? Since I am a novice, the tech support aspect is important.

Thanks, Yocona

 

[Rkonster]

You can learn! Build a 1.6A P4 and overclock it!! It's really not difficult, and you can get a bunch of help from these forums.

Oh, and to answer your question, I have never heard of Atlas.

 

[dexvx]

I can't think of any off the top of my head, I have never heard of Atlas. You could always go the route and pay a premium with VoodooPC, Alienware, and FalconNW. They give good service and offer premium parts, but they are at a premium.

Low budget wise, I dont think you can beat a Dell. In fact, I dont even think ANY system builder can get it quieter than Dell. Not to mention they have outstanding support and use higher quality parts than most OEM vendors.

 

[neuralfx]

ya can't beat Dell at all, great quality parts. I just love how they rewire the ATX connectors and even have extra bs connectors so PSU's HAVE to be bought from them. Outstanding how they use non-proprietary Industry Standard designs, I know I love them .. =)
-neural

 

[dexvx]

ya can't beat Dell at all, great quality parts. I just love how they rewire the ATX connectors and even have extra bs connectors so PSU's HAVE to be bought from them. Outstanding how they use non-proprietary Industry Standard designs, I know I love them .. =)

Proprietary can be a good thing too. Their heat dissipation method is VERY proprietary. They used specialized heatsinks and heat ducts that connect to main fans to minimize noise. And we know what kind of noise a Dell makes.

 

[Yossarian]

You could try Outside Loop

They're kinda pricey but if I wanted a non-Dell custom system that's where I would go. They answer the phone within a couple rings and will talk to you about parts until you're comfortable.

 

[LarryJoe]

You can't beat DELL for prices, support, service and overall quality. No Athlon options though, they are a 100% Intel shop. For about $1500, you can get a fully loaded 2.2ghz Northwood system without monitor.

 

[Yocona]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Thanks for the encouragement, Rkonster. I'm sure I could build a system with the great help here, but I'm also sure that I don't have the time that would require.

I had a Dell, and agree that their customer service is great. I was a little surprised that I didn't have more options in configuring my system, though--e.g. I would have liked a better modem than the piece o' crap Conexant v.92 that Dell uses as its only telephony option. Also, I wasn't that impressed by the P4. Mine was a 1.8mhz, and I expected to feel like I was flying after upgrading from a P2. But really, I didn't notice much difference. Which is why I figured I would make the replacement an AMD machine. I always pull for the underdog, anyway, so it suits me philosophically.

VooDoo & Falcon are out of my price range. Thanks for the Outside Loop link, PipBoy. I definitely look for a company with someone helpful on the other end of the phone line. I found Atlas via a Google search on AMD reviews. Using those reviews, I ruled out a company called ABS. I guess I will keep reading for a while, make some phone calls, and see which company uses the best components and is helpful with the whole process.

That's about as far as I got before I found this fabulous site, once again from a Google search. At least this time around, I've learned enough to research mother boards and chipsets and such. Thanks again.

 

[Random Variable]

Oxford PC

 

[murphy55d]

Does MicronPC still use AMD?

 

[Random Variable]

Does MicronPC still use AMD?

Yes.

 

[Derango]

Originally posted by: murphy55d
Does MicronPC still use AMD?

Yea, but they've started using some of the ugliest cases I've ever seen in my life

 

[madthumbs]

If you would ever upgrade your PC,... do not buy a Dell. They're totally shitty for that. There are online shops that build PC's. I think some of them were listed in a Maximum PC magazine a while ago.

 

[ElFenix]

ya can't beat Dell at all, great quality parts. I just love how they rewire the ATX connectors and even have extra bs connectors so PSU's HAVE to be bought from them. Outstanding how they use non-proprietary Industry Standard designs, I know I love them .. =)
-neural

pc power and cooling used to make dell compatible power supplies.

If you would ever upgrade your PC,... do not buy a Dell. They're totally shitty for that.

you can upgrade AGP, PCI, processor, drives, RAM... if you're upgrading your motherboard thats not something you can do with that case... so you just get another case and move all the other stuff in there. of course, most people who think they'll do that probably aren't buying dell in the first place.

 

[dexvx]

If you already have a Dell 1.8Ghz p4 I really dont see why you are hard pressed to upgrade it. I highly doubt an AMD XP would be a noticeable difference. My friend across the hall has a Dimension 8200 1.8Ghz p4 and it is very fast. I don't know exactly what you do with it, but you should feel like you're flying, upgrading from a p2 setup.

If you would ever upgrade your PC,... do not buy a Dell. They're totally shitty for that. There are online shops that build PC's. I think some of them were listed in a Maximum PC magazine a while ago.

Its totally upgradeable; they release new BIOS flashes (like 533Mhz FSB support), they use a modified version of the i850/E reference boards with full number of PCI/AGP slots and memory banks. My friend's 8200 also has enough drive rails for 3 more 5.25" bays and about 2 more 3.5" bays and 2 more RDram banks. The only thing thats NON-upgradeable is the case/PSU/motherboard, but like ElFenix said, people who buy Dells dont usually bother with those components anyways.

 

[GregMal]

How about NuTrend? They build both AMD and Intel. You can pick your
own parts............Greg

 

[madthumbs]

Ok, for the people saying that Dell's are upgradeable;

Dells;

-can't be overclocked - which probably means you can't upgrade the cpu either.
-have a proprietary power supply -which means if you change cases you have to change psu also
-have a propretary motherboard -if you change cases you must change the mobo and psu as well

If anything dies, instead of replacing it with something superior that has dropped in price.... you're stuck buying the original crap that came with it just to maintain compatability. Upgrading a simple thing like a cpu, a motherboard, a power supply, a case?..... may as well replace the whole freakin' computer! Dells are what I consider disposable PC's. I've salvaged parts off of a couple... a drive, some misc screws and jumpers, ram, and sound card were the only things worth keeping from a dead dell. When I was a n00b, I thought Dell's were awesome... but they're really designed to make money. They wan't you to have to buy a whole new PC everytime you want a real upgrade, because it would cost you as much to upgrade one as it would to replace it.

 

[dexvx]

-can't be overclocked - which probably means you can't upgrade the cpu either.
-have a proprietary power supply -which means if you change cases you have to change psu also
-have a propretary motherboard -if you change cases you must change the mobo and psu as well


Overclocking is NOT supported by ANY vendor. It is not endorsed by AMD or Intel, and for people new to computers, overclocking is generally not an issue. One unique observation by the Dimension 8200 is that it supports the new 533Mhz FSB Pentium IV's with a new BIOS flash (not sure about the other series). In fact, one of my first computers was a Dell XPS R series (Pentium II) and with the lastest BIOS flash, I can upgrade the P2 to a Slot1 Coppermine P3. So I dont know what you mean that you CANT upgrade the CPU. I'm sure it CANT be upgraded to support Itanium or Prescott or whatever, but those people with VIA KT333 boards DONT expect to be upgrading to Hammer with that same board either.

Dell's Motherboard AND PS were built together hand in hand (to maximize efficiency). If you want a new case (which I dont know why you would; Dell cases are way above the average compared to Enlight 7237 or even Antec Workstation Mid-ATX cases), all you need to do is swap out the power supply and you can use the Dell motherboard. If you want to change the motherboard and stay with the case, you DO have to buy a new PS, not a new case. The case, btw, follows the standard ATX format. But those are things that the AVERAGE computer user wont do. If anything dies, all Dells have a 3 year replacement warranty and Dell will ship me new parts.

With the exception of the motherboard/PS being proprietary, Dell's are pretty upgradeable. My friend who bought his Dimension 8200 can easily have the option of going with the P4-1.6a and overclocking it to 2133 (no voltage tweaks, and rambus is locked at 400DDR, but then again what 1.6a doesnt go to 2133 at default?).

 

[HGC]

Multiwave and NextGen have systems that feature the upgradability and quality components that most do-it-yourselfers like.

 

[xynder]

Dude, you're gettin' a dell!

 

[Yocona]

Okay, thanks again for all the suggestions for companies and resources. Looks like I have plenty of direction for my research.

Dexvx, the Dell P4 no longer exists. We had a house fire two months ago which started in my home office. I lost over 10k worth of computers, printers, software, etc. Our renter's insurance wasn't enough to replace everything, so I'm taking it a step at a time. I was in the process of upgrading my 3 year old G3 PowerBook, added RAM & new harddrive so I could turn it in to a portable recording studio for my hubby. Since I knew we would be "homeless" for a while, I replaced the PowerBook first. (I'm still determined that he will get his portable recording studio!) Also figured it would give me a chance to decide if I wanted to make the conversion to Mac. After 2 months of OS X, I think the answer to that one is a big, fat "NO". XP is a better OS, and all the Mac OS's I've used seem very opaque to me. I'm by no means a Windows Wiz, but there are things I just can't find in a Mac.

Anyway, I will once again have an office when we move into our new home on June 1st. I can then replace the desktop, which will be my biz box. My use is pretty basic: Word, DreamWeaver, noobie use of PageMaker & Photoshop. We aren't gamers, and don't want to sit around watching DVDs on a computer. The only non-business concern I have is the sound. I really miss my H-K speakers and the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card. Best sound system I ever owned by far. My idea is to buy the best I can, short of the VooDoo price range.

I have plenty of time to research, and thanks to you guys I have plenty of places to look. Since I'm not a "dude", I'm not getting a Dell. hahaha

 

[HGC]

Another idea for you to consider: these days most of the hardware inside the box is very fast and good. I would spend more for a really good monitor, and, since it is mportant to you, good speakers.

Good luck Yocona!

 

[rbhawcroft]

Im in the uk and have a DELL.

The problem I have with them is that I term their systems as 'headline grabbers'. They go for a price point.

You need to analyse the system they are offering for weaknesses. They oftem dont put enought RAM in it, so you would need to upgrade that. Often its SDRAM when it should be DDR.

It depends on taste and application but I would never have onboard sound and video which is what you often see with them.
Always but a $45 Creative Live 5.1 Player over a cheap option. And get a decent Graphics card if youwant to play games youll regret getting a cheap one that has poor image quality, I have a Radeon 7500 which is good, or a G3Ti200 would be a good option at this price point as well.

In terms of peripheral software bundles, just download whatever you want from kazaa or download.com.

Also with low priced dells make sure that it has enought front panel trays, they never cheap case only has 2 5.5" trays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hop this helps, other wise I have no complaints with them.