Need helping finding a desktop.

[LisaNJ25]

I need some help buying a PC for for 13yo son. I have been picky and keep putting it off and xmas is almost here.

I want to keep it under $800 with tax and shipping. I dont have extra money to fork out now for a higher price one with mail in rebates.

I have been looking at Dells. These are the things I keep looking for:

Flat panel monitor ( this is my only "Must have")
1 gig memory
Dual cd drives with cd/dvd writer
256 graphic card.

Of course when I add all all these things the price goes way up.

What items can I do without?

Hubby tell me I have "my" ideal computer in my head for me and he doesnt need all of that lol.

He will be using it for school work, aol, music and games. He is not heavy into games yet, he likes the sims and the other tycoon games

 

[mitushib]

You could try emachines.com I have one of these and they are reliable and on the lower price range!

 

[Bugdozer]

Hi,
I have bought 4 dells in less then a year- 1 for each of my boys and one for myself. They have neen WONDERFUL. The boys are 12, 13, 18. They all got a free upgrade to a flat panel monitor which to me should be standard nowadays. For the boys I went with 512 mb memeory which has been more then enoough for what they need. they all play games on their computers, surf the web and my older son has TONS of music on his computer. I went with 1G on mine as I download all my Disney and Home videos to my computer to create home DVDs of our trips. Video editing software eats up a ton of memory.
You could get away with just 1 drive if you get a dvd/dvd writer. It will play DVDs and CDs as well as burn them. Just takes a little longer with a single drive. That is what I got the boys.
Couple of things you did not mention- get at least an 80gig hard drive. Also this is my personal preference but I would not get a celeron-all our computers are pentuim.
Another thing is warranty, I get the cheap basic warranty. I just can't see spending 200 or more on a 3-4 year warranty when you can buy a good computer for $500.

I went to Dell and built you an example of what would be good for a 13 year old:

Dimension E310 Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 521 w/HT Technology (2.8GHz,800FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition
Memory 512MB DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz -1 DIMM
Keyboard and Mouse Bundles Dell USB Keyboard and Dell 2-button Scroll Mouse
Monitor FREE UPGRADE! 15 in (15.0 in viewable) E153FP Analog Flat Panel
Video Card Integrated Intel® GMA 900
Hard Drive 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse Mouse included with Keyboard purchase
Network Interface Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD or DVD Drive Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Sound Integrated 2.0 Channel High Definition Audio
Speakers Dell A215 Speakers
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
Operating System Backup & Recovery PC Restore recovery system by Symantec
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience

FREE FREE
Dell 720 Color Printer Qty 1
Free Dell Color Printer 720 Unit Price $0.00
Free 720 printer with purchase of select Dell Systems.
Limited Time Offer!

TOTAL:$689.00


Additional Discounts and Coupons

Dell Home Customers: Save $45 off orders over $400! -$45.00
Limited Time Offer!




FREE 2cd Day Shipping! $24 Handling Charge Applies.
Limited Time Offer!



Total Price
Sub-total $644.00

Shipping & Handling $120.00

Shipping & Handling Discount -$96.00

Tax $0.00

Total Price $668.00


This has a fee flat panel upgrade, a free color printer and second day shipping is only $24.00.
No rebates are needed to get this price.
I live in NH and we do not have sales tax so you would have to add that in.

The $45 dollar discount is a code I won on Dells holiday game. It can only be used once. It has to be used by the 15th I believe. I would be happy to give you the code as I do not plan on using it. It is for $45.00 off a $400 or more purchase. PM me and I will send it to you.

Hope this helps-my new Dell is arriving TODAY
My early Christmas present to my self hehehe

Cheryl

 

[DebMcDonald]

There was also a coupon code I saw this week, maybe from coupon canyon for $150 off a dell.

Expires December 8 - F0W14JX3DVGJBB

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

DONT GET A DELL! We bought 2 in August and 1 was dead by November. Dell REFUSES to honor their warranty and said we have to pay $40 to even talk to their tech department. We have spent hours on the phone each day for several weeks trying to speak to a supervisor or someone who can help us.

I sang the praises of the $299 Dells on this board back in August but I wouldnt waste my money on them ever again.

I just bought myself an HP notebook and LOVE it. Dell would have gotten that purchase too but after the fiasco with the desktop NO WAY.

Good luck. Just be careful with Dell - you definitely get what you pay for - a cheap computer with NO customer service behind it!

 

[SharkBait05]

I would keep checking your Staples, Officemax, Best Buy, Circuit City ads. You should be able to get something way under $800. And remember that almost everything on a computer can be upgraded and "parts" (hard drives, memory, monitors, etc) are always on sale somewhere. So, if you get one with your bare minimum requirements (1 gig is not necessary, go for 512 mb). You can always upgrade it later. You're son will ask for these upgrades when and if he needs them. Then they could be birthday or christmas gifts. At 13, he needs a computer IMO.

BTW, I think Dells are overpriced and their CS is very poor. It's not the name on the computer that matters, it's what's inside that counts.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Well, if you need to you can cut back on the RAM. 512 is plenty for anything your 13 yo is likely to do. As others have mentionsed, a sngle DVD/RW drive would suit anyone's needs. As for video cards, the PC I just purchased has a 128 MB ATI Radeon Xpress card which is fine.

Have you shopped eBay?

The PC I purchased recently is an eMachines W3410. 512 MB of memory, DVD/RW, memory card reader, AMD Athlon 64 processor, 15 inch LCD monitor.....all for about $450 bucks.

Check the budget board because there are codes that can get you another $25 off if you use paypal.

 

[DisneyKidds]

BRAND NEW!

SHIPPING $49.99

Item Description



W3410

Enjoy the convenience of an all-in-one system
15" LCD flat panel monitor
Sleek flat panel LCD saves desktop space
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor (2.2 GHz)
512 MB DDR memory, expandable to 2 GB
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 Graphics with 128 MB DDR shared video memory
100 GB (7200 RPM) hard disk drive
DVD+/-RW, 16x multi-format double layer drive
8-in-1 media manager
56k fax/modem
10/100 Ethernet LAN
7 USB 2.0 ports
1 IEEE 1394 port
Multi-function keyboard
2-button wheel mouse
Pair of amplified desktop stereo speakers

That's the same machine I bought about a month ago, currently available on eBay. There is one ending in about an hour that is currently at $405. So far the machine has been great. Make sure you go with a machine with an Athlon or Pentium processor.

 

[DebMcDonald]

What's the difference between Athlon and pentium?

I know my husband doesn't want the Celeron.

That's not the first time that I have heard awful stuff about dell's customer service.

Does anyone have any feed back on emachines - I know the company is owned by Gateway?

 

[Bugdozer]

Hi,
Everyone will have an opinion good and bad.
Once again we have a total of 6 Dells-one is a laptop and all is fine.
Yes you get what you pay for so that is why I refuse to buy a $299 computer. You can get a really good system for $500-$800.
I would be too afraid to purchase a computer on Ebay.
Cheryl