School Me on Desktop Computers

[jimbo0076]

I dont seem to know **** about what computers are good and bad anymore so I've came to this large pot of vast knowledge for help

We've lived with a laptop for several years now but wanting a desktop for a "family computer". I've built some gaming computers in the past with people that were big into them but don't remember squat anymore. I do remember it was usually loads cheaper to buy all the parts and put it together yourself than buying a "all in one" unit. I figured surely some of yall done this thing for a living or built them on the side that could give some knowledge or advice on the best route to take.

 

[gubni]

I own three computer stores as my day job, lol.

I would say buy from a local computer store. That way if you have a problem then you can get help. Walmart tech dept sucks, lol.

As for specs the processors have gotten so confusing it's silly. I sell both AMD and Intel and don't have a preference. When I built my computer I am using now I chose an I5 cpu.

The one thing I would say above all else is get a SSD drive. It replaces the typical hard drive and doubles the speed of the computer. It's the same technology as a flash drive and has revolutionized the industry.

 

[gottagofast]

If you only want a basic computer and don't need to be cutting edge you can do quite well with whatever best buy has on sale cheap....

This year's bargain basement computer kicks last year's killer game system's arse... Or almost anyhow...

Seems like getting 15% more computer costs 300% more money.

 

[-jb-]

Would really depend on your budget and use of computer.

I can spec out a $500 computer or a couple thousand dollar computer.

Do you want a RAID so if a drive goes down your files are still there. Or maybe a raid where you have a lot of hard drive space but instead of having multiple drive letters, you have one drive letter but terabytes of space

What OS do you prefer. Do you play video games or plan to stream video to a big screen TV. Are you an audio guy and like to have decent tunes coming out of your PC with a nice sound card.

 

[TacomaJD]

I've got a pretty loaded Lenovo laptop, best pc I've ever had. Flawless and fast. Lenovo builds a lot of business pc's, well established name in reliability.

 

[The Luke]

I'd love to get a desktop that is good for editing videos. I'm shopping now and planning on pulling the trigger after I finish this next wedding. I've started doing drone videography on the side. My Lenovo laptop does pretty well, but without a doubt has room to improve.

 

[TacomaJD]

Man there's so much to learn about pc's when it comes to making a good purchase, it's worse than car shopping. When I bought my laptop, I wanted the best bang for $500-600. Intel Core i5 processor doesn't mean they are all the same, there are different generations like cars. I bought my pc last year just as the new Broadwell processor came out, the upgrade form it predecessor, the Haswell processor. As stated before, the SSD is a better option than the traditional HDD, but mine has an HDD and still flies compared to my previous pc's. Google SSD vs HDD to learn more. I think mine has 1 TB of storage and 8GB of RAM, running Windows 8.1 and I am hesitant to upgrade to Windows 10 just yet. I like 8.1 pretty good for the basic stuff I use mine for, mostly school and general web use. Read up on RAM, I wouldn't get a pc that had any less than 6GB of RAM.

Before I bought this Lenovo, I gave $300 for an HP low grade core i3 from Walmart, it was slower than my 9 year old Dell was before it died. I returned it to Walmart after a couple weeks and got my money back. Thank sweet baby jeezus for their return policy, that pc was worthless even for basic web browsing!

 

[TacomaJD]

I went through a couple different major websites that sell pc's like TigerDirect and so on, can't remember all the ones I went through. But the model Lenovo I bought was literally the only one in the $500-600 range that did not have a single bad review. You can get a good idea of what to expect with certain pc's by reading user reviews. I would look at pc specs, think I had one picked out for like $400 that suited my needs, read reviews, and there were tons of people complaining about what a slow piece of junk it was and/or describing problems encountered. I looked all over on my Lenovo's model for reviews and it was all praise, with the occasional "well this or that could be a little better, but for the price you can't beat it." So I pulled the trigger and have been super happy with it! Had it a year now and it's still as fast as it was when I first got it. I had a Sony Vaio before and it was decent til the HDD crashed. I sold it to our IT guy at work for $50. I also will never own another HP or Dell pc. My work laptop is an HP Probook with core i5 and Windows 7, it works ok, but has it's days every now and then. But it seems most business computers are safeguarded by more sophisticated protection and run smoother, longer, than personal pc's.


There's plenty good info on the web about choosing the right computer for you and explaining what this and that is, just have to do your research to make a wise investment. Sadly, it's not as simple as going to pick up any old pc that's on sale and it work like you expect one should. It's like going to the car lot and there being a Metro, Cadillac, and a Corvette for sale, but you don't know which one to buy because they all 3 are cars with 4 wheels and will get you from A to B. I have zero patience for slow or malfunctioning electronics, so between pc's and smartphones, I've decided those are two things that are just not worth cheaping out on.

 

[jimbo0076]

The main things the desktop would be used for is web browsing and video watching. I'm not a gamer or wanting crazy audio. Just a good reliable desktop. Its crazy how fast the tech advances in just a few years time and all of a sudden I don't know squat. I just hate going to a box store and buying one because they come loaded with so much extra BS that is not needed programing wise and lots of times pay a premium price.

 

[TacomaJD]

Re:

Still gotta make sure you get a fast enough one, or you'll be like I was when I got that $300 HP from walmart. It was slow as hell on startup, and loading even the simplest web pages. Ain't nobody got time fo dat!