Computer Advice

I'm sorry Vixx, I don't keep up with the latest hardware anymore. So I can't give you any specific advice. However I will say that when it was time for a new PC I bit the financial bullet and went with the best one available with all the bells and whistles (I use my PC as a home theatre system).. I figured if I get the top of the line it would be relevant for quite a while. It's proven to work as my system is still extremely fast and can handle anything I've thrown at it with ease with no signs of becoming outdated anytime soon and it's gotta be close to 4 years old.
 
vixxcampbell said:
OF the following two computers guys which would you recommend I get? They are both the same price. I tried to look for the HP i7 that Woodpeckr suggested but all the futureshops are out of stock of them and I even called in and they told me that the product was discontinued.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/prod...ry=Desktops_English&catalog=Online&tab=2#more

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...spx?path=0827f014d364a34dcf50c26f87c7ea03en02
Click to expand...

I bet there was a price increase on the i7 being the reason they discontinued it. @ $730 that was a great price for that i7. I would look around to see if an i7 is still available at that price elsewhere.

Of those two the i5 is probably a better deal than the i3. IMO I was never terribly impressed by either the i3 or i5 (which are basically quad-cores) after seeing what the i7 (an 8 core) can do.
 
vixxcampbell said:
OF the following two computers guys which would you recommend I get? They are both the same price. I tried to look for the HP i7 that Woodpeckr suggested but all the futureshops are out of stock of them and I even called in and they told me that the product was discontinued.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/prod...ry=Desktops_English&catalog=Online&tab=2#more

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...spx?path=0827f014d364a34dcf50c26f87c7ea03en02
Click to expand...

I would get this instead
http://configure.dell.com/dellstore...e&c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&model_id=xps-8300
The new Sandy Bridge i5's that came out a few months ago selling now are plenty quick, they are almost 50% faster than the earlier i5's and the Sandy Bridge i7's are also about 50% faster than the earlier i7's. I have a new home built i7 running win 7 and OS X and it flies.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-2400+@+3.10GHz
 
Powershot said:
I would get this instead
http://configure.dell.com/dellstore...e&c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&model_id=xps-8300
The new Sandy Bridge i5's that came out a few months ago selling now are plenty quick, they are almost 50% faster than the earlier i5's and the Sandy Bridge i7's are also about 50% faster than the earlier i7's. I have a new home built i7 running win 7 and OS X and it flies.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-2400+@+3.10GHz
Click to expand...

That is a nice looking i5 to.
I see it is a $200 upgrade to a Intel® Core™ i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz) which is expected.

It's amazing how they have improved on the i7 from when they first came out.
 
vixxcampbell said:
I was thinking of spending anywhere between $500 and $700 (without tax - so I would be willing to buy something for say $699 + tax).

To answer some of Gaston's questions: I do need a DVD player and burner. Blu Ray player would be nice but not mandatory. I would be using this computer as well for downloading music, videos, pictures, etc. As far as work goes, any work that I do would probably be using Microsoft Office or other things like doing taxes, etc.

Another question I have is, are Gateway computers good? I know someone mentioned Dell isnt good. What about Gateway?

Here are some computers which fit the price-point above. If any of you can suggest which of these comps would be best to buy I'd appreciate it...

http://www.futureshop.ca/Search/Sea...3739392e3939&viewall=true&targetCategory=1003

http://www.bestbuy.ca/Search/Search...639392e3939&viewall=true&targetCategory=20213
Click to expand...

I just helped a friend build a quad-core (i5 if I'm not mistaken) for $417, I bought the parts, put it together in an hour and it's a kick ass system for emails, some photo editing, light gaming.
NO dedicated video card, just the one on the motherboard.
 
WoodPeckr said:
I bet there was a price increase on the i7 being the reason they discontinued it. @ $730 that was a great price for that i7. I would look around to see if an i7 is still available at that price elsewhere.

Of those two the i5 is probably a better deal than the i3. IMO I was never terribly impressed by either the i3 or i5 (which are basically quad-cores) after seeing what the i7 (an 8 core) can do.
Click to expand...

i7 is a quad core cpu! it has Hyperthreading which gives it 8 thread capabilities
I would also choose the i5 from Futureshop. and personally i would never buy a computer from The Source.
The Dell that Powershot recommended would be my number 1 choice of the 3 mentioned.
 
Have been very happy with my first Dell so far...knock on wood...:cool:
 
Agreed on the Dell being superior to either the FS or The Source systems. As for mixing and matching monitors, you can do that no problem.
 
vixxcampbell said:
Appreciate all this great info. A follow up question I have: What type of processor do you recommend I get? There seems to be multiple kinds, AMD, Intel Pentium, i3, i5, i7, etc.

Thanks to everyone else who posted as well. Though feel free to post more advice, I likely wont be getting my new comp until this weekend anyways. So I still got time to think.
Click to expand...

I'm same as Woodpeckr, I ordered from Dell (an Intel i7) in early 2010 which to this day still screams, totally flawless especially since Windows 7 upgrade. I used to build my own but it's neither cheaper nor a good use of time when you're building an everyday computer. For hardcore gaming and special needs like CAD then sure but for most it's a waste of time. One thing that Dell skimped on for the model I got was the cooling system. The stupid CPU, Case or PSU fan (not sure which one) keeps whirling up when the computer runs a bit hot. I can hear it from almost anywhere in the house, quite annoying. I need to replace it with a larger more efficient one someday but I'm too lazy.

If you don't use apps that take advantage of more than 2 processors then really any dual processor is fine. Most apps DO NOT take advantage of more than 2 threads/cores. The ones that do are generally of commercial/industrial grade usage. I like Intel myself but AMD's are just as good for everyday use. If AMD's cheaper then save a few bucks and go with that. For Intel I would NOT buy the older generation hot running Intel Pentium chips at any price. Go for Core 2 Duo and higher like iX series. Not that familar with AMD can't help here but I'm sure they are all fine.
 
vixxcampbell said:
OF the following two computers guys which would you recommend I get? They are both the same price. I tried to look for the HP i7 that Woodpeckr suggested but all the futureshops are out of stock of them and I even called in and they told me that the product was discontinued.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/prod...ry=Desktops_English&catalog=Online&tab=2#more

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...spx?path=0827f014d364a34dcf50c26f87c7ea03en02
Click to expand...

Do NOT buy from The Source; I helped a friend out with their laptop and The Source's support was truly awful, to the extent of them lying to me about what was wrong with the machine.
 
onthebottom said:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/imac/select?mco=MjIwNTQyNjE

Couldn't be easier....

For what you're going to do you'd be hard pressed to find a computer that isn't over powered.

OTB
Click to expand...

Pay attention bottie!
He has a budget of ~$700.
Those pricey Apple items you link to, cost about TRIPLE what he wants to shell out!....:Eek:

Plus he would have to learn a whole new Mac OS!
If he wants to learn a new OS he is better off trying Linux first which is FREE, than spending TRIPLE for an Apple system!
 
It's probably just dirty inside....

Hobbyer said:
I ordered from Dell (an Intel i7) in early 2010 which to this day still screams, totally flawless especially since Windows 7 upgrade.....

One thing that Dell skimped on for the model I got was the cooling system. The stupid CPU, Case or PSU fan (not sure which one) keeps whirling up when the computer runs a bit hot. I can hear it from almost anywhere in the house, quite annoying. I need to replace it with a larger more efficient one someday but I'm too lazy.
Click to expand...

I got my Dell i7 Nov 2009. A couple weeks ago it started doing the same. Cooling fans would kick into high speed with that annoying whirling sound. I opened it up to look inside and it was filthy as expected. That Dell is very easy to open for a look inside. Lot of dust caked around the fans and CPU. Carefully 'grounded' myself and vacuumed out the whole box. Even carefully disassembled the two fans to thoroughly clean out the CPU heat venting fins. CPU fan has an easy to disassemble 'snap-lock' assembly so you can clean it out better. The only fan that was difficult to get to clean, was the fan on the video card. I cleaned it the best I could without pulling it out of the box. After it was cleaned, it was put together and is running quiet again. There are 3 fans in that Dell i7, so they will suck a lot of dirt into the box.
 
WoodPeckr said:
Pay attention bottie!
He has a budget of ~$700.
Those pricey Apple items you link to, cost about TRIPLE what he wants to shell out!....:Eek:

Plus he would have to learn a whole new Mac OS!
If he wants to learn a new OS he is better off trying Linux first which is FREE, than spending TRIPLE for an Apple system!
Click to expand...

I don't really think $1,199 is triple $699 plus whatever she's going to pay for a monitor..... and think of not having to bother with virus software..... plug it in and it works - one cable (power) and you're done, bluetooth keyboard and mouse and a fantastic screen.... free photo software (iPhoto), free movie editing software (iMovie)....

Oh, and it doesn't look like ass on your desk - but perhaps that's not a concern for her.

OTB
 
onthebottom said:
Oh, and it doesn't look like ass on your desk - but perhaps that's not a concern for her.

OTB
Click to expand...

I think most apples look like ass. I've been looking at a new computer myself and there's quite a few of those all in one PCs too.. they are just as ugly!

Anyways, to continue on with this thread. As I just stated I'm looking at getting a new PC myself (prompted by this thread!).. I want something that's totally Media Center ready.
There arn't many systems that come with a remote. I'm looking at this item:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...fp-10160870-hewlettpackardhppavilionelitea-en

Anyone know of any other systems that are similar to this? It must have an IR receiver, ATSC tuner and digital sound out.

Thanks..
 
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