Purchasing a New PC HELP!

[Friends just call me Ross]

My Dell desktop is about to bite the dust and, wonder of wonders, my hubby is encouraging me to buy a new PC.

Something for less than $800?  Any recommendations would be MOST welcomed and appreciated.  

 

I have never EVER purchased a new computer before.  My brother, who worked at Boeing, always sent me computers that he had

purchased at Boeing Surplus.  Some were Macs and some were Dells.  They were always operating on outdated systems, but I was

able to get by.   I can't burn DVDs because the drivers are outdated and I can't download new drivers because my operating system is

too old.

 

My XP operating system is not supported on a lot of things and now Chrome is also letting XP fall by the way. 

Chrome is the only browser that will work on my old Dell, but Chrome doesn't play nice with a lot of the websites I use.

 

Anyway, anybody got any tips or pointers or minimum memory and hard-drive suggestions?

Is there a "Purchasing a New PC For Dummies" book out there somewhere? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[pnutts]

Try Walmart or Best Buy. Get an open box at Best Buy for better deals.  Computers are usually less expensive in Canada, however you are in no mans land without much competition.

 

What does your old PC have in it for RAM, CPU speed and Hard drive.  It will tell you under system in control panel.

 

I updated an old xp Dell 531 to win 10, however because I wanted to use a 1080 TV as a monitor, I upgraded video card and RAM

and switched out a 320 Gb hard drive for a 1 Tb from my main computer.  Works fine with 64 bit win 10 ( more RAM let me use 64 bit as opposed to 32 bit windows )

Edited April 22, 2016 by pnutts

[Friends just call me Ross]

Thanks for the suggestions, Brother Peter.

It has a TB hard drive and another hard drive, too.

Here's its system properties:

 

What's an 'open box'?

[Old]

3 minutes ago, Friends just call me Ross said:

Thanks for the suggestions, Brother Peter.

It has a TB hard drive and another hard drive, too.

Here's its system properties:

 

What's an 'open box'?

Exactly what it says. Someone may have bought it and returned it to the store in an unused condition. The warranty is still good. Same with a unit that has been on display, they can't sell it as new because the box was opened. Open box  units are among the best buys available. Be sure it has the manufacture's warranty.

 I don't know what your budget is, but I have had success purchasing factory refurbished units the have a new manufactures warranty. The PC that I am typing on at this minute is a Dell Inspiron, 5000 series, 17 inch HD display. This is not a unit that a computer geek would purchase, but for me, a factory new laptop that meets my every need, and it is still under Dell's warranty for another six months (Originally a year) delivered to my door for less than $300. 

Have similar desk top unit in the guest room also purchased factory refurbished with 1 year warranty (since expired) with all the bells and whistle that most of us can use. $295 delivered to my front door.  

Both PCs are running Windows 10.

[Precision]

Personally, I like the PC to be new in the box,  even though you can get some great deals with warranties on open box units. Problem is you don't really know why the unit was sent back to the store. Could be one of those glitches that only happen occasionally.

 

I have had great success with the large screen Toshiba's Satellite series 4 GB purchased at Best Buy for less than $300. They will help you set it up, in store. Plus you can even try out a model in store before purchasing. The sales staff is very knowledgeable. And the units are loaded with the very latest technologies.  certain times of the year Best Buy's website has some great deals.    

[pnutts]

I bought an open box 17" laptop 7 years ago for $10 more than a 15". They had just put it on display a few minutes before and had already disposed of the box.

It was brand new, full warranty.

 

Your Dell should handle win 10 32 bit. If RAM is cheap you can upgrade it then run win 10 64 bit ( 4 Gb is min but need at least 6 GB to run 64 bit properly. 32 bit will not use above approx 3.2 Gb RAM ).

[vern]

do you want new?  do you want to save a few dimes and get a little older?  do you want laptop?  or something for the home and are ok with it being desktop still?

minimums:
6GB memory- 8GB recommended---  DDR3/DDR4----  do not get anything thats DDR2-- if you get laptop then go DDR4; if desktop you can save a few dimes with DDR3.
1TB harddrive(mechanical) ;  250GB SSD with 1 TB secondary storage recommended

You can save a few pennies by going AMD(APU-graphics on chip)   if you go laptop then go with the newest Intel Skylake
 check around and see if anyone knows how to assemble a computer; maby they will do it for 150 bucks + parts. you get much better parts if they know what they are doing.
you can get used refurbished and save some money....
CPU needs to have 4 logical cores atleast-- do not get anything duel core any longer.
anything Intel thats 4th generation and up = Haswell/skylake

You can survive without a graphics card and save 100 bucks.  The CPU's mostly have graphics units on the chip now. i3/i5/i7-- AMD(APU)-- if you get a laptop its a non issue as they all have something.
Getting a refurbished business machine usually is a good thing as they are built to last and they have parts for 10 years as opposed to the home user  market.


You can try overstock.com      But its a little tricky.... i was noticing the cheaper models have mobil i5's that are actually duel core instead of quad core.....sneaky sneaky....

personally cost-co has some good prices for what you get. limited stock but decent prices.

http://www.tomshardware.com/     very active forum.... might get some ideas.



 

Edited April 22, 2016 by vern

[vern]

so..... if i were to build an AMD from scratch this is what it would look like.


 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88M PRO3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($52.38 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($38.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($56.94 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Xion XON-560 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($31.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($85.49 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $434.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-22 17:59 EDT-0400



https://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/



If i were to build i newer intel skylake:


 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus H170M-E D3 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($89.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($31.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($56.94 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($18.89 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($85.49 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $549.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-22 18:08 EDT-0400




personally i'd go with the intel for the 130 bucks more you get much better future proofed rig.

[New World Explorer]

If you can afford buy solid drive.

Huge performance improvement.

All depends on you budget because i7 Intel is more future proof then i3 ... see never ending choices LOL

I personally bought i7 and solid based computer with plenty of ram so I can do photo and video editing , so your choice of components will largely reflect your current and future needs.

 

[vern]

i assumed simple browsing and media watching;  and that price was a factor.

[Dages]

It's always cheaper to build it. 

 

/r/buildapc on Reddit often has good ideas. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/4fvf5n/building_an_ultra_cheap_desktop_pc_for_the_first/d2cc8n7

Edited April 23, 2016 by Dages

[Cool Cat]

This website seems a good one that allows you to choose your parts and then for $50 they will set it all up for you.

 

http://www.ncix.com

 

Slightly more expensive parts for some things but came in at about $540 for everything that you could need. 

 

Richards list of parts were really good suggestions if you feel brave enough to make your own. You  wouldn't go far wrong if you followed his list.

 

 

 

[pnutts]

US Walmart ad

Refurbished HP Gray Pavilion Desktop PC with AMD A8-6410 Quad-Core Accelerated Processor, 8GB Memory, 2TB Hard Drive and Windows 8.1 (Monitor Not Included) (Eligible for Free Windows 10 Upgrade) $279.00

[Friends just call me Ross]

Thanks for the heads-up on this, Brother Peter.

I don't do any online gaming, and since I don't think I'm going to find a better desktop PC  for under 300 bucks,

I'm going to stop in Escanaba tomorrow and order it.

 

Key Features and Benefits:

• AMD A8-6410 Quad-Core accelerated processor
  2.0GHz, 2MB L2 Cache
   
• 8GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory (expandable to 16GB)
  Gives you the power to handle most power-hungry applications and tons of multimedia work
   
• 2TB SATA hard drive
  Store 1,300,000 photos, 571,000 songs or 1,053 hours of HD video and more
   
• SuperMulti DVD Burner
  Watch movies and read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats
   
• 10/100Base-T Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
  Connect to a broadband modem with wired Ethernet or wirelessly connect to a WiFi signal or hotspot with the 802.11b/g/n connection built into your PC
   
• AMD Radeon R5 Graphics
  With up to 8448MB total available graphics memory

Additional Features:

• 7-in-1 memory card reader
• 2 x USB 3.0 ports, 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x headphone jack, 1 x microphone jack, 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port, 1 x VGA port, 1 x DVI-D port
• 1 x PCI Express (x0.5) slot, 1 x external 5.25" bay, 1 x internal 3.5" bay
• 15.77 lbs, 15.35" x 14.48" x 6.91"

[pnutts]

You should be able to order online and then pick it up when it comes in. You need a credit card of course.

I did this for a good Ozark Trail tent last year from US Walmart. Must have got the last one on sale.  

The funny thing is - it was shipped from California to Michigan. I had been within 100 miles of point of origin just 3 weeks before.

Edited April 26, 2016 by pnutts

[Friends just call me Ross]

I tried to order it online, but every time I got to 'Checkout', an ERROR message would come up.

So I called our local Wal-Mart and the guy in the electronic's department said he would order it for me.

[Witness1970]

I am using a computer that two of my children bought about 6 years ago.  Since that time I have had to replace the mouse (first the wheel stopped working and then the left mouse button stopped working) and the keyboard (grandson spilled something in it after I had told him and my wife no food or drink at the computer).  I chose to replace the 22" monitor with a 32" Toshiba TV that was in our guest room and was never used.  I gave the monitor to my daughter who was having problems with her monitor.  I also gave my daughter the speakers because hers weren't working.  I use the Toshiba TV speakers.  I had an add-on video card that I had to remove because it started preventing the computer from booting up.  There is a video card on the motherboard but I no longer can use a DVI.

 

My son and daughter bought this in about 2009 or 2010 and it has served me well ever since.  It was a refurbished Gateway computer and still works fine.

If I ever do get rid of this computer I will undoubtedly salvage everything usable such as hard drives, DVD-ROM drives, etc.

[pnutts]

  Got an ad from a Canadian company for same computer - refurbished as one above from US Walmart. C$249 which is about  US$200.

[Friends just call me Ross]

6 hours ago, pnutts said:

  Got an ad from a Canadian company for same computer - refurbished as one above from US Walmart. C$249 which is about  US$200.

Please PM me with the details.  My Sister/Sister, Lori, brought my Mom all the way to the farm, so I didn't have to go to Escanaba.  End result, I haven't placed an order yet.

I'm texting this from a wildfire.  The DNR is doing a prescribed burn of 400 acres...to improve the sharptailed grouse's habitat. 

 

[pnutts]

It is factorydirect.ca and was in an email. There are none near you. Then there is shipping from Canada. Our local store sold out today.

 

Grouse habitat?  You mean those stupid birds that you could hit with your car door ( if you open it quickly ) as you drive by.

[New World Explorer]

Just to clarify

Are looking for computer like this ? LOL

[Qapla]

That would be nice if it had two more monitors

[pnutts]

20 hours ago, Qapla said:

That would be nice if it had two more monitors

Plus twice as big and the new 8K   Where's the bottle holders?

Edited April 30, 2016 by pnutts