New desk top tower--manufactureres ??

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hornet driver

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My desk top is old and in the way, much like myself, and getting quirky . We are going to replace it. What manufacturers ted to have the least problems. My current one is an HP , and I've had no mechanical issues to date--8-9 years. Deb plays on face book and I do a lot of searches. A 500 buck price range is in order---H
 
Build your own - or at least spec it out and have a shop build it for you.
You can get it done (many local shops offer the option) for about $20 cost over the parts.
This way you get the quality of parts you desire and zero bloatware installed.

My favorite shops are:
Iguana Micro - https://www.iguanamicro.com/
ENU Inc. - https://www.enuinc.com/

I can help recommend components if you need help choosing.
I'm sure these places with ship to you....

I know the people well at Iguana and regularly purchase from both shops.
 
Build your own - or at least spec it out and have a shop build it for you.
You can get it done (many local shops offer the option) for about $20 cost over the parts.
This way you get the quality of parts you desire and zero bloatware installed.

My favorite shops are:
Iguana Micro - https://www.iguanamicro.com/
ENU Inc. - https://www.enuinc.com/

I can help recommend components if you need help choosing.
I'm sure these places with ship to you....

I know the people well at Iguana and regularly purchase from both shops.

+1
This is the best way to get exactly what you want, although I've known pros who bought assembled systems and then reformatted the hard drive.


[emoji1010] Steve Shannon [emoji1010]
 
I just built my own, on a budget of ~$750, although I upgraded graphics a bit over what you'd probably do, since my wife does some graphic design. Really, it was the first from scratch build I've ever done. I can't say enough good things about pcpartpicker.com. I bought most of the components off Amazon with a 30-day free trial of Prime for free shipping. I had to pick up a few more extra cables (why don't drives ship with data cables?!) from Fry's.
 
May I suggest a laptop ? A nice DELL or ASUS will replace all your old desktop functionality and then some. "Build-Your-Own" is an certainly a viable option and the sites mentioned already and others like them have made spec'ing the parts less of a geek workout than in the past. I just think a mainstream laptop in your price range will let you roam a bit ! :)
 
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Also - if you prefer a real [sized] keyboard and monitor, check out the Intel NUC.
The latest models are real screamers in a tiny package - provided you don't need "gaming" level graphics.
 
Build your own - or at least spec it out and have a shop build it for you.
You can get it done (many local shops offer the option) for about $20 cost over the parts.
This way you get the quality of parts you desire and zero bloatware installed.

My favorite shops are:
Iguana Micro - https://www.iguanamicro.com/
ENU Inc. - https://www.enuinc.com/

I can help recommend components if you need help choosing.
I'm sure these places with ship to you....

I know the people well at Iguana and regularly purchase from both shops.

+1...
But I use Cyberpower though,, same difference I think...
You'll spend a lot less and get exactly what you want / need by this method....

Teddy
 
It depends. If you take a look at Newegg, they sell refurbished stuff. You can sometimes find some really good deals on business class hp laptops, desktops, and workstations. The last couple computers I have purchased have been this route.

For instance, got an HP Elitebook laptop, i5, 120 Gb ssd, and 4gb for $250.
 
I'll say build your own. It is a lot easier than most folks think.
I built mine and my little brothers with parts from Newegg.com. Can usually get free shipping. If your having trouble with parts and compatibility, check out Bleepingcomputer.com, its like TRF except with puters. Post what you want and you will likely get a list, possibly with links to the parts you need.

Mikey D
 
[video=youtube;IFXaH-1Lozc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFXaH-1Lozc[/video]
 
Dell. Not as full of crapware as HP and the others, and you don't have to hassle with all the nuances of configuring a build-it-yourself.
 
I build my own.. would recommend a mini itx system like CaveDuck started me on .

Low heat, small form factor.. very stealth.

Don't forget to cost in a SSD and Win7 in your budget !

Kenny
 
My desk top is old and in the way, much like myself, and getting quirky . We are going to replace it. What manufacturers ted to have the least problems. My current one is an HP , and I've had no mechanical issues to date--8-9 years. Deb plays on face book and I do a lot of searches. A 500 buck price range is in order---H

I bought a new HP 2 years ago, if you have one now and are/were satisfied, you can get a new tower that should serve you well for $500. They are easy to build yourself, but for a non gaming, basic everyday computer, you are not going to be cheaper off building one yourself, with new parts anyway. I was going to refurbish my old tower ( 9years old) capable of running 64 bit and by time I added up the new components it was cheaper to by a new tower. Built my son a $2400 computer last year but that included a $750 graphics card, and a i7 processor for gaming. Non gaming computers are pretty inexpensive now days from the manufacturer of your choice.
 
Generally there is no such thing as a deal when it comes to consumer electronics, you will get what you pay for...go ahead and PILE ON!

Unfortunately consumers do not understand enough about the subject to make an informed decision and the manufacturers take advantage of this by throwing numbers at them that often have no relevance on the quality and or performance of a system. BTW Dell is the king of this trick and everyone else tries to market in the same way. Another thing to keep in mind is that clone resellers make the highest margin on computers but everyone thinks they get a great deal becasue they chose the components and "built their own".

As a general rule I tell my clients to budget $1000.00 CDN for an average business class PC to be used for general office use, MS Office, such as Word, Excel and Outlook and surfing the internet. I do not know the US pricing but I know the dollar goes a lot further when it comes to consumer electronics. I guess that $700 give or take $100 should get you an average web surfing, email, word processing system, but that is for the box only and you should budget more if you require additional peripherals, like a screen, printer, etc.

I realize everyone has an opinion on this topic becasue everyone owns a PC however I sell this stuff all day long and have for 25 years. More importantly I manage these technologies and I can tell you beyond a doubt that you will get what you pay for so take my advice based on my experience. My advice is don't look for a deal, set a budget then look for hardware requirements that fit your needs. These often do not match however PM me if you find anything that you feel is suitable and I will review the specs and give you my 2 cents.

BTW in case your first thought is, well I don't run a business so maybe I can scale back a bit. Truth is home PCs on average require much more horse power becasue they are crunching games, and general office stuff and Internet is typically low processing low resource, at least in most office environments. Internet can get intensive however in an office environment Internet access usually has an acceptable use policy, content filtering and or even bandwidth/network restrictions, that prohibit the more resource intensive technologies.

Mark Koelsch mentioned refurbished as a way to go and I agree. This is one of the markets where you can get a "deal" but you have to know what you are looking for. Having said that the "deals" are usually a bulk purchase. We procure refurbished gear in bulk but we do not deal with end users, only businesses, besides you are not local for pickup. If you are interested I can PM some links to some US sources for refurbished systems that you can look at and run by me.

As for bloat, that is generally a problem with all of the manufacturers (some worse than others) but it is a problem that can be addressed with either a clean bare-bones install or a cleanup, which often takes longer.
 
Thanks for all the responses ! My best friend is in the biz and actually offered to build one for me, I just didn't want to bother him. I think maybe I'll take him up on his offer. --H
 
I was in the group at Intel that created the reference designs.
We designed the FIRST motherboards for any generation system and gave 1000's away to the likes of HP, Dell [and yes, Apple] so they could copy them and slap their names on the finished product....
So I know what I'm talking about.

Anything you buy today will the "Core" logo will be plenty for surfing the web.
Intel integrated graphics are fine for anything buy gaming.
The suggestion of the NUC was real - unless you want a ton of storage.
 
Don't have time to build - I support about 80 pc users as a 'by the way, in addition to running the asset management department and the subsidized apartment buildings, you now also run IT' part of my job. I order HP desktops and laptops.

Chris
 
Considering what you are doing with your computer I would buy a tablet - Keep your computer going a bit longer then, when you are used to using a tablet make a decision on if you want a desktop, laptop, or another tablet. At least with a laptop you could plug your monitor into it and then would have two monitors.
 
I was in the group at Intel that created the reference designs.
We designed the FIRST motherboards for any generation system and gave 1000's away to the likes of HP, Dell [and yes, Apple] so they could copy them and slap their names on the finished product....
So I know what I'm talking about.

Anything you buy today will the "Core" logo will be plenty for surfing the web.
Intel integrated graphics are fine for anything buy gaming.
The suggestion of the NUC was real - unless you want a ton of storage.

Thanks FredA !

Made this one myself with a Z97 chipset mainboard and a Core i5 4590s !

Kenny

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For home use if you don't need lots of expansion (as in built in DVD/BluRay drives), the NUC mentioned above with an i5 or better will serve you well. You just need the NUC, the hard drive (usually SSD), and a RAM card. That's all there is to the "build." Then install your favorite OS and you are off to the races. Pair with your monitor/kb/mouse. I have one of these for the kids to use.

Marc
 
My best friend is in the biz and actually offered to build one for me, I just didn't want to bother him. I think maybe I'll take him up on his offer.

That's a good idea, or just go buy yourself a $400-$500 desktop. I also like building lots of things, and I respect the experience of all the posts so far, but keep in mind, there is such a thing as overthinking a situation. Computers and components come from so many different sources under so many different names, I bet almost any average, consumer computer is just as likely to do all your normal stuff at a reasonable speed- and just as likely for one of the components to fail.

Also, just FYI, everyone please buy a laser printer. I got a very cheap Brother Laser one year ago with a starter toner cartridge. I bought an extra for when the starter one ran out. The starter cartridge still going strong after a year of several kids with school reports and other random stuff. It is incredible compared to the hassle, expense, and frequency of inkjet replacement.
 
Build your own it's not really all that hard, or you could just load Linux on your old computer and it will work like new.
 
I should probably put this in the garage sale section, but I throw it on this thread in case anyone would like to use it. Its free to you, but you need to pay actual shipping costs. I bought two of these cases years ago, dont really need a second one laying around. It is brand new in the box.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129154

Please PM me if you are interested. Include your zip code for a shipping cost quote.

Thank you,

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