New Computer Fund..heh. [Archive] - The Gemstone IV Players' Corner

Ilvane

11-30-2006, 05:30 AM

I'm so broke it's sad..so my computer is giving me warnings that the hard drive is going to self-destruct, so I'm going to need to either get a new computer or build one.

I'm entirely broke, so I'm trying to do it the easiest way possible for the least amount of money.

Aside from begging people for money, how do you guys all build a decent computer on a short budget?

Angela

P.S. (Yeah, I work full time at a good job, but I take care of the entire house and its bills with my mom who is disabled now, my younger sister and her two kids..and I'm the only one who works right now.:grin: Thank god I have my own apartment, or I think I'd go insane! :P)

Bobmuhthol

11-30-2006, 06:20 AM

This works better if you have an XP install disk and the drivers for your machine, but it's still effective without them.

Step 1: Buy an eMachine. The T6xxx models are the best choice. About $550 will get you a great machine.
Step 2: Buy a PCI-E video card for it. A good one will cost about $150.
Step 3: Buy more RAM. Another 512 MB to bring it up to 1GB will cost about $50.
Step 4: Uninstall all the retarded software that retailers add to machines. Alternatively, reformat and reinstall XP and your drivers.

For $750, you can have a machine that will run any application you throw at it and be able to play multiple instances of graphics-intensive games simultaneously.

Celephais

11-30-2006, 06:41 AM

... and then throw yourself off a bridge.

Just get a Dell, it'll cost you less and you'll get a better machine. The one good peice of advice Bob did have was to reformat it to get rid of all the shit that they throw on there. If you're looking to build a machine from scratch (going to cost more than a Dell but you'll keep your soul) just go to Newegg.com or ZipZoomFly.com and get your components there. The intel 805D is a amazing bargain for shoestring budgets.

Only problem w/ the non-Dell route is if you need to buy a new monitor too.

Celephais

11-30-2006, 06:55 AM

Oh... forgot to add, what do you need the computer for? Are you playing games, folding gene sequences, looking at porn, data warehousing, running a business, or playing solitare?

If you're not doing anything too critical and you really want to do things on the cheap (and you're happy w/ your current compy)... just buy a new harddrive. What with the black friday sales they can run anywhere as cheap as free AR, but you shouldn't need to spend more than $60 to get a drive. You can even install it at the same time as your current drive, format it into two partitions, copy stuff you'll want to keep to one partition, then remove your dieing drive, and install a fresh OS on the other partition.

Watch slickdeals.net for the occasional good deal on hard drives.

Sean of the Thread

11-30-2006, 07:40 AM

Step 1: Buy an eMachine. The T6xxx models are the best choice. About $550 will get you a great machine.

BWHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA:rofl: :club: :lol2: :comp:

Kranar

11-30-2006, 08:38 AM

Check out E-Bay for Dell's. Can find good and refurbished ones for real cheap, like 400-500 dollar range.

zhelas

11-30-2006, 08:42 AM

if you are broke an e machine but gahh.. those are the worst.

Ilvane

11-30-2006, 08:55 AM

Yeah, my boyfriend said we could get pieces and make a nice system, so maybe if I can save my computer for a few more weeks we can get the parts and put together one that works pretty well.

I'm pretty much happy with the computer I have, with the exception that I need a high quality sound card for my recording. It helps to win contests that way.:)

Thanks for the advice

Skirmisher

11-30-2006, 11:21 AM

How much are you able to invest in a system?

Knowing that might help people give more fitting advice for your needs.

stallion4

11-30-2006, 11:26 AM

My buddy took about 10 minutes and built a nice computer on Dell.com that came to a grand total of like $520 bucks and it comes with free shipping etc. Take a few minutes to hit up Dell and just throw something together. If you aren't happy with it..close the site and look elsewhere. You may find what you need in the step by step process and be happy with the price. If not..people gave you some other sites in the above posts. Check it out.

HarmNone

11-30-2006, 11:31 AM

If you're really looking to do it on the cheap, the suggestion to replace just your harddrive is a good one. If the rest of your computer is operating properly, that will be the least expensive option, I think.

Skirmisher

11-30-2006, 11:37 AM

If you find that simply replacing the hard drive will not do the trick, I will toss in my usual advice of checking out the refurbished Dell pcs available through their own website.

We have bought three from there and only had one with any issues at all and that one was repaired at our offices by a tech in 48 hours.

The regular website can have some great prices too, but I almost always look at the outlet when in need.

They offer the same warranties also.

Keller

11-30-2006, 11:37 AM

You should just make a temporary PC username, set up a paypal account, and claim your friend has been abused by her husband, hit my a car, has tuberculosis, and needs help supporting 4 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and 2 gemstone subscriptions.

That should help.

Gan

11-30-2006, 12:18 PM

I hear Wal-Mart has some inexpensive PC's for sale.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=41937

:whistle:

And I have to second Bob's opinion of Emachines. I have had one running as my desktop (secondary to my primary which is a Dell laptop) and its been very low maintenance and highly dependable.

I upgraded RAM and the video card and I have no troubles with it. (Its a 4010 from 2 years ago) And considering what I spent, I consider it a great investment for a generic desktop PC.

Artha

11-30-2006, 12:26 PM

I also had an emachines that never gave me problems. Over the summer, I doubled the RAM and video memory and it never had any problems with any games. Replaced it when I got a monster laptop for college.

Sean of the Thread

11-30-2006, 01:00 PM

noobs

Skeeter

11-30-2006, 01:01 PM

Will sing for parts.

Soulpieced

11-30-2006, 04:19 PM

Gan

11-30-2006, 04:24 PM

My relatively new Dell computer's 80GB 5400 RPM hard drive started making funny clicking noises. I called and they pretty much sent me a new hard drive just off my explanation of the problem... they sent me a 100GB 7200 RPM ($150 more expensive than my previous HD from their website). Yay for getting the cheapest warranty?

I would not buy a Dell laptop without having a warranty. I replaced 2 hard drives that failed right after the infamous 'clicking' sound started in the first 6 months of owning the laptop. The two I replaced were Hitachi 80GB HD's. The last replacement was something else that I cant remember off the top of my head. I do remember requesting a non-Hitachi replacement to be sent.

Its posted somewhere here on the PC.

Ilvane

11-30-2006, 04:28 PM

Yeah, the clicking noise is what is happenning to mine right now..bleh.

It's okay, it has been working recently, but I know I'm going to have to replace it soon enough.

And yeah, will sing for parts..LOL

Angela

Bobmuhthol

11-30-2006, 06:52 PM

I'd love to see a comparable Dell sell anywhere near the price of an eMachine.

Dells are overpriced no matter how much you like to suck the company's dick.

Keller

11-30-2006, 07:17 PM

I'd love to see a comparable Dell sell anywhere near the price of an eMachine.

Dells are overpriced no matter how much you like to suck the company's dick.

People pay for things other than components.

Celephais

11-30-2006, 09:33 PM

I'd love to see a comparable Dell sell anywhere near the price of an eMachine.

Dells are overpriced no matter how much you like to suck the company's dick.

Christ that was easy...

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWAA3&s=dhs- $649 (19" monitor, 2.8ghz 800fsb, 1gb ram, 160GB)
vs
http://www.e4me.com/products/products.html?prod=D5039 - $699 (17" Monitor, 3.0ghz 533fsb, 512mb ram, 160gb HD).

And I would easily take 2.8ghz@800fsb vs 3.0ghz@533fsb

Bobmuhthol

11-30-2006, 09:54 PM

Yeah in no way, shape, or form did I ever insinuate or indicate that eMachines monitor bundles were ever good ideas. But okay. I even said to buy the T-series.

Celephais

11-30-2006, 10:10 PM

Yeah in no way, shape, or form did I ever insinuate or indicate that eMachines monitor bundles were ever good ideas. But okay. I even said to buy the T-series.

My appologies, I just grabbed the first emachine that was an Intel (forgot Dell carries AMD now)

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWBA3&s=dhs
Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 1gb ram, 160gb, otherwise identical (7.1 audio) - $439

http://www.e4me.com/products/products.html?prod=T6540 T6540
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 512 MB ram, 200gb HD, 5.1 audio - $479

... eh lets make them the same price... change the 160Gb in the Dell to a 250GB, same price then. (and if you decided to buy a monitor w/ the dell, you could sell it for more on ebay than you pay to add it)

Edit to add: both of these do not include monitors

Bobmuhthol

11-30-2006, 10:24 PM

Uh

The link you provided for the Dell is $659 with a 250GB hard drive...

Celephais

11-30-2006, 10:27 PM

Remove the monitor

Bobmuhthol

11-30-2006, 10:33 PM

Okay.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWAA2&s=dhs

http://www.e4me.com/products/products.html?prod=T5048

$90 better with the same stuff.

Celephais

11-30-2006, 10:43 PM

You asked for a comparable dell to sell anywhere near the same price as an emachine, I gave you two baseline configs.

If you happen to want that exact configuration... then sure, get the eMachine (do they come w/ 1 year warranties, I honestly don't know).

And I gotta say, that configuration is shitty no matter which price you're paying, $400 for the 524?

Don't forget, all of those Dell prices are without eBaying yourself a coupon (I hate don't that, so i didn't mention it, but they can get cheaper)

Stanley Burrell

11-30-2006, 10:54 PM

Find the specs you want on Dell and then purchase them on an HP for 1/2 that price, mebbe.

Also, why have you not accumulated oodles of jillions of dollars yet? :(

Celephais

11-30-2006, 11:15 PM

Holy cow... I just tried to price that AMD 64 X2 3800+ (probably the better of the deals posted) on HP and you're looking at $650 w/o a monitor.

Stanley Burrell

11-30-2006, 11:54 PM

<<Holy cow... I just tried to price that AMD 64 X2 3800+ (probably the better of the deals posted) on HP and you're looking at $650 w/o a monitor.>>

I didn't notice.

These are the lowest end assembly line desktops unfurnished (in customize mode, or at least were when I copy and pasted those htmls.)

HP's A1410e:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/series_can.do?storeName=computer_store&landing=desktops&a1=Usage&v1=Everyday%20computing Starting at $200.

vs. Dell's

E521:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWBA1&s=dhs starting at $329

Try tinkering around.

Stanley Burrell

11-30-2006, 11:56 PM

And HP never has overheating issues.

Celephais

12-01-2006, 12:03 AM

If you even them out (or about as close as you can get) the prices are pretty much the same. Mostly due to the 256 ram in that HP.

If you're just looking for a PS, Motherboard and Chasis (and then replace cheap components), might as well go to NewEgg... build or get a barebones, even cheaper.

In reality they're all about the same.

Celephais

12-01-2006, 12:05 AM

Lol, that was Sony's fault (Sony's having a bad year).

Stanley Burrell

12-01-2006, 12:08 AM

<<If you even them out (or about as close as you can get) the prices are pretty much the same. Mostly due to the 256 ram in that HP.>>

Indeed <g>

That was basically going through my mind the entire time when I kept on balancing them out. Methinks they are in cahoots (and practicing smart businees :D)

I think I heard about (allegedly) Newegg's student discount deals (for software, er?) something to that effect. Must sleep.

Stanley Burrell

12-01-2006, 12:20 AM

Lol, that was Sony's fault (Sony's having a bad year).

Wasn't this the exploding battery ordeal whatsit? :-\

Celephais

12-01-2006, 12:23 AM

Wasn't this the exploding battery ordeal whatsit? :-\

The exploding batteries were Sony batteries... HP didn't have the faulty ones (several other companies than just Dell did).

Are you talking about a different overheating issue?

thornhappy

12-01-2006, 08:22 AM

$600+ is not what I'd call a cheap PC.

I got my e-machine for $350 and it works fine for what I do. It's been very dependable. Guess it depends on what you're looking for in a computer.

unconcerned1

12-01-2006, 11:01 AM

The exploding batteries were Sony batteries... HP didn't have the faulty ones (several other companies than just Dell did).

Are you talking about a different overheating issue?

I reversed the fan on my Dell. My graphics card (nvidia 6800 gt) hovered around 60 degrees before, 50 after.

I don't like the layout inside the case. Def. didn't like that backward ass fan shit. I did like that I got a lot of PC for my money.

Stanley Burrell

12-01-2006, 11:10 AM

Skeeter

12-01-2006, 11:22 AM

$600+ is not what I'd call a cheap PC.

I got my e-machine for $350 and it works fine for what I do. It's been very dependable. Guess it depends on what you're looking for in a computer.

You must be PB age to think 600 isn't cheap. I guess if all you need is a Commodore 64, $350 isn't bad.

Gan

12-01-2006, 12:15 PM

Price equates to need/use. The only variable is the level of education of the consumer on how computers/software works based on their needs.

Do you need a uber-computer to run simple desktop functions such as email, personal financial, basic word processing/spreadsheet, and leisure games such as solitaire? That would be like painting your house in an armani suit.

thornhappy

12-01-2006, 12:46 PM

Pretty much. I don't play graphic intensive games, and most of its function is word processing and.. a text based MUD.

I'm not "PB age", I just have bad luck and shitty job.

Tsa`ah

12-01-2006, 06:22 PM

Well, you're in luck ... it's the holiday season.

Check out evil Wal-mart, Target ... any of the super center type places.

Most will carry anything from an e-machine to HPs ranging from 250-500 bucks.

I still have an e-machine, the kids use it. Best thing to do (as suggested) is wipe the hardrive and install plain old windows xp. You can get an oem copy for about 20 bucks now. The system is a celeron 1ghz very dated.

I still have the HP I bought a few years ago ... no problems with it. Did the same thing I did with the e-machine .... wiped the OS it came with and installed a oem windows xp.

Both systems were purchased (with monitors) for under 400 each during the holiday season. The only additional advice I can offer on buying either of the above is to replace the power supply as most boxed holiday special systems are incredibly under powered. As you can afford it, buy seperate vid and sound cards, disable the onboard, add memory, add a faster HD ... they suck resources.

I have a very new, very expensive Dell collecting dust in the closet. It crapped out and customer/technical support was/is useless. I will never buy anything from Dell again.

Some have suggested e-bay ... I would suggest Ubid. If you watch the auctions closely you can pick up a really nice refurb pretty cheap.

Sean of the Thread

12-01-2006, 06:35 PM

AestheticDeath

12-01-2006, 06:45 PM

If they didn't fix the problem you caused the problem.

I would never buy a dell for myself but I've personally been responsible with over a million dollars in dell rig and they would have a replacement part/tech/service/blowjob the next day if there was a problem.

NO SHIT? You give me a mil in sales and Im sure Id be working through your problems as fast as I could too. Some regular old Joe buys one computer, it breaks, and Dell says FU when they cant fix it over the phone. Well what can you do?

Bobmuhthol

12-01-2006, 06:50 PM

What he said.

Dell's customer service is great... when you're a major corporation.

Sean of the Thread

12-01-2006, 06:50 PM

NO SHIT? You give me a mil in sales and Im sure Id be working through your problems as fast as I could too. Some regular old Joe buys one computer, it breaks, and Dell says FU when they cant fix it over the phone. Well what can you do?

Of course there is a difference between business accounts and personal accounts.. good thing I have a personal reference too. My brother bought a dell about a year ago and had a problem with the graphics card. Took about 30 minutes on the phone with an Indian (just like the annoying Indian assholes you talk to for the business accounts) and they sent a new graphics card out next day with full paid return of the old part... just like they do for any of my business dells.

Sean of the Thread

12-01-2006, 06:51 PM

What he said.

Dell's customer service is great... when you're a major corporation.

Wrong again windows ME boy. Stay out of the Tech threads until you at least have pubic hair.

thornhappy

12-01-2006, 06:57 PM

My dell's HD shit the bed after about two months of use.

Then the drivers all mysteriously disappeared and were impossible to find.

When I finally got everything fixed.. the power supply blew and nearly caused a fire.

I don't think I'll buy another one. It sits in my closet now.

PS: Their tech support was useless.

To be fair though, my previous dell ran forever until a flood took it out.

Sean of the Thread

12-01-2006, 07:03 PM

Rofl you guys are reminding me of my days in tech support. "did you get my email about my email not working???"

Bobmuhthol

12-01-2006, 07:07 PM

Sean of the Thread

12-01-2006, 07:12 PM

<<Wrong again windows ME boy. Stay out of the Tech threads until you at least have pubic hair.>>

I like how I'm wrong but the post I agreed with isn't. Selective targeting sure is a cool way to demonstrate that you have no fucking idea what you're talking about and just like to disagree with me.

But yeah, you're pretty fucking retarded, so I guess it's expected.

<<Rofl you guys are reminding me of my days in tech support. "did you get my email about my email not working???">>

Rofl, you were in tech support.

You're an idiot bob. ESPECIALLY about computer shit. At least it's humorous enough to still be entertaining. Pretty soon you're gonna grow up and realize you're not as advanced as highschool makes you feel. Enjoy it while you can kid.

Bobmuhthol

12-01-2006, 07:14 PM

*yawn*

Just about every single person I've ever met would disagree with you, but I'm glad you know so much about me.

Sean of the Thread

12-01-2006, 07:19 PM

Exactly.

Mistomeer

12-02-2006, 12:25 AM

Wrong again windows ME boy. Stay out of the Tech threads until you at least have pubic hair.

Customer service is always better for better customers.

Skirmisher

12-02-2006, 01:43 AM

What he said.

Dell's customer service is great... when you're a major corporation.

Kind of correct, but also true for their small business section.

Wezas pointed out several times before how buying a Dell from their small bus section tends to mean less junkware installed plus you get better tech support from my experience.

It was the small bus section that repaired the last/only real problem we've had with one of their machines in less than 48 hours on site.

Tsa`ah

12-02-2006, 04:35 AM

Sorry to burst your bubble ... but I had jack to do with the system taking a shit. The only "after market" installations were AIM, WoW, a hand full of kid's games, photos from cds (scanned and cleared by the AV I purchased with the system), music from purchased disks (also scanned and cleared), and microsoft updates.

The only time the case got cracked was at the request of tech support. I went so far as to take the HD to a local repair shop and it scanned clean of everything.

No, the problem is that Dell does not give a shit about home pc customers unless they're buying multiple machines annually. Never have I heard a complaint about Dell from any of the tech departments at any of my jobs ... they're good when it comes to repeat business of any scale outside of home sales. The average Joe has to play tech with a person on the other side of the world who may or may not speak english fluently. If they can trouble shoot it over the phone while saving service call dollars ... you're golden. If they can't ... you're fucked.

Either way, Amex agreed with me that Dell failed to uphold their warranty within reasonable expectations and reversed the transaction. Dell still wants their money but they don't want the piece of shit they sent me.