Buying a computer????

[nO-One]

The celeron is basically the P.2 core with less cache and on a 66Mhz fsb.And it doesn\'t have the Katmai instructions.It\'s good for a budget PC.
You might want to consider an AMD Duron system,the Duron is AMD\'s budget CPU and it perfoms much better than the Celery,and AMD procs are cheaper than Intel\'s

Actually I think the Celery has more cache than the P2 but anyway.

It\'s ok except for

• Windows ME; Get 2000Pro instead if you can
• Don\'t buy any computer with less than 128 MB of RAM

Now that integrated video card is not really a good one, but you can put your own card in and disable the integrated one, however that\'s more money you don\'t need to spend and no AGP

The Duron really is a superior chip to the Celeron.  The good thing about HP\'s is they throw in a burner.  Bad thing is their integration.

What I would if I were you is design my own system.  They will do that for you here at http://www.directron.com

You don\'t have to know it all and there are people who will help you.  But you WILL find a better deal online than in any store.

Hp\'s are good!  I like mine.  Its a Celley 466.  It\'s a little over a year old I believe and it is still going pretty good.  Of course the cpu isnt blistering fast and I would never play a game like quake3 without buying a really good video card, but for average computing needs which you said was all you wised for, Celerons are fine.  Of course they dont have as much L2 cache as the P3\'s, and subsequently do not perform as well, but that\'s what you are paying for.  

There is nothing wrong w/ the integrated video cards either as far as upgrading.  Mine has one and if you decided to buy a new video card like a Nvidia GeForce or something you can disable it by switching a jumper.  I put a Voodoo 3 in mine once without switching the onboard video jumper and there were no conflicts.  So it really shouldnt be a problem.  

I would definetly not get a Compaq.  My friend has a newer computer than mine and it blows chunks.  Get that HP if thats what you can afford.  Still if you can afford it build your own,  that is the best way you can go and you might get away a little cheaper, and if it isnt cheaper you will end up with better products in your computer than you would get with any name-brand computer company.

OK here\'s the bottom line:

MT25, How much are you willing to spend?

thanks for the advice, and keep it coming. I really want to keep the price under $1,000(I know its not much to work with).
 This computer is going to be used strictly for the basics, I\'m not going to use it for gaming at all. The computer that I listed above is only going to cost me about $450.00 or so since its refurbished. I\'m mostly going to use it for school. I can always get more memory if I need it right??

Again thanks for the help.

I\'d recommend (product/brand):

1) at least an 800 mhz processor (AMD T-bird, Duron, Celeron)
2) at least 128mb of ram (Crucial, Corsair, Kingmax)
3) at least 20gig 7200rpm ata/66+ HD (IBM, Maxtor)
4) ata/66+ compatible mobo (Asus, Abit)
5) GeForce MX graphics card (Elsa, Hercules)
6) Win98, ME for quicker boot ups and higher benchmarks.  Win2k Pro if you want great stability.
7) at least a 17" monitor, .24dp & 1600x1200 @ 85hz if possible (Samsung, Sony)
8) 8/4/32 CDRW (Plextor, Sony, HP)
9) at least 6x DVD (Pioneer, Creative)
10) OR getting it custom built at a local PC shop

Things to watch out for:

1) Integrated vid cards
2) Integrated system ram
3) Anything less than 96mb of ram (still assuming you won\'t be gaming)
4) Compaq & e-machines
5) Any pre-built, overpriced system for that matter.  Dell and HP are my personal exceptions.

I have a personal hatred for used PCs.  You never know what some numbnuts has done to it.

For the amount you have to spend you should be able to find a good Pentium III 800 or a Duron 800-900 PC.  

What would really help you is if you just check out some PC magazines.  There are ads on every other page for dirt-cheap PCs by good companies.  Some of them are local and some are not.  But always consider warranty and who you\'ll be talking to or taking your PC to if you have problems.  Dell has on-site warranty and I believe Gateway does, too.  You won\'t get that from HP or Compaq.

Just remember INTEGRATION = BAD

Originally posted by Metal_Gear_Ray
dell sux IMO, my dads p4 1.3ghz, gf2gts, 128rd ram got a 3dmark2k1 score of 450, while my p3 667 , gfpro, 128rdram got a score of 1500.

Make you own pc, buy the parts and put it together youself

That\'s exactly what i am doing at the moment. you can build your own pc for about 2/3 of the price it would cost you from a shop.
only thing is i am getting all my money from a paperround.
man this is gonna take a while

[nO-One]

Heh heh THX recomended about the same things as I would recomend
except for the Maxtor HD (I have a dislike for that brand,bad quality control)
and you left out the Mushkin ram.

Anyhoo a good cheap system could be.

• Duron 700-800
• MSI K7T-ProA (cheap and stable.It\'s gotten good reviews)
• 128mb
• 20-30gig (Preferebly IBM 75GXP)
• GF.2 MX (Hercules,Elsa,Asus etc...)
• Sblive (just get a chap one,their all based on the same core)
• 17" monitor (pay good attention to the monitor it\'s the part you\'ll be looking at all the time)

I\'m tired so you people can fill in the blanks

:)

If you\'re hunting RAM like me, then go to http://www.crucial.com where I\'m buying a 256 DDR chip for $100 with Free UPS Air!

Emperor Rob are you serious?! Thats the best price I\'ve seen... When I get my new comp, hopefully soon, I know to go to that website.

Serious as a heart attack.  But I really would like a Prophet 4500 but I can\'t seem to find one.

Thanks for all of your help

Emperor Rob that site is really consusing, how would just buy 256 DDr ram i cant find the rite spot its makin me pic all this **** i dont get it.

FackinKubuss, look here and you\'ll see prices for 2100 and 1600 DDR RAM.  And if you scroll to the bottom of the page you\'ll notice that UPS 2nd Day shipping is FREE!!