1. What to look for in a new desktop computer based on your needs.
2. Examples of computers based on each person's needs.
General Rules:
- Any Intel is better than AMD
- Any Celeron is a low-cost Pentium
- Any Core Duo or Core2Duo is better than a Pentium or Celeron
- Any Core2Quad is better than Core2Duo
- Any Xeon beats them all.
Desktops: The most bang for your buck. If you sacrifice portability, you get a lot of computing power! The differences between name brand desktops are all on the outside. The BEST option for a desktop is to build it yourself. You'll know exactly what your getting and you'll save a lot of money, heartache, and headaches. There won't be trial software to remove and you'll get a clean machine that just works. If you don't know how to build them or know someone who can build it for you, maybe I'll make a guide for later, but for now, I can tell you what to look for depending on what you do with a computer.
NOTE: I looked on Best Buy's site for all these computers only because there's one here in Santa Fe and they have them up for you to check out and get a feel for. They have pretty good warranties as well. Please feel free to look at other stores for similar machines...they're probably better priced there...anyway...
Person 1: Likes to chat, check email, surf the web and do some light school work/office work.
Person 1 needs some decent processor power. If you can afford a Core2Duo desktop, go for it. Otherwise, at least a dual core pentium. 2GB of memory MINIMUM (That goes for everyone). Graphics aren't so important unless Person 1 watches a lot of Hulu or Youtube. If so, then look for a dedicated graphics card on the specs sheet. If not, an integrated one will do. A combo drive that plays and burns CDs and plays DVDs will probably be pretty standard. Another thing Person 1 might like is a card reader built into the machine. They're REALLY handy and eliminate the need for camera cables and pricey wifi enabled camera cards. Hard Drive space is up to you. I think a 500GB will get most users by just fine.
Example: Acer Model Number AX1700-U3700A, Small, Dual Core, multi-card reader, 4 GB of memory, lots of hard drive space, and gigabit ethernet. I like ACER computers, they're solid and affordable. Best Buy Price: $419.00 - $479.00 (but you'll need a monitor).
Link to ACER AX1700
Honorable Mention: Acer Nettop Model Number AR1600-U910H. This is like all those Netbooks out there, just in a desktop format. It has an intel Atom Processor which uses almost no energy and is fast enough for all your web surfing needs. It has good graphics, a fair amount of expandability through USB and PCI ports, and 160 GB hard drive all in a 7" x 7" case. Best Buy Price - $199.00
Link to ACER Nettop
Person 2: Is a Photo, Video and Music junkie! So many files, so little time.
Person 2 definitely needs a card reader installed on their machine. They need a Core2Duo at minimum to listen to music and watch videos while editing photos. Lots of Ram would help, I'd suggest going higher than 2 GB, as much as you can afford to put into it (also, don't be afraid to do this yourself. It's easy and the people at best buy or office depot will swindle you to install it.).
Person 2 will also need multiple hard drives or at least one 1 TB drive or higher. You can add external hard drives later or install more in the machine...also super easy to do. Person 2 needs many, many USB ports to connect all their cameras/music devices/media players. I would also look into eSATA ports and hard drives. The transfer rate over eSATA is insanely fast, so watching videos and storing files will be a breeze. Graphics are important for the photo junkie. Make sure it has a decent graphics card in it. nVidia GeForce GX or series 9 please.
Example: I still like the Acer desktop I suggested for Person 1, but...if they want some more graphics power...I stumbled on this, the Gateway LX6810-01. For $749.00, you get 8 GB of RAM, an intel Core2Quad, thats like having 4 processors.
Link to Gateway LX6810
Person 3: Is a hardcore gamer! When Person 3 is breathing, they're online gaming.
Person 3 needs to put their money towards graphics, Ram, and CPU power! They're going to need a Quad Core processor to handle the gaming and a hell of a good graphics card. Geforce gx is a must. IF you;re a gamer, you've heard of SLI and Crossfire. This is where multiple Graphics cards are linked together to form one output. Don't bother with this. When you use two or more graphics cards to do SLI or Crossfire, you are only getting about 1.3 times the performance, not double or triple. Buy the best SINGLE graphics card you can afford. Person 3 is going to need lots of RAM for the games to store information in. Make sure the computer you get has gigabit ethernet capabilities so you don't miss a thing online (Make sure your router or however you connect to the Internet has those capabilities as well).
Example: Dell Studio XPS Model No. SX8000-2361. This is as powerful as it gets. Pay attention to the graphics processor, the Nvidia GTS240 graphics card. You need one of these types of cards to play today's games. Core i7 processor power, and DDR3 memory (all that means is how fast info can be written to and from the memory, ddr3 is the fastest to date)...this can do it all.
Link to Dell Studio XPS
Person 4: is a graphics whiz! They're "Photoshoping" and modeling all the live long day.
Person 4 needs a workstation and probably the most expensive rigs around. Person 4 needs a Quadro Graphics card which start at around $180 for a decent one. They also need plenty of hard drive space for all those HUGE hi-res files. Think Terabytes! The also need plenty of RAM, as much as fiscally possible. Quad Core processor(s) is(are) a must. Person 4 will have to order these bad boys online.
Example: HP Z400 workstation: These are Xeon-based computers with terabytes of storage space and tons of memory. the thing that stands out from a top of the line gaming machine is the graphics card. The Nvidia Quadro line of cards handles graphics data differently than a gaming card and as such, they can produce intensely hi-res images for a price.
Link to HP Z400 Workstation
So that about covers anything you can do with a desktop computer. Again, I only used Best Buy for the computers because you can go there and check out these machines and see how they perform. I hope you go to other places and find similarly equipped models at better prices.
Next up: So your laptop died...now what?
