so I'm getting a new computer.
 

my current computer is a worthless piece of crap I got from my parents. it was made in the mid-90's, doesn't like people fussing with it, starts whirring ominously if you try to run any games on it, and only has 15 gigs of Hard Drive space.

at some point this summer when I go back to working 40+ hour weeks, I'm going to buy a new computer. I can't blow my entire paychecks because I have to put in 50% for college, so I'm looking for something relatively cheap. as in, less than 1,000 dollars for the whole setup, so no alienware for me.

this is the one I'm currently looking at:

link!

problem is, I know effectively nothing about computers and electronics besides "bigger numbers=good", so I was wondering if someone could tell me if this particular PC is even worth the money I'd pay for it? I know already I'm going to have to upgrade the RAM, and I have a broadband internet connection, if that's at all relevant.

If you're going for a computer with DDR2 RAM, you might as well spiff the extra $100 to get a dual core processor.

I've got some links that you might like, depending on your price range- And by that, I mean Do you want to spend ~$400, ~$600, or ~$800?

If you want something cheap but upgradeable, look Here.

If you want something where you don't have to get it upgraded much, You'd be looking at something like This. That computer seems similar to the one you linked to at Best Buy, so the prices are probably similar.

But for your money, I'd say your best choice would be right Here!

That last one I reccomend the most, because it's a good priced Dual Core, and after you finally wear it out, And have the money for an upgrade AGAIN, The RAM, Sata Drive, Card reader, etc. will all still be in use in 4-5 years, so you can just upgrade the motherboard and processor and carry your other stuff forward- Also, you can add more SATA drives to it, on top of the 250 GB it comes with.

I hope I helped.

A good way to trim costs might be to run a Linux OS instead of Windows. Ubuntu and Fedora are free and work well enough so you can spend the money you'd save licensing Vista or XP on hardware. Also, if you have it built locally you'll probably save a bit of money on labor.

Yeah... not worth the money

And no, bigger numbers do not = good.

Either get a cheap Athlon X2, or a cheap Core 2 Duo (especially if you like overclocking).

Check out this website here it gives a $500 machine step by step builder guide to get the most out of your dollar.

Good luck!

I gotta say no to the Linux OS- I love Linux, but it can be a real motherf**k to work with when you aren't experienced with it- especially since Most regular Windows components don't run, as well as most .exe files.

This is going to sound suspiciously like a plug...but when I ordered my new computer in December, Dell gave me 18 months no interest for getting a Dell card. That allowed me to get a better system than I otherwise would have by paying only about $50/month instead of a lump sum/credit card with interest. I've been very pleased with its functioning so far...2.8ghz x2, 1.014 gig RAM. Not what you'd call top of the line, but it will easily serve my needs for the foreseeable future.

What I would recommend would be self-assembly and not getting Vista apparently you can find Vista for decent pricing with bundles. Huh.

What, exactly, do you want this computer to be able to accomplish? You should never build a computer without knowing the goal; you may accidentally over/under-spend on a purchase worth a significant amount of money.

store music, go on the internet, edit pictures, work as a place I can store the books I'm writing, and maybe do some gaming.

Roger.

Off the top of my head, an E6400, 1 gig of RAM, a low-numbered 8xxx series video card from nVidia, and a motherboard with onboard sound should suit you fine. You won't be running games at very high settings, but they'll run, and the E6400 is a resilient chip; your bottleneck will primarily be with RAM, which can easily be remedied by adding another stick. Your graphics card would also be nice enough to handle a fair bit.

Don't forget the keyboard, mouse, speakers/headphones, monitor, case, power source, and OS!

EDIT: Oh doy, the hard drive and software packages.

A 300 GB 7200 RPM drive should suit your needs. It has plenty of space, even if you're working on high-res images. If you're fine with a little bit of nitty-gritty work, instead of buying Microsoft Office you could use OpenOffice.org. There is the setup involved with the suite, however; if you're more comfortable with Word, get the Microsoft Office suite. Antivirus is filled with avast! or AVG Free, while anti-spyware is set with Spybot: S&D and Ad-Aware. Photoshop costs a pretty penny; I don't do enough image work for me to have looked into it, but I've heard Gimp is a good Photoshop alternative.

Also, don't buy a computer with plans on upgrading it a few years down. Months, maybe, but years? For a computer like this, you'd be better off buying a new one over upgrading it.

Don't let the nay-sayers get you. A Linux machine would be able to handle most of that on its own, and with Cedega/Wine you'd be able to handle a little gaming. Plus, you wouldn't have to submit yourself to the facist EULA that Microsoft is starting to impliment on all of their products (check out the "Vista's fine print" thread in discussion). I have basically no experince with it myself, but I plan on using Fedora Core 6 when I buy a new rig this summer. It's worth at least looking into it for yourself, at any rate.