[jw010x8941]

I am unhappy with my emachines pc it runs slow all the time and crashes a lot,my friend wants to buy it off me knowing as little about pc's as i do,he's going to give me the same amount i paid for it which was £550,i want to buy a better pc for the same £ or slightly dearer is this a good idea (as a lot of people have said emachines is crap) and if so what is the best possible pc i could buy for around that amount?Please Help Thankyou

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Dell

[Tar]

Dell

[nathen555]

No dont go with DELL they are rubbish what you want is HP or COMPAQ they are good makes dont listen to him

[Mrcheeks]

I agree with the HP or Compaq. They are very reliable and as far as trusted companies go, a good buy.

[gerryf]

You apparently didn't like the answer I already gave you so I won't repear myself.

I'll just add this: NEVER buy any PC that does not come with a windows cd--you may not be sorry today, but you will be eventually--and HP and Compaq and Dell are among those who do not.

[Mrcheeks]

Ive had to reformat my HD on my HP machine and it was a pain gettin XP back becuase microsoft thought i was trying to pirate a copy or something. So gerryf does bring up a very valid point, but i dont think it should persuade you as to which machine to buy just becuase of a few hours of pain on the phone with microsoft that you may or may not have after encountering errors. Just my opinion.

[gerryf]

Reason number 2
HP and Compaq machines are made as much as months in advance of your purchase. They are made from bulk purchases of parts and are typically two to three months behind the technology curve--that puts your machine at 3 months old when you get it, and you pay top dollar for HP and COMPAQ

Reason Number 3
Proprietary parts. Need a new power supply--get out the DREMEL cutting tool or be prepared to fork over $90 for a $30 power supply.

Reason number 4
Crappy support.

Reason number 5
Your computer comes preloaded with software you will never use and will only get in the way

Reason number 6
Over priced for what you get (see reason number 2) because HP, COMPAQ and DELL have name brand identity you must pay for

Reason number 7....
They spend a great deal of time and effort hiding the deficiency of the machine....Wow, a 3ghtz p4 with 512mb RAM! (oh, it's 512mb of pc2100 ram?) WOw, an 80gb harddrive (oh, it's a 5400rpm harddrive). It's expandable! (well, two pci slots, and NO AGP slot, so you're stuck with integrated video, or a PCI videocard). Who made the chipset? (who knows) Motherboard? (whatever one we had around, likely pcchips, because they sold it to the maker for $19!)

There was a time when Dell made awesome machines, great stuff for cheap because their business model was/is based on current parts at cut throat pricing.

HP and COMPAQ responded with EXTREME HIGH QUALITY of the parts they did install (albeit slightly old parts).

And all three ruled with tech support.

That was then, this is now.

[jw010x8941]

Thanx for your help guys but it still doesn't help me choose which computer to go for? Are you saying the best pc's i should choose from is HP or COMPAQ? And do you agree that Emachines is a crap make is that why it's running slow? please keep in mind i am pc novice so i don't understand all the pc lingo :-) Thank you

[magusbuckley]

Hello:

Buying a PC is like buying a car. Everyone has a favorite brand. Everyone has a brand they hate. You can ask ten different people the same question and get ten different answers.

For this particular situation, dealing with PCs, I can tell you that the best way to go overall is to build your own. I understand that you don't know the computer lingo, but there are several "easy to understand" books and online manuals to assit you with this project. If this sounds overwhelming and you aren't interested in building your own pc, all we can do is recommend a favorite.

gerryf is correct in that there are many cons to purchasing a name brand PC.

Dell - I can tell you that I've worked on many Dell systems and they do offer very limited upgrade functionality. Once you get that system, you're pretty much stuck with what you get.

Compaq - Having owned one myself , I would not recommend Compaq. I was mid semester at college when my computer at home took a surge. With no money or time to build a new PC for school work, I financed a Compaq. I had trouble with that system from day one. Their technical support was the worst I've ever delt with. They wound up replacing some hardware from inside the machine, but I had to drive two hours away to get to the nearest "Authorized Repair Shop" for the replacement to be covered under warranty. The system still didn't work after they replaced the parts.

E-Machines - Your system may have been running slow because of adware/spyware and/or other programs loading at system startup. Have you checked this? I know a guy who owns an E-Machine and has no trouble with it. To be honest, however, I've never looked under the hood so can't tell you what the inside is like.

That's my wrap on the brands you all have mentioned thus far. If I were to recommend a system to someone, though, I would recommend an Alienware. The systems seem pricey at first, but you can configure them to your likeing and price range. These guys make extremely fast PC's. I have three friends who have purchased Alienware systems through the years and loved them. Right now, they have a great deal on some systems where you can get a 17" good quality monitor and 5.1 point surround sound speacker package for only $99.

Here is a link to the Alienware site: http://www.alienware.com

You can also check out any brand at the BBB website. Just look up the company and read the feedback. Posts from previous customers may help you make a decision.

Good luck on your purchase. Whatever you decide, it will be the right choice.

[scandata]

I agree with many of the cons listed above, especially Dell. Both Dell and Gateway were once great, but now they're just living off their reputation. And if you do buy a Dell, brush up on your Hindi - all their tech support is now in India.

I've heard that Emachines are great, the only drawback is lack of upgradeabilty.

If you aren't able to build one yourself, you may want to go to a computer shop that can custom-build one for you. It may cost a little more than one off the shelf, but you'll get a machine that didn't roll off an assembly line, is upgradable, and doesn't have a bunch of crapware you'll never use. It will also be tailored to your specific needs (video games, multi-media editing, etc.); you pick which video card, how much memory, etc.

And down the road, maybe you'll want to look into learning how to build your own. It's easier than you might think, and the level of self-satisfaction is really great.

Good luck on this!

Edited by scandata, 25 August 2005 - 06:36 PM.

[Johanna]

I like TigerDirect and their BTOs (built-to-order) systems. That way, you pay for what you need, to do what you want.

For example: If you are a gamer you might want lots of memory and a better video card. If you do graphics you might want that card and a better monitor. If you do a lot of surfing, you will want extra memory. Doing music would mean memory and a sound card. Emphasis should be on what you use the computer for.

Excellent advice from MagusBuckley & GerryF. And, when you decide to build your own, you will be asking "Intel or AMD?" Again, Fords & Chevys
Johanna
starting to believe "You have the Power" Yes, I am an AMD girl.

[RockyIV]

AlienWare!!!!!

[mpy]

lol

[Riceflower]

I noticed you're from the UK £ gave it away.

If you haven't already bought you could try looking at www.misco.co.uk they do ready built machines by known and unknown suppliers and they do all the components to build your own, they also do a discount on windows if you buy something like a processor from them.