Tech Need to buy a new computer, need some advice

Need to buy a new computer, need some advice

Hey everyone,

My laptop bit the dust the other day, so I'm in the market for a desktop. I used to be right into the computer scene but I've been out of it for a few years, so I'm not sure what I should get. I'm looking to get a decent system, new, refurbished, or slightly used, for around $300. I do not need a top of the line system, but I don't want a Celeron. (My laptop had a Celeron and it SUCKED).

The computer is mostly used for surfing the internet, writing web pages, and using Photoshop, with some light gaming use (not much, I don't have time anymore).

What should I get?

-Doc

Jesus Christ, you only wannt spend $300 for a whole new system. Wow you cheap bastard. I've got just the system for ya

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DB110A&s=dhs

Dell Dimension B110 ($299 after $50 mail in rebate)

This should meet all your needs and then some. However keep in mind that for something this cheap your not going to be playing HalfLife 2 or Quake 4 on it

I said no Celerons

you could always scope out ebay, and see what you can see there...

James, yeah that'd be cool. Why don't you email me ( drtweak@phoenixtuning.com ) and we can sort it out.

By the way, there actually is a Dr Tweak of computer land, he's quite active on the forums. If you Google "Dr Tweak" his business is the first one that you come up with.

-Doc

No Celerons ? What the hell do you have against Celerons. If you want to save money they make sense, less cache = more cheaper.

I'll never get one again. My Pentium II 333 MHZ is faster than my Celeron 2 GHZ.

First off your laptop had a Celeron M processor. Completely different then a desktop Celeron. They put very low voltage chips in to laptops and because of heat and power concerns they throttle them in real time which really takes a big dump on performance. Try using a desktop computer with a 2ghz celeron processor and you won't find it to be nearly as slow as the laptop. I used Celeron processors back in the day and I loved them. Your right that they don't perform as well as the non-celeron chips but they are by no means slow.

while that's all well and good, a good AMD chip will be faster than any Celeron piece of trash. he's better off going with a homebuilt machine.

I picked up my Dell 4700 used for $290 shipped (3Ghz P4 w/HT, 512mb dual channel) -- I'll keep an eye out and let you know if I see any more.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=40&threadid=1768120&enterthread=y
Not sure if there are any COMPUSAs up here, though.

ooh...my condolences. i had a laptop with a Celeron...it came in handy, since Mike's laptop fried about a week later, so he took it...but MAN was that thing slow. i'm glad to be rid of it...it was relatively new(i believe it was a year old) and my Athlon 1600 is faster than that POS was. i've had my 1600 since 2001.

The older Celeron's we're shit... but the newer Celeron D's that most manufacturers are using are actually pretty decent (way better than their predecessor, that's for sure), but i'm still partial to AMD chips right now...

all of this celeron bashing but i've never had a problem with it. i've had my laptop for almost three years and i haven't had a problem with it yet. it's not that i'm used to it either, i use multiple computers a day in fact for work. It is true though that i'm not trying to run any games, it's strictly an internet/music machine (and ocassional photoshop).

Celerons are essentially budget chips...but you can do better with AMD.

I built many destops for around $300(mine was $320 with AMD 64 and 120 GiG, good video card,...) email me if u need some help

I bought my P4 desktop a year and a half ago and paid $500 for it used. 512mb ram, 80gig HD, 17" monitor, and a DVD burner. I thought it was a pretty good deal at the time, but you guys are building PCs for cheap...

Isnt Celeron good for overclocking?? They are bang for the buck if you overclock them, am i right??

i wouldn't overclock a non-AMD chip