since this one is pretty much shot. I'm looking for a computer that will be fast, reliable, and have loads of memory. Any idea of what to look for/buy? I have no idea on these matters.

Going onto Dell's website and taking a look around

Damn, I can't tell one from the other, they all kinda seem alike to me.

well psychodelicide, I think you first start with the chip ...

first - let me say i work with computers all the time - but i am NO expert ... ALSO - you are gonna get 25 different answers - in my opinion ...

its like car shopping ... some people swear by Toyotas .... so people will damn ya for buying a forign model !

I have had great luck just buying from local computer shops - where you can "custom " you build job ...

I have bought DELLS in the past ... and my family used to buy GATEWAY (now they are buying DELLs .... the thing about DELL is that (if you checked out their website you know it already) --- when you price out something ... lets say they are advertising 499.00 etc .... then you add everything you want onto it ... you get like 1099.00 into it .... depending on shipping ... graphics card ... etc ...

i got one locally for around 699.00 with all the bells and whistles i wanted (DVD burner, cd burner , 2800AMD chip or 3000 - i forget .... )

I read up alil bit before hand ... as far as the INTEL 4 chip vs the AMD ... but i dont think you can go wrong with either ... now i think they may even have faster ones ... they change so quickly ...

when you say ALOT of memory .... i think that has changed ALOT .... used to be like 40GB was the norm ... now it is much higher .... (because of alot of people storing movies , clips , audio i guess ???)

anyway ... i know i may not be any help--- oh also ... what i found to hate hate hate ... was all the crap they install on it ALREADY ... so i would definately recommend that you tell em you dont want the AOL 50 hrs free or the spyware free version and all that crap in the "startup" that just takes up space and you will NEVER use !!!! ... that is a poor reason - but probably the REAL reason i first went to a computer store ...just got tired of deleting all the stuff that they put on (JUNK )

lostinthewoods40 said:

Thanks for your input, it is much appreciated. Didn't know about the AOL hours free or the spyware free version. Definitely don't want that stuff.

the AOL free and spyware stuff ... were just examples --- but i did buy a Compaq at Bestbuy for my home computer ... and it still has crap that pops up and is such a pain ... whether it is free norton antivirus ... etc ...

another slight thing i learned ... is that the WINXP professional is really worth it ... i have that now on 2 machines .... and much better than home ... and i am gonna install that on that COmpaq computer and get rid of all the free stuff that they give ya ....

lostinthewoods40 said:

Cool.

psychodelicide said:

What do you want to use it for?

Stax said:

Well, for the usual things, word processing/spreadsheet/presentation capabilities, storage, surfing the internet.

If Price is not the over welming object in front of you getting the new computer, I would go and buy directly from IBM.

OVERALL: IBM computers are the most relyable with best track record.

You can even have the Ram Memory match the Processor speed through their website. I have given a good look over many new computers because I will be getting one soon enough. IBM website can get you a 3gig processor with 3gigs of ram, all perfectly working together out of the box for about 1500 dollars.

You can always keep an eye on ebay if you don't need that much power. For example: when I get my new computer I will be selling my older Sony Vaio on ebay. It is 1 gig throughput, matching processor with ram speeds. I don't expect to get more then 4-5 cnotes for it.

Please give this an idea of price range here or on orgnote and I will hook you up with the best deal.

Another KILLER deal can be found at the right time on http://www.woot.com

psychodelicide said:

A one gigabite computer can do this and much more. I also edit Video, that being the most processor activity that computers do now a days.

You can get a good deal on an older computer.

psychodelicide said:

If that's all, do you really need loads of memory? Do you mean instead that you want lots of storage space? If so, I would buy a fairly cheap computer and a large external hard drive.

For those tasks, you do not need a super expensive machine.

I would get a mini Mac ($400) and a 200GB Maxtor UltraTouch II external hard drive ($160).

If you want to use Windows, I would get a Dell Dimension E310 ($500) will an external hard drive (the Maxtor will work) or the largest internal drive you can get from Dell.

You only need loads of memory if you are a hard core gamer, graphic artist, or want to do music processing.

If you want a laptop, I would look at the Dell Inspiron 6000 ($800).

Stax said:

I dissagree. Loads of memory also help in multitasking, downloading and using the internet media files and so many more applications.

They already said they use Presentation software and that isn't unlike extreamly heavy dutie graphics programming.

You Always need as Much Memory as you can afford.

MickG said:

More memory is nice, but for word processing, surfing, presentitions its not needed (unless the presentations use extensive annimated graphics). Most powerpoint docs run fine on 512 mb.

People buy too much computer ALL THE TIME because the guys at the store say things like you need all the memory you can afford.

Stax said:

You are right there. I forget most presentations are not all blitz and glitz. I am a tacky person. , still it is always better to have too much memory then not enough.

MickG said:

That is true.

Stax said:

And Really? What computer user doesn't want to edit large graphic files and make profestional looking video?

http://www-132.ibm.com/we...&langId=-1

"Referbished" IBM's from $275 direct from the company.

http://www-132.ibm.com/co.../icue.html

we have had a Dell for yrs ... not any complaints

and i have found their help line peeps to be helpful when i needed them

but i am just an average joe pc user person, nothing fancy

MickG said:

MickG said:

perfect

Stax said:

Plus most ever IBM comes with Window's XP-Pro and not that crapy buggy home version.