The great desktop hunt begins!

[Lucca]

My Gateway upstairs is starting to get too slow for my liking and already killed a hard drive due to heat issues. Putting in a new fan helped but it's still loud, slow, and about 4 years old. I just go a nice extra paycheck from work and thought to myself "tis time for a desktop hunt!"

Now, keep this in mind as I ask for advice.


1) As much as I want to build my own computer, I don't have the knowledge or supplies, and the people here charge and arm and a leg to build a computer from scratch. :(
2) You cannot for the life of me convince me to buy a gateway, compaq, or HP computer. No way in hell. You might convince me to get an apple despite the insane costs if it's fairly easy to run both windows and OSX.
3) Here's the type of computer I'm looking for - I'm not looking for a monster gaming rig but something that's fairly fast (Core Duo speed at least, but I've had experience with AMD too), can handle graphics on games decently (doesn't have to be top of the line, but at least enough so I can play MMOs and my computer doesn't choke and die), have a decent soundcard, and a DVD player/writer. I guess something that is midrange in terms of performance is what I'm looking for.

So here's my question - what desktops are considered the best midrange wise, and what OEM companies are at least fairly reliable? I know everyone is going to say, 'oh god Lucca OEM's suck' and it's not ideal, I know. Hey! If you know of a website that lets you custom build computers let me know!

But which OEM's are decent? Dells I have mixed experiences with, I've got nothing but love for my 8 year old Acer laptop that lasted FOREVER, and my dad has a Systemax computer from Tigerdirect which offers some custom building, but his is as barebones as computers can get. Any advice? Experience? Insight?

I'd love to know!

[Dade]

Well I'm on my third PC. I've had two Dells (meh....not too happy with their style anymore) and my own custom bulit. I have a Mac Mini as well and I really like it, albiet very underpowered.

My custom built computer is probably the best one I've ever had (despite my power supply failing a week or so ago. I used a cheapy brand, i got two years out of it.).

IMO, if you have the cash....get an Apple. There's Parallels which runs incredibly well I hear. The big question is...if you're gonna do SOME gaming (namely MMO's) which ones would that be? WoW? No prob. Any others? Eh...I wouldnt put a whole lot of stock in running an MMO through Parallels.

In the end...I'd go Apple, but you have to think about what options you NEED and if an Apple cant fulfill those needs, then you need to look at another brand.

Are there any big box stores like Fry's or Costco in your area? Fry's sells their own custom built computers that are surprisingly cheap. Costco always has deals on Sony Vaio desktop computers and frankly they're not that bad of machines.

Anyway...how much cash you lookin to spend? That might narrow it down a little better.

[Lucca]

I actually have a coscto near me and bought my gateway through them (sob) and my Toshiba laptop through them (yay!). I may check again this weekend but they seem to be pretty HP heavy from what I've seen.

I DO have a Fry's fairly nearby and didn't even consider them. Hmm.

In terms of gaming...hmm. Probably WoWeqsue. I play Sims a lot but even my low-graphics card laptop can handle it, so that's a non-issue.

In terms of how much to spend, anywhere between $1,000-1,500. My paycheck was actually for 1000, but I have a bit of extra money saved up.

[John]

Go to Fry's, and have them build you a PC.  It runs like $150, but it's still cheaper than buying an OEM machine.  Certainly, it's not even going to have an OS, but if you're on this board, chances are you know where to get an OS.

[Leo]

I bought a Dell Dimension on their site recently, but they allow you to customize it to your liking. (ie: upgrading the parts) I'm happy with it so far.

[Dade]

I DO have a Fry's fairly nearby and didn't even consider them. Hmm.

Buddy of mine bought one about two years ago now that was $1200 with 20" widescreen LCD monitor. It has AMD 3500+, 1GB ram, 180gb HDD, Radeon X700 256mb Video card, DVD Drive, DVD RW drive, multimedia card reader (for digi cams and the like).

You get the pic. I can only imagine what you could get with that kinda money now. Hell, if you have a good monitor you should grab something like that sans display.

[Lucca]

Reviving slightly old thread!

iMacs are out due to price and the fact they are all in one (I want to upgrade in the future!), and the Mac Pros are just too much. :(

However, there's one computer I saw at Best Buy that looked neat, but I know little about - Velocity Micro (Namly the Gamer's Edge 1500). Anyone heard anything about that company? How are they? They allow arseloads of customization so I was curious.