Any PC sales persons here? or people who fix them?

I am looking for a new PC soon and have about 2k to spend. I don't care if it is Dell Gateway or Walmart ect..... I just want a good value for the money. The wife wants a "flat" (thin) screen 17' viewable monitor though.

Mainly for digital pictures, office type stuff and games for me!

What do ya think?

Over the past 7 or so years I have purchased at least six Hewlitt Packard Pavilion computers for myself and family members, both off the floor and by going to the website and having it built to specs.

Upgrades have been relatively pain free, meaning you can get at the components to change them.

I have no idea of the customer service side, because I have yet to have any problems with any of them.:cool:

Just my two cents.

I have had a good experience so far with the Compaq/HP I bought in Feb. We buy a million plus Compaq/HP machines at work, and have nothing but good service and reliability.

Prior to that I had a Dell, and it's been bullet proof. However, my sister had nothing but problems with the Dell she bought two years ago.

For home users, I love Dell machines. All 4 of the Dell's I've owned have been rock stable, not a single problem with any of them.

HP/Compaqs make me shudder though, but I think thats because I've had nothing but problems with their corporate line of machines and their "support". I think my dad had one or two HP Pavillion machines, and he liked them well enough I guess.

Well, when I'm not wearing green I work at Orifice Depot. Both Dell and HP/Compaq's are good quality, but you'll get more for your money from HP. I'd suggest going to their website and looking up some of their customizable machines, with 2k you should be able to get a decent machine with a good LCD.

LoL, this is one of the most involved questions you can ask here. I'm assuming you don't want to build, so one of the above-mentioned companies should be good.

Everyone's mileage varies when it comes to off the shelf computers. My experience has been mainly with IBM boxes. They aren't without their share of problems, statistically speaking. What sets them apart in my mind is their level of customer service. In my opinion, it's second to none.

Systems (http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=-840&storeId=1&langId=-1&dualCurrId=73&categoryId=2580521)

Warranty Information (http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-52882)

I'm kinda a cheap bastard, so you don't need to follow my advice on this but Dell Refurbished LCDs and Dell New LCDs both come with the same warranties but very different prices. We bought a refurbished 19" LCD with warrany on ebay for ... $300 maybe. Something like that.

Upgrades have been relatively pain free, meaning you can get at the components to change them.

What I remember of the HP cases is that there is absolutly no room inside them to work (because they are more family/convient oriented i guess). Me and my friend has to rip out like 10 things just to put in a stick of memory.

Dell has the worst customer service in the world. I hate those bastards.

:devil

F dell!

Isn't there any local PC shops putting together machines near by you Bise? Hell with in 10 miles of my house there is at least 3. Milwaukee PC being the biggest of those. Cheap, well built machines with a service you can take the PC back to them and say "FIX IT DAMN IT I need to play EQ!"

I prefer www.newegg.com and build my own but I'll stear people towards what ever is local. Dell doesn't need any more of our money.

I work at a PC store that pieces together computers piece by piece.

www.avalonsoftware.com (http://www.avalonsoftware.com/)

Unfortunately for about 99% of you, I live in Newfoundland, Canada.

Then again, with exchange rates and the fact that we don't charge tax on systems being shipped, you might be pleasently surprised. :D

If we don't carry it on our shelf (IE: GeForce 6800 Ultra OC) we do get it in. We have a wall of cables that never ceases to amaze me. We get some pretty unique shit in hehe.

okay guys :) thanks for the info so far... I'm moving to stage two of my search now :)

Build it yourself and you can save half your money :(.. Computers arent hard to put together.. its easy as 123!

Just remember, Bise, if you find a deal that is "too good to be true", it probably is. When prices drop too low it is because the parts used inside are $hit. A good motherboard and memory is worth the extra money in the long run.

Like Shamzy said... it is really easy to put your own maching together, and usually cheaper to do so even with high quality parts.

If you don't feel like being bothered with all of that though, I personally prefer Dell over Comcrap/HP.

Bought an HP Pavilion Laptop in 2003. Excellent computer, and good customer service.

end of story :P

I always build my own machines, my home system, the comps and the server in my office are all my handywork.

But last year my father asked me to buy him a good computer "since I'm a pro" but not just some "busted up stuff that I put together".

Oooookay, I bought him a HP/Compaq, 2.8Ghz P4, 512mb, 80 gb HDD, mini (?) tower, XP Pro.

The CD drive was some cheap noname crap but I was rather impressed by how quiet the comp was, all fans had bios controlled temperature dependent speed, I didn't expect that from an off-the-shelf HP system.

My father's reaction was? "The HDD sounds like caterpillar tractor and the op system boots slower than my old PII 450 did with win 98....crap"

Arrrggg, ok... hehe