Reasons to buy a new computer?

Wesley · 01-13-2004, 03:01 PM

My computer just turned three years old and for the first time in 15 years, I don't see a compelling reason to replace it. I have a Pentium III, 384 ram and 20 Megabyte hard drive, with Windows xp. I use it with Dragon, various accounting programs, music files and some photos.

I love buying new electronics! Can I expect much better performance in new computer? I usually buy the discount model.

PN · 01-13-2004, 05:35 PM

Wesley:

If everything is working well on your PC, I see no reason to go out and purchase a new one. Since the PC is three years old, I would add a second hard drive that is either 40GB or 80GB, 7200 RPM with 8MB of cache. You will get better performance with an "entry-level" PC today that starts at 2.4GHz. The Pentium 4 is optimized for voice recognition.

PN

alan · 01-13-2004, 06:01 PM

If the machine is meeting your needs, why replace it? Add a hard drive, if you need more space, and maybe increase your memory to 512 M if the motherboard can hold that much.

Alan

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

metronycguy · 01-13-2004, 09:41 PM

hard to say, i watch the fat wallettt forums and sometime the dell deals with stacking coupons and dell sales are so good they are hard to pass up. i saw a pentium 4 for 200 after rebates in november and than by waching fatwallett you can pick up a 160 gig hd for like 40 bucks and dvd +- now for cheap with rebates.. evertying else for super cheap, the trick is buy the dell with a stipped down system usually , and they basicaly telll you how to config for the best deal, buy the extra ram usauly elswhwere, for free after rebate, sometimes a new monitor at a good price is a a nice treat.. if you have manuelly dexterity and can ad the stuff its an option..
fat wallet is the best , but you gootsa move fast on the hot deals they dont last long..

metronycguy · 01-14-2004, 06:54 PM

another option if you just need space is get a usb hardgrive, i picked one up that had 2 $50 rebates for 120gb it cost me less than $100 after rebates usb.11 and 2.0 /firewire 2 quickly portable hd that is preformated and ready to go,

PN · 01-22-2004, 06:55 PM

Featured on Tech TV yesterday.

Dell Dimension 4600 desktop

Here are the specs for this $399 computer.
· 2.6-GHz Intel Pentium 4
· 512MB DDR
· 80GB hard drive
· Windows XP Home

Screen Savers

PN

01-13-2004, 03:01 PM	#1
Wesley Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,139	Reasons to buy a new computer? My computer just turned three years old and for the first time in 15 years, I don't see a compelling reason to replace it. I have a Pentium III, 384 ram and 20 Megabyte hard drive, with Windows xp. I use it with Dragon, various accounting programs, music files and some photos. I love buying new electronics! Can I expect much better performance in new computer? I usually buy the discount model.

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01-13-2004, 05:35 PM	#2
PN Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Witness Protection Program Posts: 4,363	Wesley: If everything is working well on your PC, I see no reason to go out and purchase a new one. Since the PC is three years old, I would add a second hard drive that is either 40GB or 80GB, 7200 RPM with 8MB of cache. You will get better performance with an "entry-level" PC today that starts at 2.4GHz. The Pentium 4 is optimized for voice recognition. PN

01-13-2004, 06:01 PM	#3
alan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 5,223	If the machine is meeting your needs, why replace it? Add a hard drive, if you need more space, and maybe increase your memory to 512 M if the motherboard can hold that much. Alan "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

01-13-2004, 09:41 PM	#4
metronycguy Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: ny Posts: 5,118	hard to say, i watch the fat wallettt forums and sometime the dell deals with stacking coupons and dell sales are so good they are hard to pass up. i saw a pentium 4 for 200 after rebates in november and than by waching fatwallett you can pick up a 160 gig hd for like 40 bucks and dvd +- now for cheap with rebates.. evertying else for super cheap, the trick is buy the dell with a stipped down system usually , and they basicaly telll you how to config for the best deal, buy the extra ram usauly elswhwere, for free after rebate, sometimes a new monitor at a good price is a a nice treat.. if you have manuelly dexterity and can ad the stuff its an option.. fat wallet is the best , but you gootsa move fast on the hot deals they dont last long..

01-14-2004, 06:54 PM	#5
metronycguy Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: ny Posts: 5,118	another option if you just need space is get a usb hardgrive, i picked one up that had 2 $50 rebates for 120gb it cost me less than $100 after rebates usb.11 and 2.0 /firewire 2 quickly portable hd that is preformated and ready to go,

01-22-2004, 06:55 PM	#6
PN Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Witness Protection Program Posts: 4,363	Featured on Tech TV yesterday. Dell Dimension 4600 desktop Here are the specs for this $399 computer. · 2.6-GHz Intel Pentium 4 · 512MB DDR · 80GB hard drive · Windows XP Home Screen Savers PN