best PC brands

[Webster]

Let face it, these day the only upgrade you need for the box is CPU, RAM, or Video card. If you can do these, that is all you need for opening the box. Since it seems that all motherboard these day already include ethernet input, sound output it is no longer need to get a card and plug it in. As for storage, with the advent of Firewire/USB-2, or modem (some people still does not have access to broadband) all you need is plug in an external box. Unless you really, really need ultrafast SCSI, Firewire/USB2 will served the purpose.
As for opening the box and void warrantee, I don't even bother using the warrantee any more. If something wrong with the box, I'd just fix it myself. It is usually less expensive than the cost/time of packaging the darn thing and ship it back to them (unless I have a MoBo failure). I'd just make sure I clean out all of the cookies crumbs inside the box, take out all the upgrades I put in, and send it back (or have tech support send me a new one... They do do this sometime. Sometime they don't even ask for the old board back)

[LSchafroth]

Of those choices, HP hands down for speed and quality and service.
I service warranty for both.

Dell Dimension series systems are HORRIBLE. You never know what you are going to get. The XPS is much, much better.

HP is much faster then a Dell Dimension, but not as fast as a XPS.

LS

[Paul_G]

If your not happy building your own machine then nip down to a computer fair/market and buy a unbranded pre-built computer, you will be amazed how cheap decent computers can be.

Pcworld, tiny, time, dell, hp etc are the cancer of the computing world, who always rape customers over with their overpriced underpowered crappy computers.

[glockjs]

none. pre mades are garbage

[laspis59]

Yeah,I think you just pay for the brand name and because it had to be put together.

I had a Compaq Presario quite a while back in the days when I didn't have a clue about PC's and I was happy with the CPU but thats it.It cost £1000 and it had also been reduced because I had the one on display because none were available in a box.The sound was intergrated into the motherboard,that AC'97!The graphics card was so crap that even playing old games the graphics would keep freezing and then restarting (Of course the memory was crap aswell) The hard drive didn't last long and I would get cyclic redundancy errors when copying files..The power supply fan would blow out hot air that you could burn your hand with.The OS wasn't even properly pre-installed and because,like I said,I didn't have a clue back then,I had to ring them (PC World,the biggest con merchants I've ever known of) just to get the system started.

All in all,a total rip off and thats why I put in a vote for Dell.

Its easy to make your own PC and is soooo worth it!!!

[ViRaL1]

If you just need a basic budget computer, buy a DELL. If you have specific needs and want certain components, you're much better off building it yourself. If you do decide to buy a DELL, call their sales line and talk to a rep to get all the details as far as what you're getting. Some PCs come with PCI-E, some don't. Some don't even come with an AGP slot. They can give you a better idea about your future upgrade options if you know what you'll be adding later.

[Tbag]

My needs are surfing the net A LOT, dvd backups, photo editing and stuff like that but no gaming or video editing so I dont need an expensive graphics card.

I see most people like Dells here but I also posted a thread like this on a different site and they totaly caned Dells saying they need reparing quite often and they use rubbish conponents to build them.

Im confused now

[glockjs]

all those companys use the cheapest parts possible to increase their profit. cheap parts=likely something will go wrong.

[iant]

You'll get a lot of people will rubbish Dell. In some cases....fair enough. As some folks before have said, all vendors use the cheapest parts available.

However, for the PC novice, they're ideal. One of the main things you have to look at when buying something like this is 'what happens when it goes wrong?'.

I don't know about the others on your list but with a Dell, you call them up, the problem is diagnosed over the phone and the next business day (usually! ) a tech calls you up, comes to you and fixes the machine. I sometimes do this for a living so I know it's correct. And yes, I know that makes me biased but I build and can troubleshoot my own machines. A lot of people can't or are scared to. They need their hand held. Again, that's fair enough.

You may not get any better hardware or any better price but you're not likely to get better service in the event of a problem.

Have fun,
Ian

[INFRATOM]

Top of the line in any category usually is the best when you compromise will see the results. The top of the line for Dell is something like $4000, if you make the same thing yourself you can make it for $2000. But you can't beat them in cheap stuff, if you want to buy a low end buy from them. HP puts out good deals if you don't want to upgrade. (numbers I gave are approximate but relatively makes sense).

[laspis59]

My needs are surfing the net A LOT, dvd backups, photo editing and stuff like that but no gaming or video editing so I dont need an expensive graphics card.

For surfing the net then I'd say a good ISP/Modem.For DVD backups a good DVD writer eg Pioneer 111,LG 4167/H10x and several others are good,also for transcoding and encoding ect...a decent hard drive,fast CPU and about 1GB of RAM for the photo editing.Dont sound like you need an expensive sound card,intergrated may be fine.Even intergrated graphics like my motherboard (But I bought a half decent graphics card anyway in case)

[stiltman]

Just picked up a Dell factory refurb (3y warranty)
Dell GX520 Tower
P4 3ghz
1gb Ram
60gb HDD
DVD-rom
1000NIC
WinXP Pro

$329.00 + free shipping

[Webster]

Just picked up a Dell factory refurb (3y warranty)
Dell GX520 Tower
P4 3ghz
1gb Ram
60gb HDD
DVD-rom
1000NIC
WinXP Pro

$329.00 + free shipping

I'm still trying to get an GX620 with dual core in an ultra small form factor for <$450 for almost a week now. But everytime I tried to put it in my basket, someone else beat me to it!!! ....

[GKar]

Build your own is my choice, the pre-builts are usually cheaply made with weak power supplies with limited cases with most stuff built on the motherboard.

Here is some resellerratings.com info on HP, Compaq and Dell:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1867.html

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1397.html

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1438.html

[TBoneit]

GKar: He wants a Ultra Small form factor model, So yes it will hve limited room for expansion.

I build all my own too, OTOH if I needed a really small form factor with a dual-core I might easily go to Dell for example as I would expect they have researched and designed around any heating issues. Plus of course most small form factors will have everything built-in to save space. I've even seen some Dells and Gateways that used Laptop Floppys and Optical drives to save space.

Cheers

[Webster]

I'm still trying to get an GX620 with dual core in an ultra small form factor for <$450 for almost a week now. But everytime I tried to put it in my basket, someone else beat me to it!!! ....

Got it today.....
Ultra Small FF GX620 w/Pentium D 820, 1GB DDR2 for $389.00 + tax + free shipping.
It only have 80G HD and CD drive. But they will be swap out with a new 320G SATA and a DVD/CD burner I have laying around from one of my old laptop.
I'd know that the D820 tend to run a little hot, but I'll underclock it for and use the box as an HTPC.
I used to built my own systems since the day of the pentium 133. As a matter of fact, I still do have a couple of Shuttle's SFF which I built running right now. But they are not quite right for my HTPC. They are too wide for my need (7.4 inches wide as opposed to the Dell's USFF 3.5 inches wide) and the wrong colors
It is kinda funny though... Five years ago, whenever I want to build a PC, I wanted the biggest case I can lay my hand on (I mean large to mid server tower size for cooling purpose). These days, when I look for a new computer, I look for the smallest box with the most stuffs I can cramped in it And right now Dell's Ultra Small FF is the smallest size I can get (H: 10.3" W: 3.5" D: 9.95") with the least amount of money. And with 3 years warrantee and Windows XP pro OS included. $389.00 is a good deal for me. So my vote goes to Dell Refurbish...

P.S. On a slightly related topic. Could someone explain to me why shipping a laptop cost more than shipping a desktop from Dell? (when there is no free shipping offer, a laptop shipping cost $50.00 while a desktop shipping cost only $29 ???)

[stiltman]

all Dell laptops are shipped via air

[RabidDog]

hewlett packard used to be the rolls-royce of the computer industry everything they built would last a 100 years and a nuclear attack, even used on all the early lunar missions.
Bell computers invented the transisistor (offshoot of Bell telecoms )
Some stroppy marketing type sussed that they could trade off the good names of both companies and punt out low quality c**p. Low quality power supplys and cases are their main failings.
Dell stuff appears to be slightly better.

[guns1inger]

Where is the None of the Above option ?