[This post is partially created out of boredom and don't mind if it goes off topic]

I'm thinking it might be around the right time for me to get a new desktop computer. I used to be really good with this stuff...built my first computer back in the day in high school and another one in college. Of course things were simpler back then. Processors were sequential (486->Pentium->Pentium 2) and MHz made a significant difference. AMD or Intel used to be my biggest decision and I couldn't really go wrong with either. Nowadays there's i5, i7, core 2, core 2 duo, core 2 quad, celeron (still exists) series, atom series, etc...and that's just Intel.

Sometime between the last computer I built and today, I decided that a basic black friday eMachines $250 computer would satisfy my needs. And it did until now. 99% of the stuff I do is internet surfing. The only other stuff I need my computer to do is to be able to handle 1080p video files for playing, streaming (to PS3), and editing (race video's). Also hulu. (I really know nothing about video cards anymore). Don't need it to play games. Don't need a big hard drive (external NAS). Don't really need server stuff.

Anyone see any deals that would satisfy my basic needs for a low price? I could build, but I like having a legal copy of windows and I'd imagine there's some pre-built stuff out there that is cheaper than what I could build with a legal OS.

 

Pat,

I'm considering selling my "current" desktop because I realized my previous one + my current video card suffices for having a secondary gaming machine, while I use my laptop as my workhorse now. It's got decent onboard graphics (should run 1080p video properly, has DVI output, gigabit lan, etc.) and is built on a microATX mobo and case for compact size. It needs a new hard drive to run properly (I'm keeping the old ones), but I could fire it up with some form of disc-based OS to show you what it's capable of if you're at all interested. I'd sell it for plenty cheap, because it's spent all fall collecting dust, and it would come with convenient neighbor tech support if necessary.

 

Definitely interested. i have a ton of old hard IDE drives that are just gathering dust. I just need to find time to transfer all the old important stuff to my NAS. Does the computer need SATA or is IDE okay?

 

both SATA and IDE are okay. It has 2 internal 3.5 drive bays, so you can easily do either.

It does have a specialized sound card which has some weird driver issues (they may be worked out by now) with 64 bit operating systems, but it produces no "buzz" of any sort like many on-board sound cards do. Also, it will come with a special 5.1 headphone / mic headset that was made to work with the card.

If you want to come over and take a look at it at some point, feel free to just let me know. I can hook it up to my spare 17" monitor and at least fire it up into BIOS or a live linux distribution. While I do have a mouse and keyboard I can use for demonstration, unfortunately I don't have any I could include with the computer, but I figured this wouldn't be too much of an issue.

 

atom < celeron < pentium < dual core < core 2 duo < core 2 quad < i5 < i7

There are some instances where this isn't 100% accurate, but in general, it is.

There aren't a lot of i7 machines out there yet. But they should be dropping soon. Although, being brand new, they will not be inexpensive.

I have had good luck checking out Dell's outlet, which is their referb area. You can only access it from the main page, so got to http://www.dell.com and scroll ALL the way to the bottom. In the lower left is the link to the outlet store.

You don't need dedicated graphics to do anything you are talking about doing, but I would reccomend a Core 2 duo with at least 4gbs of RAM (mostly for the video editing.)

The discreet graphics card would help mostly with games, but might help a little with the video editing. It will do nothing (or very little) for watching content.

 

I can edit 1080p video on my laptop, which has discreet (but mild) graphics. The on-board graphics (nVidia chip, IIRC) on the microATX machine I have should be able to handle that with no problems, and it has 4gb of ram. It's an AMD machine, but all of my lat few have been, and I've had no problems with them.

 

Discreet graphics cards can allow for offloading of intensive video editing processes. So it would make video editing FASTER. Without discreet graphics, you'd still be able to do it, it would just take longer.

 

True, I've just found that my onboard graphics made it "fast enough".