I need to buy a new computer

So, did you find the reason for the white band around Lake Mead, lk?

Acer seems like a good option so far!

Infra - not definitively.

Littlek,

Dell is very good! For only a few dollars more, you can also buy ONSITE service where they come out to you and fix the system if anything goes wrong. If you would like some help, I would be happy to help you! I get these for my clients ALL the time ... Dell is great! PM me if you would like.

Anon

I would advise against eMachines. Bad track record.

Anon

If I decide to go with Dell, I'll PM you - thanks Anon!

The only personal ownership experience I have with Acer is a laptop I've had for years - decent for what it is (though by today's standards, its very limited, it still does what I bought it to do). I've worked on a few Acers - laptops and desktops - belonging to clients, and they seem very adequate machines - not top shelf, but adequate. From what I've heard, their tech support can be an adventure, though I've the build quality of the machines has improved significantly over the past year or so - the only recent Acer I've had my mits on was their Ferrari laptop, and I found it impressive. Dell builds good laptops and desktops, though the point about off-shore tech support is valid, Dells typically require less tech support than do most other brands in similar price/feature categories - I wouldn't hesitate going with Dell. eMachines don't impress me at all, and their reputation isn't all that great, either. I've see a few of 'em in various configurations, and what strikes me most is the "bargain approach" that seems to be the brand's hallmark. They do offer a lotta features for the money, but their track record, as a brand, isn't stellar. Compaq/HP machines are OK, and mebbe a notch above Gateway, a notch below Dell, IMO.

One thing I'll mention - in my experience, lotsa folks blame their machines or their machine's vendor for stuff which has nothing to do with either machine or vendor.

Stuff does break, yeah, regardless who made it, but a disproportionate portion of the problems I see on other folks' machines comes down to something that simply isn't the product's fault. Read, understand, and follow the documentation is about the best advice I can offer anyone when it comes to anything having to do with computers, hardware or software. Failing to do so is an almost sure guarantee of paying someone like me to sort something out for you.

Thank you timber! How do you feel about Toshiba?

Good to know about HP, I've seen some good computers made by them.

I have a current-production Toshiba Satellite series laptop, from toward the upper end of that line. I like it a lot. Its heavy, but its got a big, crisp display, very satisfactory battery life, large, fast hard drive, good overall performance, plenty of features including a multi-format, dual-layer-capable DVD burner, an excellent touchpad, (though I think I like the touchpad on my older Acer a little better - mebbe I'm just more used to it), GigaBit Ethernet, FireWire 800, S-Video in & out, DVI in & out, very good 128MB graphiccs card, a 5.1-capable soundcard with SPDIF out, and its wireless 802.11a/b/g card is among the better ones I've seen for range, stability, and throughput. Its speakers suck, but just about all built-in laptop speakers suck, so that really isn't a valid complaint. Overall, I rate the build quality very high. Pricewise, I'd say it was a steal for what it is.

Can't say much about any vendor's tech support, in all honesty; I very rarely use it. From what I've heard/read, though, Toshiba's is above average, and their repair record is also better than average.

Timber, do you know if there are cheap, extraordinarily basic laptops out there? Something like a slightly more complex word-processor.

Mosta the major vendors offer very decent laptops with a fair feature set in the Under $1000 range - lots of good ones out there in the $700 - $800 range, from what I've seen. A few decent ones are under $600, but the feature sets are not impressive. All depends on what you want, I s'pose. A client got one of her kids a $500 HP at Christmas time - kid had it yucked up in no time, but that wasn't the machine's fault. Anyhow, when I got ahold of it to clean it out, I found it to be what I'd consider a more than fair value for the money. Not my cuppa tea, but a decent machine for someone not likely to push it very hard.

Hmmm... I dunno if 500 is cheap enough for a secondary computer. Well, I'll see how this first class goes and ask around about how important a laptop would be.

Unless upgrading components down the line is a consideration, or max power and capability from the outset is gonna be a deciding factor, there really isn't much that makes a desktop a better choice than a laptop, though price difference could tip things in favor of a desktop, feature-for-feature.

My desktops are pretty hefty machines, mostly tweaked and upgraded as far as they'll go. Its not unusual for me to spend more upgrading a machine than I spent buying or building it in the first place, but when I do go with a new desktop, the upgrade path always is one of the main considerations. Laptops I pretty much get for what they'll do, and pretty much leave 'em as they came, apart from software.

k, PCWorld magazine does a reliability/satisfaction survey every year (which you can robably find at their website). Just looked at this year's, and most companies came out "average" (Dell had been above in previous years; Acer and eMachines below, apparently they're improving). No company stood out in their opinion in desktops; Appple and Lenovo (formerly IBM) were best in laptops.

Some people have good experiences with every company, and some seem to have bad. I have a two and a half year old Dell desktop. It's been very good. The hard drive died and it wasn't easy (but not super-hard) doing with the Indian tech support (named Charles...right), but they agreed with my diagnosis <pats self on back for diagnostic skills>, and a guy came out two days later and fixed it in my home (I got the long-term on-site repair, which seems like a decent deal (and they often have it on sale for a lower price).

If you try Dell, check out their small business section, rather than the home products section. I got into the SB thru an ad in the NYTimes, and found it had better options for what I wanted, and cheaper packages than the home products. And I also found that, when they make limited time offers of extras and upgrades, the prices tended to drop the closer it got to the end of the offered deal--I bought on the last day and the same package was, if I remember right, about $150 cheaper than when they first offered it. Don't know if they're still doing that, but it worked for me.

Timber, I want to be able to play games on my computer, laptop desktop. To get the specs I need in a laptop, to play this new game I want to play, I'd need to get a very pricy laptop. Then I'd be so paranoid about it being stollen I'd want to chain it down.

User - thanks, I will go and check out pcworld - - - tomorrow....

We use Gateway for the workstations. When we networked the accounting program, we went with Dell. LTX's comments are the first negative comments I've heard in years about the hardware, though we tried to order several years ago and it was a nightmare of broken promises on shipping dates.

littlek,

Since 2001, I've placed over 700 Dells. I don't get anything for it (like a commission) except that it is truly a hassle free experience for me to do so. I've put them in family homes, and 58 at one time in a lawyers office in S.F. I have absolutely no hesitation in calling their support and getting reliable help. It DOES pay to buy their extended warranty options as it places you considerably higher in the queue and it is very inexpensive! I didn't mention the small business option, but it is excellent advice!

Anon

I agree w/Anon - I've had very good commercial/institutional experience with Dells, and with their products in a consumer setting. I own a couple myself, a Dimension series and an XPS series - good, solid, dependable, capable machines. Watch for sales and promos on their website - sometimes its hard to handbuild a machine equivalent to an off-the-shelf Dell for the same price.

I have two older Dell XPS machines that work just fine. I had to replace the hard drive in one of them, but other than that they hum along nicely. My newest one is a Dimension 3000, and it's a flat out lemon. Dell has replaced the processor, motherboard,RAM, and finally the hard drive, all to no avail. We only got the one year warranty on it, and that expired in December. We are on our own now.

k, I recently purchased an HP Pavilion ze2000 laptop through Costco.com. It ran me $699 and came with an AMD Mobile Sempron 2GHz (variable), 512MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, 15" SVGA screen, touchpad with scroll, and built in 802.11B/G wireless, running XP home, for $699. I really like it and for the price it can't be beat.