Help me buy a new computer !

Let me bump it up. I'm kind of interested in the answers, especially re; Vista.

They still make Packard Bell?

Packard Bell is the biggest POS available. I thought they went out of business years ago... Anyway, yes, that processor is find for Vista, however, there are better processors available. The Core Duo processor is not terribly expensive and doesn't have the heat issues the D series does. What is your budget on this new computer? You could probably build yourself one and get a better system. It's pretty simple.

Thanks Matey - I have no clue as to how to build a computer - I will leave it to the experts !!

One f my friends told me that I should go for more memory and lose the widescreen if I am not planning to watch TV/Movies on the computer anyways, so am now looking else where ..

wirless connectivity?

Ofcourse. I have wireless on my laptop. But pretty uselss to have wireless on a desktop me thinks !

Well if you don't want to build one... I would go to best buy and look. I don't suggest getting a gateway cause I've had lots of problems with the computers and their customer service is horrible. I own an HP laptop (my second one) and it is doing just fine. HP's usually have good prices, so check them out. Oh, and a note on the video chipset/card... Stay away from anything that says it uses "shared" graphics memory. It means that it actually uses your system memory instead of having its own.

Thanks, Hokie. Un, do you think Vista is worth waiting for, upgrading later, or just not bother with it.

Not trying to hijack, but it seems somewhat on topic.

Prince, by its specs, that machine you detailed should handle Vista just fine - it might even come with a coupon for a free or heavily discounted upgrade to Vista once its formally available at retail. Right now, lotsa machines are tagged "Vista Compatible", which means they should accommodate most Vista features, or "Vista Ready", which means just what it says; they're ready for Vista and should support all of Vista's new bells and whistles.

As for Packard Bell's reputation, well, its not a firm who's products are noted for superior reliability, nor does their product support as a rule get very high marks. There are better choices, and of course there's all sortsa partisanship, pro and con, relating to any of the choices. Chase down all the reviews you can, and when considering consumer/end user reviews as opposed to professiona/editorial reviews, be advised that many consumer complaints and problems - for just about anything - directly stem from not having read and/or understood the manual.

Roger, I dunno as I'd advocate "upgrading" a currently more or less satisfactory Win2K/XP machine to Vista just for the sake of being "current", in fact machines more than a year or two old right now are in many cases unsuitable candidates for Vista. Most - by a huge margin - Win9x/ME machines simply don't - and won't - "make the cut"; don't even bother to think about it. And even with relatively current production machines, a BIOS update to fully accommodate Vista may be necessary.

Right now, I recommend "going" to Vista only if you already have a fairly recent vintage (manufactured within the past year or so) machine sporting relatively up-market specs and features. Otherwise, just wait until you need to replace that machine, and buy a new one with Vista already installed - or build a suitable machine if you're comfortable going that route.

Bear in mind also that there may be issues with Vista and older peripherals and software you already might have - the respective appropriate vendors' websites generally have useful (if not always enjoyable) information on this.

In any event, I think anyone in the market for a new machine right now should look for "Vista Compatible" at a minimum, and really oughtta lean very strongly toward either a "Vista Ready" machine, with an upgrade coupon, or an actual Vista pre-installed machine. IMO only, of course, for whatever that might be worth.

Yes! I need help buying a new computer as well.

Please send a donation.

Mebee I just need help.

Vista certainly is pretty. And it's much faster than XP. It takes security very seriously, to the point that it's a pain for someone like me - who doesn't want it. I disabled most of the security features, cause they get in my way. If you can get it for free, like I do, go for it. At worst, you won't like it and you can just go back to XP. The only thing you lose by trying it is a lil time.

I finally bought a Dell (i Know I know, but people assure me that for UK it is one of the most reliable ones)

Dimension E520 Viiv Core 2 Duo Processor E6300 (1.86Ghz, 1066MHz, 2MB)
250 GB hard drive
19'' flat screen monitor

That oughtta be fine for what you wanna do. And, IMO, among the general-market name-brand machines, Dells are among the least likely to inspire wrath in their owner base.