SillyDog701

[James]

I'm not sure I'm ready for a new computer (and whatever I do, I'll double it since my wife wants her own as well). Right now both my wife and I have computers and we're thinking about replacing them in the near future. But it's only at the "thinking about" stage. So, I've set a budget... $1400 for each computer (and monitor included). I'd like the monitor to be at least 20 inches. Neither of us are gamers. Both of us use our computers for: photo-editing of our digital images, e-mail and surfing. What would you advise? I'm open to suggestions.

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[Don_HH2K]

If you aren't up to buying the parts to a PC and building it from the ground up, you may want to take a look at the deals on Newegg. If you're not doing any GPU-intensive tasks on gaming, then you can actually find some fairly cheap yet decent machines. Here's a pretty awesome deal on a Lenovo dual 2GHz machine with 2GB of memory for $429. Couple that with a monitor like this 22" one for $239 that runs at 1680x1050 and supports both VGA and DVI and includes speakers, and you'll have a pretty good setup.

If you're really willing to spend $1400, then you can get a machine like this one. How's a watercooled 2.5GHz quad-core with 4GB of RAM and a GeForce 9800GTX sound to you?

In the meantime I'll wait for Antony to recommend you an iMac.

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[Antony]

Thanks Don.

James, an iMac only starts at US$1199 . The Mac OS X as well as the hardware will simply make your life easier.

Switching to a Mac is very easy. Most applications are available for Mac OS X, if not, chances are alternatives that works beautifully on a Mac. Let's not forget, if you really must run Windows, you can do so easily with the built-in Boot Camp or third party software such as Parallels Desktop for Mac.

More information about iMac (Apple's website)


When you are ready to purchase a Mac, please remember to use SillyDog701's affiliated links. I will receive 1 to 2% commission, and it does not cost your more.

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[Mandrake]

Look for these minimum specifications in a computer:

Core 2 Duo CPU with minimum clockspeed 2GHz

4GB RAM, DDR2-667 or faster

Radeon or Geforce graphics with at least 256MB memory

You want something that will last a few years, not something that will start feeling sluggish and slow after a year or so. Dell, for instance, has plenty of decent computers that would meet your needs well with a graphics upgrade and more ram. Or, as Antony pointed out, the iMac is a fine machine when you add more ram to it. Of course, the best way to get a new computer is to build it yourself, like I do.

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[James]

This has been very helpful, everyone. Thanks.

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