Friday, July 08, 2005

New Computer?

I'm up in arms over this laptop. Handy, as it might be -- but it's basically a business tool. I also like to have my fun!

Trying to play games on this is a challenge and a half. The hardware specs on this thing are impressive -- maybe like compared to a desktop 4-5 years ago -- so when I playing newer PC games like Sim City 4 or NASCAR SimRacing -- eh. I need more juice. So far, I content with playing older PC strategy games like Age of Empires II and Civ 3 Complete.

I want a kick-ass desktop system that will truly impress me. I want something that will make games like Sim City and NASCAR perform without a hitch -- and with that, I need some kick-ass hardware.

I could build my own, but I'm lazy. I'm already scoping the markets to pick something up in September or October. Sony Vaio-brand computers are impressive, although they are expensive. What I like about Sony is their compatibility with other Sony peripherals, although other brand names, like HP, Dell, or even lowly Gateway are also compatible through Plug-n-Play. I'm loyal to Sony and I consider myself a Sony Man -- so we'll see.

Also, how bad-ass do I want my computer to be? Obviously, I want a pretty good motherboard. Pentium 4's are the standard, and now they've got Pentium D's. They can go either way in my book, I could are less -- it just depends how "multitask-able" I can be. Other Sony systems offers your regular Windows XP OS, otherwise there's the Windows Media Center OS. I, too, am a big "create your own media-guy", so we'll see.

Just give me a fancy video card and 2 gigs of RAM. I think I'll be fine.

Any suggestions? Leave a comment. Oh, and I do not want to go over $1,900!

1 Comments:

At 8:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yea you definitely can something nice for that kind of money. The only cool things about the Sony's are that they are water cooled (which means damn quite operation) and have ultra sharp cases.

Other than that I don't a big difference between the manufacturers. Stay away from Gateway. I'd go with either HP or Dell. Dell's going to be a bit cheaper, but I think HP generally has better customer service. Also if
you buy from Dell, price it out at the Small Business Store instead of Home, it'll be cheaper and you can just say you're self employed. A couple of other things to remember:

Processor: Don't get the Celerons

Graphics Cards: Stay away from ATI they have buggy Windows Drivers. I know cuz I have one :( Also don't get integrated graphics, get a separate card

Sound: Sound Blaster, again stay away from integrated sound

Monitor: Flat Panels are getting better for gaming use although regular CRTs are still a bit better

Operating System: Mac OS X, just kidding :), stick with XP Pro and forget XP Home

Memory: 2 GB is quite a bit. I'd only get that if you're going to be doing a lot of video editing graphics work. Otherwise 1 GB is a good baseline, you can always add more later

Other than that most of the other components are pretty generic. Most ship with SATA drives, and DVD burners.

You could also build yer own, it's really not that hard. It'd take an afternoon and it'd be done. Ask jewett I built him a nice Athlon 64 box for around $1500. I always price my stuff out at newegg.com.Its always an option and I work for beer :)

If you have anymore questions or have a few systems picked out online give me a holler via phone or email if you want a second opinion.

Turkish

 

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