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More casual use than anything. I brouse and read quite a bit. A few pictures to be saved. I dont work on it from home, just conservative use only I guess. But I do prefer a Dell PC.

Well if its just for that use you don't need anything super powered..dell is a good make from my experience.

A super casual user

A cheap $300 desktop will suit you best. You don't need to buy anything brand new, go for a used desktop or a used laptop.

Hook up the laptop with a desktop monitor (22 inches), a USB keyboard and mouse and your set. You can have the best of both worlds. The Acer 4830tg is prefect in this case, good processor, decent graphics card, and 14 inch display. Good battery life and decent weight are also there. They sell for about $450 on auction, the "buy it now" prices are over $550, so wait for an auction listing.

But I think the best thing would be a desktop with a AMD APU processor since you only are a casual user. The AMD processor comes with a good processor with decent intergraded graphics card build in the processor chip. The best part is that they are cheap. Go for a desktop with a least a A8 APU processor. Those are all quad core and with the best graphics in the Bulldozer (aka, Faildozer) lineup.

But it all comes down to, your budget. What is your total budget.

Dells are pretty good but their power supply units suck. Even on their high end computers they always cheap out on the power supply.

Well, I would like to begin brand new!! I have no budget...so $400 to $800...$1000 (if I had to)... would be suffice. Failed to mention, but would like to have a printer and be able to print color photos from my camera too.

Just wanted to take a quick moment to thank EVERYONE for their thoughts and opinions and keep'em coming! I really do appreciate your time! :thumb:

What ever desktop you buy will be outdated by the time you finish creating your username :p

I have honestly stopped trying to keep up with what ever new stuff they keep coming out with, it tends to turn into a full time job. I did have an HP Media Center desktop that lasted me 5 years, that thing was a workhorse. It was on 24/7.

Sent from my Q8 using Tapatalk 2

If you go on the Dell website, you can configure a desktop with a printer. Since your a casual user just get a desktop with a i3 or i5 processor. Skip the i7 since you're just a casual user, use the money for something else.

The deal is too first configure the desktop first, then add it to your account. Then call them, talk to one of their people. Then haggle them for discounts or free stuff. They always give people discount or free stuff when you call them.

But you have to configure the computer first and add it to your account so the person on the phone can see the system that you configured.

They will at first try to say no but if you don't like the deals they can offer you, hung up and call again with another agent. But always try to be cool and nice about it. They have the power you save you tons on money.

My friend configured his Alienware m18x r2 and got a memory upgrade and 10% discount. He found the Dell agent that would work with him. These people work on commission from sales so they will fight for giving discounts. But if they sense that you will not use your credit card, they will start to open their minds to discounts.

Or you can go here for more advice. I have a sense you don't even know where to start or what to buy.

What PC Should I Buy Forum

To be honest, I made the same mistake when purchasing a desktop one or two years back. I had the same exact budget as you, and as you know, technology prices fluctuates constantly. I paid $100 for 6 gb of Cosair ddr3 ram, but now you can get it for less than $50. Do not go overboard and spend more than $500 on a computer. When I purchased a computer, I got the latest I7 processor, with 1tb hard drive. An i5, and i7 processor is totally unnecessary. I don't even understand why I purchased an I7 computer in the first place, considering I don't: a) game at all, b) do not use more than 10% of my cpu

You can get a decent desktop for under $350 (not including the monitor of course), an I3 or I5 is more than suitable for your needs. I'm not sure about AMD equivalent processors, only used Intel before. I mainly use my computer from browsing the internet, photoshop, microsoft word, antivirus program, skype, and maybe some few other applications. In fact, I helped my friend find a decent laptop last month. He purchased an ASUS i3 laptop with 500gb hard drive for $340 from bestbuy in the USA of course.

At the end of the day, what you buy right now, will only be worth 1/4 the price you paid in two-three years down the road. Prices for electronics is volatile. Better to purchase a decent computer right now, and change every couple of years depending on your needs. Heck, if I wanted, I could still use my emachines......while it still works, it only has a 5gb hard drive and 128mb of ram.

Right now the top AMD processor is the A8 APU processor based in the Llano design. Lets just say is a big disappointment for the many who where waiting for it. The speed is roughly compared to the fastest Intel I3 or I5 with HT. But the graphics part of the chip does kick some nice butty. It's pretty decent, even for me when it comes to basic gaming.

The a10 with an upgraded Trinity design will come in Q3 or Q4 of this year. But some leaked reviews are not looking good for the Trinity design.

Intel is more widely used, from computer servers to apple computers. Intel is ahead of the game, from what I know, AMD has yet to create a processor with higher specs than the newest intel available.

Intel vs. AMD: Who's got the fastest chip now? | Business Tech - CNET News

AMD has been fighting Intel on pricing for many many years now. Intel cpus are really good at single thread operations. That is where the new Trinity design fails in. But when it comes to multi thread programs, AMD still fails but the percent of failing is not so low vs single thread programs.

That is where the pricing wars come in and the better AMD intergraded graphics comes in to help. Intel can not touch AMD on graphics, even with their new Ivy Bridges processors that came out in April.

But AMD really needs to step it up in the mobile department. They are really lacking in the laptop area. More people are buying laptop vs desktops, they want their computers to be mobile.

A big CPU is useless for you, and it will consume a lot of energy, same for the GPU.

You must put your money in a good SSD and enough memory.

A 16:10 monitor is better than a 16:9 to work and browse because it has 10% more vertical pixels for the same size.

Don't hesitate to put enough money in a good mouse and a good (illuminated) keyboard, wired are best.

All the best.

Self built pc's are the best and cheapest. Just a web serfer does not need much at all. You can build one for like 400-500

I would recommend building it yourself and for a basic computer (no gaming or multimedia editing) a dual core processor, at least 4 gb of ram. It really does't matter what you get unless your doing processor heavy tasks. My eb pc is a socket 478 pentium 4 - 3.2 ghz, 1 gb of ram, 80 gb harddrive, 256 mb video card. Runs everything for ebay just fine and was free at the local dump! Can't beat free!!

You guys are awesome! Keep'm coming! Love reading everything! :thumb:

GB...your cheerleading/pompoms are priceless! Ha!;)

Put it this way. My computer is 10 years old. Still runs like a freakin champ.... 2gb ram, 512mb card e6600 processor. Surfs the web with no lag, downloads movies, photoshops things, does eb*y work and even does some gaming. It basically does everything i need it to. 10 years and nothing has fried or broke in it. You can build my comp for prly around 150-200 bucks. My case is worth more than everything on the inside.


Unless you do serious Photoshop work and use heavy usage programs or do SERIOUS gaming. Don't waste money on a expansive comp. My comp will be a great web surfer for another 5 years or so. For a above average web serfer 500 bucks and you got a champ that will last years to come.

My parents just bought a 700 dollar laptop web serfer......... i was pissed. They do nothing but search the web and watch movies.... The thing has like 8gb a gaming graphic card and processor. How much do they use of all that???? prly like 10%. Told them to return it and buy a cheaper laptop that will do the job for years to come.


I hope i just saved you some money :)

Loop, that's because when people who don't know much about computers go and shop for one, they are always recommended something insane. You should know that. I have stood by customers countless times at places like Best Buy, CompUSA, etc and just listened to the sales person force the customer into buying some $800+ beast machine when a basic $250 Compaq laptop from Wal-Mart would blow their minds just the same because that's all they needed in the first place and they just don't know it because some tool bag told them that budget laptops are useless.

People come to me for advice on computers 24/7 and are surprised when I tell them to go buy the Lenovo desktops that are always on sale for $300 and I have even seen some Dell's for $250. Then, when we get it all setup, they love it. I install MS Office 2010 and Photoshop CS6 and more and these budget computers run them flawlessly.

People just need to stop letting "sales" douches tell them how to spend their money. Their job is sales, so all they know how to do and are trained to do is rape people for as much cash as possible. Who cares what their needs and budget are. Christ, I can't even get into the poor parents who have newly enrolled college students and the snake salesman tells them that only the new Retina display $2,300 MacBook Pro will help your child graduate... :faint: :faint: :faint:

That is not a 10 year computer. The e6600 core processor came out in Q2(?) or Q3(?) 2006. It is still a very capable processor. If you need more cpu power just overclock it. Those core processors are known to overclock over 40% easily.

I remember my first core processor, I loved so much. When I upgraded to the early i7 processors I switched back to my trusty q6600. That baby overclocked like crazy and easily. That was my last desktop I ever had, I completely went over to laptops after that.

I tried to give that desktop to my little sister but she didn't want it. She decided to buy some $1200 Dell computer. When I showed her that my "old" desktop ran faster than "hers", she got sh*t faced. She went on to sell that desktop 2 months later and asked me to give her my "old" desktop. It was already too late since I already sold it. I finally built her a small form factor desktop for $500.

Now her and all her friends call me when they want to buy computers. Sometimes it's a curse when they call at 6am (pacific time) and they are on the east coast of the US. But I guess I enjoy it.

Thumbs up for lenovo!!! Love my laptop. Cheap and runs like a pro. As far as the Retina display.... here is something lol

wow I just died laughing at that

"I want to watch the pores in peoples skin".