[EarsToVanGogh]

Hey, folks.

It's no secret that I don't know much about what makes a computer work, what "stuff" should be in a good computer, etc. I was wondering if anyone wanted to give some opinions on what I should get.

I'm ready for this old thing with WinME on it to go buh-bye. Here's what I want to do:

Have enough oomph to not have to wait while my online Mah Jongg games loads.
Have enough oomph to run Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop - full versions.
Have the TV tuner and DVD burner.
Maybe play one game like a Tomb Raider or a Grand Theft Auto.
Have a fairly worry/trouble free operating system.

Any ideas? I think that $850.00 is about my maximum price.

Thanks much. Cheers.

[The_Oracle]

you should buy a computer with a dedicated graphics card, DVD RW drives are standard today.

If Vista is your Operating System of choice then you should have at least 2048 MB of ram while 1024 MB is plenty for XP.

[EarsToVanGogh]

I don't like what I've heard about Vista and I like my laptop with XP, but it seems like it is impossible to buy a system that has Xp and not Vista.

[The_Oracle]

but it seems like it is impossible to buy a system that has Xp and not Vista.

not true. just browse newegg.com or tigerdirect.com and you'll be surprised ... many systems are still available with windows XP.

[EarsToVanGogh]

I'm not asking anyone to do my shopping for me, but can someone direct me toward a system that would be good for the tasks mentioned above - and still have XP? I really don't understand what a lot of the specs mean, and I don't know what I need those specs to be for me to just have a good system that can do what I need it to do.

(That was a fantastically long run-on sentence. Nice.)

The last desktop I bought was in 2000 and it has WinME on it - I'm ready to move up. As I'm typing this post, this poor computer is giving me the evil eye - "Let me die, already. I'm just a machine. I can't go on."

[ferrija1]

Just to give you an idea of what you should get:
-Core 2 Duo (at least 2GHz)
-2GB of RAM
-256MB graphics card (though you could probably get away with 128). The Nvidia GeForce 8 series are pretty nice.
-160GB+ HD.


If you upgrade the video card and optical drive in this, it is a pretty nice machine for $870. The PCs in the business section are typically cheaper, too.

http://www.dell.com/content/products...tab=bundlestab

[EarsToVanGogh]

Wow. Thanks! That's an awesome looking system.

Does anybody know anything about adding the TV tuner thing? What do I need? It would really be a luxury for me, but I really want it. I've been nursing along crappy computers for years. I want a mini-killer system now.

[Blazintails]

This machine will do everything you need it to do, without getting it and having to put in a TV tuner.

Go to the link and scroll over to the OptiPlexTM 745c and click on customise it. I have added a picture of the add on's you want and the price (without monitor is $749) It also gives you a 3 year on site warrantee.

http://www.dell.com/content/products...=04&l=en&s=bsd

I would before you click purchase, call customer service and tell them you see they do not offer the XP disk or the Recovery disks and its a MUST that you have them. See if they will add those to your purchase.