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[goodcow]

So a friend asked me for a recommendation on a PC brand to buy, and building one from scratch isn't an option.

Her initial thought was Dell, because what else is there really, and honestly, since I always home-build, whenever I think of brand name PCs, I only think of...

Dell
Sony
Apple

I thought Gateway's PC division died a long time ago, but apparently not, and HP is still alive but I have no idea about their current system quality. And then of course eMachines and that stuff is garbage.

So... what IS the best PC brand to buy now, and why?

 

[borghe]

home built

edit - and there are plenty of brands

Apple
Dell
Sony
eMachines
HP/Compaq
Gateway

and plenty and plenty of mom and pop builds who will actually support their systems.

 

[truffleshuffle83]

i buy sony. the vaio is an awesome machine but it is pretty steep in price. i just got a new water cooled pc from them and its ace. if youre looking for good and affordable id recommend dell

 

[fart]

have him buy a laptop

an ibm T or X series, a dell 300m or 700m, or an apple

there are some nice ultraportable toshis too.

 

[impirius]

Amazon.Computers

Techbargains.com regularly has some super cheap Dell deals, so if you know what you're doing and don't need a lot of support, they're the best bang for the buck right now IMO.

 

[Mr. E. Yis]

Toshiba is probably better than a Gateway. But I would pick a Dell if not going the homebuilt route.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Dell is dirt cheap and decent build quality/reasonable components. Make sure to demand installable OS media and purge your systems of the preinstalled crap ASAP. Expect crappy support.

Apple's stuff is fine provided you want to do Mac things and never get near PC games.

Outside of the "man that's sexy looking", I've never heard a good thing about a Sony PC.

I'd go for a Dell or a Lenovo (formerly IBM) desktop if I had to buy one and couldn't build one myself.

BTW, *good* laptops (and by good, I don't necessarily mean pricey, just a good build quality) are better than desktops in almost every regard unless you are doing something that specifically works better on a desktop (multimedia, games). For text/office work, intarweb slackery, and general computer usage laptops and a wi-fi router simply cannot be beat.

 

[truffleshuffle83]

Toshiba is probably better than a Gateway..

toshiba only makes laptops IIRC. doesnt he want a desktop. although i have a toshiba laptop and ive no problems with it at all so its a valid option too

 

[Red Blaster]

Sony's Vaios are pretty nifty, though a bit steep in price. They do come with lots of neat extras though (memory stick slots, video ports, etc.)

 

[xsarien]

If you're looking for a general purpose, cheap and reliable computer, go Dell.

 

[heavy liquid]

Dell.

Look for their deals, like the current $750 off most notebooks over $1,500 and $700 off most desktops over $1,400. I think that deal ends tomorrow.

 

[Bregor]

Dell - good price, reliable, good support. Be sure to check to see what specials they have. The specials change often so if they don't have any you like just wait a little bit.

 

[Phoenix]

In order

Apple
Sony
Dell
Toshipa
eMachines | HP/Compaq | Gateway


If price is a primary either just grab a Dell or camp Fatwallet.com

 

[AntoneM]

my eMachines has been great, uses no proprietray parts so you can upgrade anything you like. I Know Dells are like that too but I have had trouble with HP/Compaq before and I don't know if they have changed or not.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Just got a system from cyberpowerinc.com

X-QPack Aluminum Mini 420Watt Case with 3 See-Thru Windows (Silver Color)
4" COLD CATHODE NEON LIGHT (BLUE COLOR)
(939-pin) AMD ATHLON(TM)64 3500+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology
LG CD-RW 52X32X52 (BLACK COLOR)
Sony 16X DVD ROM [-27] (BLACK COLOR)
6in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE (BLACK COLOR)
Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB Cache
Free "Half-Life 2 Bronze" Download Coupon
Logitech Deluxe 104 PS/2 Keyboard [-2] (BLACK COLOR)
PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL
MOTHERBOARD: (939pin Sckt)MSI RS480M2IL ATI Radeon Xpress200 Chipset SATA PCIE w/Video,LAN,USB2.0,IEEE-1394,&Audio
1024 MB (512MBx2) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY (Corsair Value RAM)
OS: Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Media Center 2005 Edition (Getting ready for Xbox360 hehe)
ATI RADEON X700 PRO 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD

Price: $984 w/ 2-day shipping.

Ordered on the 14th and reached my doorstep yesterday. Everything is working perfectly and couldn't be happier. I don't think you can find a similiarly configured system for less among "known" PC vendors.

 

[aoi tsuki]

Either stay away from Sony or buy a service plan with it. Poor build quality with proprietary software/hardware configurations, and a high price tag for the brand... typical Sony. Without a service plan, be prepared to deal with Sony customer service, who'll dick around with free repairs until your full 90-day warranty is up, in which case you'll have to pay for repairs. i'm not saying it'll happen, but i wouldn't be surprised if some problem occured in the first year of ownership. My recommendation is with Dell. Decent computers at an excellent price (check www.techbargains.com for constant deals on their systems).

On a related note, i bought a Sony Clie UX-50 PDA from CompUSA almost two years ago. i had battery problems with it (battery wouldn't hold a regular charge, and it's a known issue with this model) in addition to the screen emitting a high-pitched whistle (another known issue). On the trip to CompUSA to get a copy of my receipt, the damned thing developed a new problem where everything rendered on the screen in a quarter of the space. Luckily, i got a two-year TAP plan with it, and they're issuing me a $650 gift certificate for the amount i paid for it. i'm much, much closer to getting my Canon Digital Rebel XT.

 

[Drensch]

Dell are dirt cheap, just watch fatwallet for awhile.

 

[Diablos]

Dell, if only because of their customer support.

 

[aoi tsuki]

Dell, if only because of their customer support.

They've got the most international customer support of any company i've called. i've talked to a few Indian guys, some hot-sounding woman (who probably wasn't) from Argentina, and some white guy who was probably from Cali.

 

[fse]

Get an Apple or Sony/Dell.

 

[Hitokage]

I've had bad experiences with Dell. I still can't believe they paired a Pentium 4 with PC133 SDRAM on one box my mom had.

Anyway, if it were me, and I wasn't building my own, I'd be getting an Apple.

 

[ChrisReid]

Dell or Toshiba.

 

[Almighty_Chocobo]

Can't believe people would actually list Emachines.
Steer clear!!! Far away from Emachines!

 

[Lhadatt]

Do not listen to the normals in this thread who preach Teh Dell Way. Dell sucks. Stay away if you know what's good for you.

Buy Apple, Lenovo/IBM (for now.. be wary, quality may slip), Toshiba, Fujitsu.

The best way to go if you don't want to build is find a quality (read: not shady) PC reseller in your local area and get them to build you a system. Of course, building yourself is the best option of them all, as long as you have some inkling of what you're doing.

Actually - why don't you build it for her? Just strike an agreement where she won't come to you with every single little problem, and it will work out.