Buying a new PC.

[Noxx]

Just need something for day-to-day tasks for my dad. Doesn't need to be the fastest thing on the market, but not looking for a tortoise either.

Is this any good?

 

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=221134821&sellerid=11796268

 

Or

 

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/645378/HP-TouchSmart-310-1125f-All-In/?cm_mmc=Mercent-_-Google-_-Computers_and_Servers-_-645378&mr:trackingCode=DA91675F-316C-E011-9898-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

 

 

Not the most knowledgeable when it comes to these things and it's kind of hard to understand the people working in sales.

[Guy]

Are you specifically looking for all-in-one's, or would you be fine with the normal box+monitor? This, for example, is $440 but a million times better than the other two, and may be cheaper if you build it yourself too (edit: see below).

 

[hide=For interest]Nope, not cheaper, that $99 windows mucks everything up..

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock H61M-VS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($53.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($25.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Apex PC-389-C ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W ATX12V Power Supply ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Optical Drive: Sony AD-7261S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($20.98 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $442.91

(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

(Generated 2011-10-08 07:33 EDT-0400)[/hide]

[Noxx]

Well an all-in-one would be preferable, but not necessity. I realize building one would be cheaper. I would probably have done it but problem is that neither me nor my dad really have the knowledge to do so. Other reason for taking an all-in-one is because that's about the only thing most stores here sell.

[Lord Diddy]

Which country do you live in? also are you looking for a touch screen monitor or just any monitor would do? It would really be in your interest to see if you have a hardware store near you and get all the parts and pay them around 50 dollars to put it all together for you (we'll help you with the picking parts, depends on your location)

[Noxx]

Doesn't really matter if it's touchscreen or not. Wouldn't really change things. I live in Qatar. i'm not really sure how up to date we are with certain technology. I think the all-in-one touchscreens were only released here a week or so ago, and i'm certain they've been around for quite a while. That might give you an idea of how up to date we are with certain things. We have a store up the road that could probably put everything together within a few hours/days, so if it would be in my best interest then that's probably what i should do. But again i should mention that i'm not particularly worried about having the best of the best. It's just for someone who uses it it check e-mails, play the odd flash game here and there. Reason we're getting a new pc for him is because he's using my old one right now and it's pretty ancient (as are most of the other desktops we've got around the house) and they start running really slowly when he runs certain programs one of which runs pretty much 24/7 (some stockmarket updater thing).

 

If it helps, "budget" is around $2 000.

[Guy]

You can get an amazing gaming computer for $2000, you won't need for that for your father (I'm assuming). Check out local hardware stores, and do some research regarding online computer stores in Qatar. I'm not sure the volume of parts being imported there is particularly high, thus prices would be pretty high, so you may find it easier/cheaper to buy a prebuilt, especially for the lower end that you're looking at.

[Lord Diddy]

If it helps, "budget" is around $2 000.

 

Now are we talking about 2,000 USD or 2,000 Riyals ? conversion is about 550 when converted from riyal to usd.

 

Well your location does seem to make it a bit harder to ship to, personally I don't have experience in shipping there so my advice, like above, is to find local stores or a company that is located around your area so you don't get gutted with major shipping expenses. We could definitely help you figure out the confusing computer jargon that the sales rep will talk when you're trying to buy one from a store.

 

Not the most knowledgeable when it comes to these things and it's kind of hard to understand the people working in sales.

Lets take for example one of the computers you posted and how to compare and read technical specs:

 

Processor: AMD Athlon™ II X2 250U (1.6GHz/2MB cache)

A processor (CPU) is essentially how fast the computer will run and process information. The "X2" denotes how many cores it will have, in which both cores will help process the information making it more efficient than a single core. The 1.6gHz is the speed on how fast it's going to run, it really depends on the architecture of the chip but faster ghz = faster CPU. The "2MB Cache" after the slash is the size of the cache and helps your processor store copies of data that you use often so it greatly helps, bigger the better.

 

Operating System: Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

The operating system (OS) that will come with the computer, self explanatory. the "64bit" at the end denotes that its a 64bit OS and can support more than 3GB of Memory (Ram), seeing as this build comes with 4GB of memory it makes sense.

 

Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333Mhz – 2 DIMMS (Expandable Up to 8GB)

Memory is the multitasking factor of a computer used by programs and the OS to store information temporarily, if a computer were a track field runner the processor would be how fast he can run, and the memory would be how far he could run. "4GB" is how much ram is available (more the better),"DDR3" very important because its the latest generation of ram (its cheaper, faster, and the standard for newer computers) "dual channel" means its running two ram sticks at the same time, "1333Mhz" is how fast the ram will process and send out temporarily stored information (faster the better). Lastly "expandable up to 8Gb" denotes that the meximum it can handle is two RAM sticks that are of 4GB each 4+4 = 8Gb total.

 

Hard Drive: 750GB SATA hard drive (7200RPM)

Very crucial part of system that stores ALL your information, including the operating system files, your music/photos/games/movies, easily upgradable. "750GB" how much information can be stored inside the drive, "SATA" is standard now that denotes the 7-pin standard interface used to connect to a motherboard, "7200RPM" is Rotations Per Minute and is really the minimum a hard drive should have (5400RPM hdds are slower)

 

Wireless: Dell Wireless 1501 (802.11n) WLAN half mini-Card (Built-in)

Nothing confusing, supports wireless "802.11n" is the latest standard for WI-fi devices (faster, and more range than b/g)

 

Optical Drive: 8X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW), write to CD/DVD

CD Drive that reads CDs and also allows you to burn (write information) onto a blank CD. You can make DVDs or save information onto a cd

 

Video Card: ATI HD4270 RadeonTM

VERY VERY important and very easy to get ripped off here. Kind of lengthy to explain but read this http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100216114239AAfZKIw. A $999 computer shouldn't come with a crappy video card like this. You hear on sales " SUPER POWERED GRAPHICS HD RADEON 4270" and everyone goes crazy thinking its the latest technology but the "2" in 4270 repesents that it is a budget low-end card.

 

Screen: 23” LCD w/WLED Backlighting, Full HD (1080p) resolution of 1920 x 1080 with optional multi-touchscreen

Self-explanatory, its 23 inch diagonally, with a 1080p and 1920x1080 pixel resoultion with a touchscreen

 

Contrast Ratio: 1000:1

How deep the blacks and white "depths" are, higher contrast ratio the better

 

If anyone wants to elaborate on something please do so, I tried to make it as simple as possible.