|
My 10-year-old desktop died immediately after we got to DC for our 3-month consulting adventure. Limped along with just the laptop for a few weeks, but I was looking for a new desktop. I don't upgrade very often (the 10-year-old custom build replaced a 7-year-old Compaq!) so when I do I look to overbuy-- get capacity I've no use for at the moment but figure will come in handy in a couple of years as software changes, etc.
I checked Amazon.com and cnet.com regularly and finally ended up with a $1400 HP m9250f for $700 because it was a discontinued model that had been returned to Amazon's warehouse with "cosmetic blemishes."
I got an Intel quad core 2.6 GHz processor, with 4 Mg RAM and a Tb (Terabyte) hard drive, plus an NVidia GeForce 8600 GT Video card and a bunch of multi-media stuff like a TV tuner, Wireless LAN, HDMI Audio, remote controller, etc. The motherboard and many components are made by Asus. I had to take Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, which means I'll have to invest in some new software, but so far I've been able to download drivers for most of my peripherals and they work fine. It came with a reasonable minimum of crapware and I've deleted most of it already.
As far as I can tell, the "cosmetic blemishes" are some scratches on the front of the case, a REALLY dinged-up outer box (they re-boxed it, dinged-up box and all, in an Amazon brown box) and some of the poly film protecting the shiny surfaces is partly peeled away.
The only real downsides so far (besides having the Vista learning curve-ugh!) are that the power supply is pretty dinky (350 watt? What's up with THAT?!?) and the RAM is arranged in four 1-Mb chips. So at some point I'll have to spring for a beefier power supply and if I want to upgrade the RAM I'll have to buy four new 2-Mb chips.
Oh, yeah, and it came with a really crummy wireless keyboard and mouse. BFD. It's still an awful lot of machine for $700.
Amazon.com is good about returns and they have a high internet retailer trust rating. They stand behind their sellers and make sure they do right by you, too.
So if you've got the time, I'd recommend a regular check-in with them, and also with cnet.com. Both places have shopping tools that will allow you to enter the key things you are looking for (Processor speed, RAM, desktop vs. laptop, price range, etc.) and then will show you what they have available from several sellers.
I loved my old custom build and it was a screamer by 1999 standards, but I think I did comparably well out of the box this time.
helpfully, Bright
|