Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Kutztown, PA, USA
Posts: 106

Ok. this summer my dad said he *might* get a new computer. At my moms i have a computer i built..upgraded from a 166, New motherboard, 400PII, 64MB..ya know. And at my dads i have a 1 1/2 year old Gateway 400MhzPII 64MB 9gig. HD. Anyways. My dad says he would be willing to spend 1,000-1,500 on a new computer. I want atleast 128MB of ram and a really big HD for a crapload of MP3's. And on my old gateway i wanna but windows 2000. What kind of computer do you think i should get? What Brand..how fast, Oh yeah. i want a good graphics card for some serious gaming..but i dunno if i can have all that crap for my price range. Help me.

Also..Networking. Would it be possible to have it networked, and a cheap network thingy..i would LOVE to play games over the two computers! (AOE II)!
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Greg Moore
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by GregMoore (edited 06-28-2000).]

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 289

Hey Greg.

I'd have to put my vote in for a Dell Dimension XPS machine. For under $1500, you can get a Pentium III 700mhz, 128MB RAM, 17" Monitor, 20.4GB 7200RPM HD, 32MB GeForce AGP Video, SB Live Soundcard, Altec Lansing ACS-340 speakers, v.90 56k modem, 48x CD-ROM drive, Windows 98SE, and the misc stuff that comes with the machines..

Check out http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/offer..._3x_offer20.htm for the specs (click on configure to add the different items I mentioned above)

I think if you want to do serious gaming, staying with Win98 instead of going with Win2000 is the thing to do for now. The system above would be awesome for gaming along with listening to mp3s, etc..

For networking, you can buy two 100/10 network cards for about $15 each and then a crossover cable to connect them together for about $10 (assuming they are in the same room).. if not, you can do wireless/phone line/etc networking, however, u might end up spending well over $100 for the network.

Joe

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: St Petersburg Fla
Posts: 224

Dell is definitely the best choice. At work, I had 6 p60's running a store and forward system for 5 years, 7/365. No failures at all. Had friends order Dell's with only 1 problem. Dell customer service had a new machine delivered within 2 days.
My son and I networked his laptop(parallel port) to my PC(PCI card) using Intel's Anypoint Phone network. Not the fastest way, but works fine sharing an internet connection. Gaming may be a problem and would require Ethernet solution.
Check out http://www.homepcnetwork.com
Gives a lot of information on home networks

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Kutztown, PA, USA
Posts: 106

I was going to put win 2000 on the old computer...The Dell sounds great..and that network is the best! Thank you guys so much..now i only need ways of convincing my dad to buying the machine....all in good time.

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Greg Moore
[email protected]

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 41

quote:

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Originally posted by GregMoore:
I was going to put win 2000 on the old computer...The Dell sounds great..and that network is the best! Thank you guys so much..now i only need ways of convincing my dad to buying the machine....all in good time.

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I'd up the RAM to 128Mb if possible in the Gateway. Win2K will work with 64mb, but is better with 128Mb, more so if you plan on using it for applications.
I have a Cel266, 64Mb Ram with Win2K, and it only runs as my internet firewall.

Carl



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Carl Lee
Hi! My name is Carl and I'm a Visorholic.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 289

Greg -- I'd have to agree with Carl.. up to 128MB on the Gateway machine if you want W2K. The upgrade shouldn't be too much (maybe $60-$70) but the performance gained is awesome. My machine is running with 256MB RAM and its great. I can fire up Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, listen to MP3s, surf the web and do IM without it crawling.. Great thing about W2K/NT is the built in system management tools. . really gives you insight to what is your bottlenecks..

For networking/shared internet I have found the Linksys Etherfast DSL/Router to be awesome for anyone wanting a network at home or work. It costs between $150-$200. Its cool because it has a built in 5 port 100/10 switch for high speed networking, it basically auto configures everything for you to share internet access and protects the network from intruders. Check it out at www.linksys.com ..

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Kutztown, PA, USA
Posts: 106

I am now obessed with this Dell computer!! I'm at my moms but i'm going to my dads house for the week..starting friday...I called him up and he would go for this:

it is going to be 42 bucks a month with everything (about)

so..
My step-brother (Adam) pays $10.00
My step-mom (Sandy) pays $10.00
My father (dad) Pays $10.00
I,,,.me, Greg Moore pays $10.00
and the other, extra, like 45, 43 per month..whatever. my dad will pay. I think this will work...Ya know.
here is what i upgraded it to.
40 Gig HD (20 partitioned to MP3's!!!)
32 Meg TNT2 vid card
128 mb ram, i'm going to try for 256 after i heard Cerulean talk about everything the computer could do with 256 MB ram (i have PSP, i love winamp..and a bunch of other memory intensive things)
what else...um. i have to look on there again...but i'm just going to stare at the Dell custiomize screen for a few hours. I can dream, can't I?




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Greg Moore
[email protected]

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 289

Sounds like a good setup Greg.. Regarding the extra 128MB RAM .. I would suggest getting it with only 128MB for now. If you find that your running a lot of apps simultaneously, then pick up another 128MB .. I think you should be able to find it cheaper than what Dell wants ..

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Kutztown, PA, USA
Posts: 106

Thanks..i think i will hold off on the extra ram and buy it at a computer show..they have it for like a dollar a meg now...I am so excited. Yes...i have no life.

-Greg

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Greg Moore
[email protected]

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Kutztown, PA, USA
Posts: 106

They just changed the offer...for the better!

get a free printer now....

-Greg

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Greg Moore
[email protected]