computer

[morgant]

hi, i am getting a new computer today. my stegosaurus is all about washed up. what specs. should i have with it, i usually run outlook, excel, two chat rooms, several internet pages, and 2 or 3 poker sites at once. besides that i dont do any gaming. just email, im, poker, websurfing. budget can be up to 1k, but more like 5-7 would be neato. any advice? oh all i need is the computer, i have monitor, keyboards etc.....

[TimM]

Dell has some cheap desktops here (http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/featured_desktop1?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs).

At least 512MB RAM is a must, and they have a free upgrade for it. You can customize the system, remove the monitor and anything else you don't want. You may also want to change the Hard Drive size, and CD options if you want a burner or DVD player.

These systems may not have an AGP slot, so you might not be able to add an AGP video card later if you wanted to use multiple monitors. You could probably add a PCI video card and use that for a second monitor. The system does have integrated graphics (built into the motherboard). Some newer systems now have dual monitor integrated graphics. If you think this will be important to you down the road, you may want to check with Dell to see if this system has it.

[berya]

"You could probably add a PCI video card and use that for a second monitor"

Yes you can buy a PCI card and use two monitors. I have one of the older version of Dell (2350 model) and it was not a problem at all.

[scotnt73]

im a network admin and Dell pc prices are crazy good. i can built a pc for maybe 100$ cheaper than thier 499$ ones but its not worth my frustration anymore. so go with dell plus you get tech support for like a year or something like that.

on a side note if you know anything about working on pcs you can goto Frys or whatever your local wharehouse electronics store and buy a complete very decent pc with lindows and no monitor for like 299$. then "Borrow" someones windows 2000 cd and format it and install that and you have a great pc for 299$. i did this last month. the specs:

1.6 gig processor
256 mb rame
40 gig hd
basic graphics card

its not yesterdays technology but if your not high end gaming it works great.