So, I have a 9 year old computer that needs to be re-formatted every month, I need a new pc, my computer ACTUALLY told me I should buy one.. which was funny.. and slightly worrying that it's been coded to do that by ibm or microsoft or aptiva..or amd..

Anyway, I figure people here know about hardware they should be able to help with my problem..either that or form a vast mob and chase me around with burning stakes.. ANYWAY BACK TO THE POINT.

my three options are
A) Building my own computer, I am capable of doing the actual putting together, what'a a real beeyatch is the various types of motherboards, so far I know I should either get a Abit or Asus mother board and a AMD athlon 64.. but, I want to keep the costs down.

Buy a computer from DELL, they seem to have quite good pc's I know a lot of people seem to hate them, may I ask why?? The Dimension 8400 looks good. only 1300 euro.

C) Buy a E-mac, they're reliable, but very little windows programs would work on it, I could live with that.

So, what do you think I should do? I'm thinking of dell at this moment.

OK well it looks like you have a few options.

1.) Like you said people say you should get an AMD 64 if you build a computer but it really depends on your usage. If you plan on trying to have the best system for gaming then yeah an AMD 64 is the fastest but the new P4 (which are 64 bit now) are not far behind. If you dont plan on playing many games or high tech games atleast, stick with a Celeron or AMD Duron processor cause they are cheaper but not as efficient gamewise.

2.) You can get a Dell. I actually own a Dell and I love it. To be honest I have more than one Dell and they never have let me down. So i you dont want to build a system i actually recommend a Dell b/c of their service and their computers always work well.

Those are my recommendations so take them as you will. Hopefully it was of some help.

I think you could be better off buying a dell, considering
that in a way they always have what you want, its like buying your custom computer and they put it together foru.
but then again when you go to build your own pc, the parts can be cheaper if you go to a warhouse to buy your stuff.
Good luck on getting your new computer

It is a question of which - how much are you willing to spend?

+ i would recommand buy e-mac if you dun wanna encounter any troubleshooting process
+ if you assemble your favourite choice of custom pc, you may encounter (may be or may be not) some hardware-software problems/headace
+ yap, e-mac with osX or ur choice of any Linux would be fine working system (if you rather prefer not to use mac os) rather than Dell/Win
+ even os-x buit-in-ready apache, iLife, etc.. are good enough to beat up window and there are lot of freebie stuffs like editor software for web development out there..
+ you wont need to think baq about window
+ so, go with e-mac, yo wont regret it!

Yeah, I think I'll get a dell. Because, I'm leaving in a year or so for college anyway, and while, I would know each of the various parts are, my family and computer technician wouldn't. I don't really want to drag a blooming PC with me.. so, I'll get a nice little PowerBook sometime over the next year. Involves some serious saving..

That sounds like a good plan. We have a dell as the home computer, and I like it - hasn't had anything too bad happen to it (got a virus once, but fixed it ). Right now, I have an IBM Thinkpad that I had to rent off the college... I do not like it. At least with the stuff they give it to me with. It freezes if I have a few programs open at once, and some programs crash the system right away, when its the only one running...

Anyway, I plan to buy myself a Dell laptop after I'm finished school... I wish you the best with whatever computer you end up deciding on

if you buy CPU,MBO,RAM... separately you will pay less then buying a DELL computer...

but if you can't put all the parts together...then it's better to buy DELL...

..i don't know if you like AMD or INTEL...but here's a midlle range AMD 64 PC...i would sugest..

CPU : 3200+ Winchester
MBO: MSI K8N Neo4
GPU : Leadtek 6600 GT / or Leadtek 6800LE..only if you want to clock and unlock it
RAM: 2 x Super Talent 512 MB DDR 400
PSU : Chieftec 420W dual fan
ROM: NEC 3520
...

My experiences with a Dell aren't that great... I can't even boot cdroms off of it, but they are pretty economical. The Inspiron XPS Gen 2 came out, so if you ever change your mind and pick up some cash, there's a good one. Hey Corey, how much would all of that cost?