What Ready Built Desk Top Would You Reccomend?

[lisalazarrus]

My system is getting quite old now.

I have upgraded it with a bigger hard drive and installed a gig of ram, but my husband downloads all the time and I would like my own machine.

it needn't be anything fancy as i really only use the pc for browsing the internet and word processing.

I don't understand the differences between mother boards and processors.

could i pick something up for around 15,00 baht including a monitor?

[pattayaheaven]

Hi lisa,have you thought of having a custom made one.Find a reputable company and tell them what you want and get a quote.Also my suggestion would be to have a big fan in the tower,there are plenty on the market now and this will help to keep the machine cool in thailand.

[lisalazarrus]

^

thank you.

i would if i knew what i was doing.

it's the processor and motherboard that i find most confusing.

[pattayaheaven]

Just explain to the shop your requirements,include some extra ram and you should get a good pc at the right money.

[lisalazarrus]

Just explain to the shop your requirements,include some extra ram and you should get a good pc at the right money.

ok.

i have noticed that a lot of people use 2 gig of rams these days.

i was told this would be unnecessary for what I'm doing with my pc.

do you think i might as well get 2 gigs in case for the future?

[Prakanong]

Just explain to the shop your requirements,include some extra ram and you should get a good pc at the right money.

ok.

i have noticed that a lot of people use 2 gig of rams these days.

i was told this would be unnecessary for what I'm doing with my pc.

do you think i might as well get 2 gigs in case for the future?

Memory is cheap now so shove the 2 gig in if you can get it within your budget.

[ariesram74]

If all you are doing is surfing net and word processing, you don't need to worry too much about a fast, high performance processor - now if you suddenly woke up with the urge to engage in virtual combat with adolescent boys and their dads across the globe (unlikely) you would have a problem. 15,000THB is fine for basic computing. The things you are going to value the most are your monitor and operating system - I run XP on a 7 year old Dell laptop, Pentium 3 with 512 MB RAM - it ain't and fast and pretty but it works for the times I need to use it.

Motherboard - Asus ASROCK/Alive 940

Processor - AMD Athlon X2 3800 2GHz - 2000THB

Monitor - Highly recommend Samsung Syncmaster monitors but might be out of budget- 19" Widescreen is my minimum - look for a higher conrtrast ratio for better graphics.

Video - on board

Operating System: XP or Vista

RAM - 1.5 GB for XP and 2 GB for Vista - 667 MHz (brands like Corsair, Crucial, GSkill, Kingston, OCZ)

Keyboard, mouse - highly recommend Lexma - it's cheap and good quality

Case - Coolermaster

Power Supply: 450w - don't skimp on this which is the advantage of customizing a computer

Speakers - you are not going to regret having a nice set of speakers or simply a great set of headphones if you listen to music alot.

[nikster]

I would recommend just getting a brand name box, like HP.

I really don't know what the point of getting a custom built system is except

A - you just happen to know a system builder, or

B - you know what you are doing and want to pick your own parts

If you don't know anything, buy a HP or Dell box and be done with it. If something doesn't work, return it and let them fix it. End of story.

[nikster]

Memory is cheap now so shove the 2 gig in if you can get it within your budget.

Exactly. Get 2GB minimum, Vista needs it in any case, and it's cheap.

[Naam]

I would recommend just getting a brand name box, like HP.

I really don't know what the point of getting a custom built system is except

A - you just happen to know a system builder, or

B - you know what you are doing and want to pick your own parts

If you don't know anything, buy a HP or Dell box and be done with it. If something doesn't work, return it and let them fix it. End of story.

seconded! after nearly two decades of custom built computers i bought an HP last november. was so happy after just a few days that i went and bought the same model for my wife.

[Gary A]

I agree with the off the shelf HP. I got a good friend started on the Internet last year. He is to the point that he can now do many other things with the computer. He is thrilled with his little HP.

For word processing and the Internet you don't need much. I have an old Toshiba laptop that has a P 2 processor and 64 MB of RAM. I could get by with that antique if I had no other choice. I mention the antique is because even the lowest spec machines are 20 times more powerful than that today.

[ballbreaker]

^

thank you.

i would if i knew what i was doing.

it's the processor and motherboard that i find most confusing.

With your experience I would go with an off the shelf name brand. Your needs are that great so pick one that has the features you want and provides a long warranty. I would suggest one that has Intel CPU and chipset and at least 2 GB of ram.

[ariesram74]

for this route try IT City or Powerbuy - 3 years warranty on desktops, 1 on laptops.

I have an HP laptop as my main and love it.

I would recommend just getting a brand name box, like HP.

I really don't know what the point of getting a custom built system is except

A - you just happen to know a system builder, or

B - you know what you are doing and want to pick your own parts

If you don't know anything, buy a HP or Dell box and be done with it. If something doesn't work, return it and let them fix it. End of story.

[learnthaipodcast]

Spend a day of doing research on sites like anandtech. There many people post their low budget setups and you can just copy them if you see they get good comments. Building yourself (the guys at pantip or fortune build it for you anyway) is usually the better option.

[nikster]

Spend a day of doing research on sites like anandtech. There many people post their low budget setups and you can just copy them if you see they get good comments. Building yourself (the guys at pantip or fortune build it for you anyway) is usually the better option.

How do you define better? If you don't know anything, or, no matter what your level of knowledge, simply don't want to have any hassle with warranty issues, better means a brand name box. In my experience, you will return any PC at least once. So better service is important. Especially in a country like Thailand where good service and warranty are not the norm.

Any PC will let you surf the web. Just get enough RAM, 2GB+ and you should be fine.

At a company I worked for we knew a system builder - they provided us with great PCs, did warranty etc. Worked great for a while, until... it stopped working great, they didn't return our phone calls etc. Whoops. And this was in the USA, no less. Another risk of going with a small, independent company. Having your custom PC built is great for tinkerers and hardware enthusiasts, but not great for anyone else.

Edit: Why do I have an angry face in my post title? How did it get there, and how can I remove it? I am not, umm, angry at anyone. In fact, I smile a lot. See? :)

Edited June 7, 2008 by nikster

[learnthaipodcast]

Nikster, you are right I wasn't clear enough. I was just referring to the system performance.

[Gary A]

I can give a good example. I had an HP that worked fine but it was getting a little old and wasn't that fast. I had a guy build me a powerhouse with Asus motherboard, Sata drives, a gig of RAM, Good video card and lots of other things he thought would be good. I gave the old HP to a friend of mine. Since then, my video card died, and the 3.0 ghz P 4 CPU died. The CPU died slowly and no one had any idea what was wrong. It finally gave up altogether and it was replaced with a Celeron 2.66 because that was all I could find to fit. The kicker is that the old HP is still working and other than a hard drive failing has had no problems.

[grtaylor]

I've found Acer to be very good here. I bought a Veriton 7900 from them one years ago, and it is excellent, and VERY quiet in operation. That model is not available now, but something similar in their latest catalogue.

I would never again go for a "put-together" machine, as the one I have which was done like that (to save money!) is clunky, hangs a lot, runs too hot, and is as noisy as hel_l. Very unhappy with it . . . .

G

[ariesram74]

One of the main things to look for is warranty ...

Overheating is a major issues with computers as they run faster and use more power than ever before. Older processors like the Pentium 3 in my Dell laptop are still doing just fine. You can have a highly effiecient machine with an older processor coupled with a resource forgiving operating system. I have a copy of the IT City circular - they have an Acer Pentium desk top for 14,999 comes with monitor and 3 year warranty. IT City honors warranties no problem in my experience.

I've found Acer to be very good here. I bought a Veriton 7900 from them one years ago, and it is excellent, and VERY quiet in operation. That model is not available now, but something similar in their latest catalogue.

I would never again go for a "put-together" machine, as the one I have which was done like that (to save money!) is clunky, hangs a lot, runs too hot, and is as noisy as hel_l. Very unhappy with it . . . .

G

[danfred]

Yes, Asus has been recommend by many. I bought two HP systems about 2 years ago and within the first year both systems needed power supply replacements and one motherboard had to be replaced. They are also very loud. I suspect that maybe they are not built to the same standard (cheaper parts) as in the US. Almost every Thai I've spoken to likes Asus.

Don't use a custom-built system unless you have all the drivers available for your operating system. An advantage of a major brand system is that you can go to their website and enter your system's model number and easily download all the drivers you need for your system (and they can come with a system restore CD which contains these drivers).

Edited June 9, 2008 by danfred

[DragonQuest]

Im in the market for a new desk top too, Im looking for something freezing cold, fast, and I play MMORPH online games, any good brands or shops i can go to with a long warrenty?

[ariesram74]

Try http://busitek.com

They sell parts and build high level - i.e. gaming rigs - to spec. Apparently they are on the 4th floor of Panthip. All the components have their own separate warranties so you'd have to check what the store warranty protocl is for custom built machines. What i would be looking for is a store prepared to replace a failed component while it's under the manufacturer's warranty. It would be a lot easier if they just sold brand name gaming systems like Alienware here.

Im in the market for a new desk top too, Im looking for something freezing cold, fast, and I play MMORPH online games, any good brands or shops i can go to with a long warrenty?

[stumonster]

don't foget a UPS ( uninteruptable power supply ) - APC is a recommended brand - the power in this country contributes to alot of electronics dying early and having some power conditioning in place for expensive electronic items is cheap and smart.

I have a small APC for my LCD TV . DVD etc and another for my computers , router and modem.

[JSixpack]

I would never again go for a "put-together" machine, as the one I have which was done like that (to save money!) is clunky, hangs a lot, runs too hot, and is as noisy as hel_l. Very unhappy with it . . . .

G

You don't go for a "put together" machine to save money. You do it for better value and cheaper/easier/faster repairs and upgrades.

You, now, got cheap low-quality parts and so what do you expect? Certainly your case was too cheap and so was the power supply.

If you don't know what you're doing you need to find some recommended specs (anantech.com, arstechnica.com) and match them.

[Gary A]

Yes, Asus has been recommend by many. I bought two HP systems about 2 years ago and within the first year both systems needed power supply replacements and one motherboard had to be replaced. They are also very loud. I suspect that maybe they are not built to the same standard (cheaper parts) as in the US. Almost every Thai I've spoken to likes Asus.

Don't use a custom-built system unless you have all the drivers available for your operating system. An advantage of a major brand system is that you can go to their website and enter your system's model number and easily download all the drivers you need for your system (and they can come with a system restore CD which contains these drivers).

Were your HP machines repaired under warranty? How was the service?