Do NOT BUY ALIENWARE

Which brand or brands of desktop PC's would you consider to buy from a bricks and mortar store? I'm looking to buy a basic desktop PC which I would use to do email; surf the web; some word processing as well as some Quicken.

I wouldn't be using such a PC to play games or to do videos. If you wouldn't buy any PC from a bricks and mortar store would you purchase the necessary parts from an online store and build one instead? Feedback would certainly be appreciated.


Big Steve
06/30/06

This'll be like a Ford vs. Chevy debate, but....
Stick with the "big guys" HP, Compaq (same co. now) or Sony. Reasoning that they do have a well established support system in place and most anyone is familiar with their products. Stay away from anyone's $400 PC's though, in my opinion anyway. You'll maybe need 512MB of RAM, 100GB hard drive and not a high end CPU. Something on the order of a Sempron 64 3200+. In my opinion, again, Intel systems just don't cut it, AMD systems work faster. I have had both and am using a self built and a Compaq pre-built, both with AMD's running things.
As for retailers, Walmart in my area usually has low prices, but NO in-storegeeks to help you. Check Best Buy and Circuit City or Frye's if you are near one.

Good luck!

Pick a national store. They all usually have in-store service.

Very good suggestions. He may also want to check out Dell. So-called computer purists nay argue against them, but you can't beat them for the money. Deffinitely worth looking into for a basic PC that will be used for light home use, won't break the bank, and is backed by _great_ tech support. Due to this great tech support, Dell has learned where they went wrong with their older computers and made them a hell of a lot more reliable. Just my two cents.