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General discussion

Should I buy now or wait??

Jul 26, 2005 3:58AM PDT

I currently have a Gateway computer with Windows 98 1st edition and ready to invest in a new computer. Would it be better to wait another year for Vista to come out or buy now. I even thought on buying something real cheap say 600.00 to tie me over another year..All comments appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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Good Question
Jul 26, 2005 4:04AM PDT

I'm having the same dilemma. Vista is "supposed" to be more demnding especially with those GUI's. They require plently of GPU power, so I'm thinking of waiting. This is my opinion, nothing offical. I think it'd require a minum of 512MB to run. Thats just a guess. But, since your only going to spend $600 on it I don't think you should. For all we know, Microsoft is going to surprise us and having big System Requirements OR it'll have to come pre-installed or something. Maybe things today will not work on Vista, not becuase they aren't powerful enough, but becuase they aren't compatible. Its like buying a AGP 6800 Ultra and finding out that your mobo takes PCI-X. The GPU is fast, but it isn't compatible. So, hopefully, Microsoft is going to throw us a curve ball and let us use prevoius systems, but hey anything can happen!
-Ibrahim

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EDIT:
Jul 26, 2005 4:06AM PDT

Near the end it should read: So, hopefully, Microsoft ISN'T going to throw is a curve ball.....

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Buy now or wait for Vista
Jul 26, 2005 4:10AM PDT

My ultimate computer will be the Velocity Vision 64 with 1 gig Ram and possibly dual core. It seems that Vista is still one year away, so may be a cheap computer to to hold me over and by then dual core will come down in price.

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(NT) (NT) Get an eMachine T6520, upgrade graphics etc.
Jul 26, 2005 4:27AM PDT
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Should I buy now or wait??
Jul 26, 2005 6:14AM PDT

Just an opinion.

64 bit is in the pipe.
Dual processors are in the pipe.
Vista will enter the pipe.

Wait 6 months after Vista enters the pipe (time for the dust to settle) then go shopping.

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i would suggest getting the t6410 till then
Jul 26, 2005 6:19AM PDT

more affordable than the t6520 and just as upgradeable. also i dont think that u should just jump and buy a pc when win. vista comes out since knowin microsoft will just send a sp1 a short time after.

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year for Vista to come out
Jul 26, 2005 6:36AM PDT

More like 17 months at this point in time.
And MS keeps changing the info on that thing all the time. They may even have to change the name. It seams that there is a software company called Vista. John

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re
Jul 26, 2005 9:32PM PDT

yep. my guess is if you decide to wait you are going to be waiting for some time for vista. as far as dual core and 64-bit that is available now. i guess the only reason to wait is for the price to drop some.

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Yep, and a Beta was released to
Jul 27, 2005 2:22AM PDT
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Hmmm...''....tie me over another ''...
Jul 27, 2005 2:51AM PDT

Why not wait awhile. Dual Core processors, like 64-bit (EM64T), and PCI-Express are the future. Seems like many mfg's are still getting rid of their non 64-bit/PCI-E Intel computers, like their Intel 5x0 series computers. AMD is also on the dual core wave of the future.

AMD dual core processors are higher priced than Intel, but supposedly a less expensive (3800) type is due out soon. I would wait for the 'tests' and comparison results.

As far as Vista...oh hum....

Your Win98 can still last awhile Wink.

One of my computers is a Win98se, and all I did was soup it up a little with a larger Watt PS, higher RAM,
more powerful video card, and added a 40GB external hard drive to supplement the old 18GB. That Pent3, 500Mhz PC cost me $2475 when new new and still works for the Grandkids pretty good on games, except for some of the latest high end games that require more power.

If you must have a 'tie me over', I would suggest getting the Emachine T6522 at Circuit City for $659.97 after rebates, which includes a CRT monitor and printer that you could sell if you don't need:

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-7586-0.html?forumID=68&threadID=116000&messageID=1318948