Any computer guru's!?!

ican♥and♥iwill

I'm looking to purchase a new computer, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend me something! I'm trying to steer clear of any laptops, because I use my computer 8 hours a day for work.

I've been considering an all in one computer. I've been looking at a Gateway. Some of the features this product offers is:

◦Intel® Pentium® processor T4300
Features an 800MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache and 2.1GHz processor speed.

◦Two processing cores

◦4GB DDR2 memory

◦750GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm)

◦Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD

At a glance, would you say this is a good buy for $700? It's rated 4.3 out of 5.

Is Gateway a good brand to buy from? I've been told from multiple people to stay away from the HP brand, but I've never heard anything negative about Gateway.

Any info anyone can give, or any recommendations would be appreciated!

TIA!

Questfor250

In all sincerity go MAC. Visit www.apple.
com for more info. I was brought up on PC and last year I finally had enough of viruses, crashes, unreaponsive Programs and so so so I went with an IMac Pro 17 inch Laptop. If you want all in one, the IMacs are what you want. 24 inch dipsplay they Are gorgeous and just hum when charged with tasks to do. Splurge for most memory you can get and you will never need another system. My opinion.

scagle4008

Get a MacBook Pro

scagle4008

Get a MacBook Pro Did not mean to post twice...sorry

lisawest

I, too, am a Mac person. They cost a bit more, but boy are they worth it! Most programs run exactly the same as on PC, but with out all the issues. Good luck on making your choice!

wjassell

Wow lots of mac fans. Mac's are great however they are usually 1.5 to 2 times as much as similar PC systems. I do have some insight into PCs the main issue that most people run into with reliability and performance of systems is when they buy the entry level computer of any manufacturer. They may have the same specifications as on of the makers mid or high end systems however they have sub-par power supplies and motherboards. I would say that unless you are purchasing the entry level system you should be just fine.

txcwgirl

I'm with everyone else. Get a MAC. I am in a computer company and after 6 different laptops and computers (Windows) I am so happy with my MACBook Pro. It is worth the money.

Questfor250

If you are so inclined to go Gateway even though the majority say Mac, then consider this. Gateway means no upgrades on your own. It is a proprietary system meaning you will have to send to gateway for any upgrades so Gateway stuff goes into it. As I said with MAC, pay for extra memory and you will never need another system.

PJilly

iMac all the way!

courtney_love2001

I hopped on the Mac wagon last year. Since then, I have abused my poor macbook, and it's still going strong. I even poured sweet tea all over the keyboard, and it lived with no problems. I have always had realllllly good luck with Mac products. It is so fast, reliable, and it doesn't get viruses. I bought the Microsoft Office for Mac software (it's used everywhere) and it has worked perfectly. Mac all the way!!

dogmeat

:sigh:

I'll hop on the Mac bandwagon, sort of. They're a great choice for non-computer-savvy people. Heck, I'd get one for myself if I had the money. For now I'll just be happy with my iPod touch, a self-built desktop and a Sony laptop (and two other self built desktops, another Sony laptop and a netbook).

As for PCs, for someone who's not going to do anything incredibly resource-intensive, say, play modern 3D computer games, CAD or GIS, pretty much any specs of a modern computer are good enough.

Most IT people have pet peeves and hatred towards a few select brand name manufacturers. Be it Dells, HPs, IBMs, Gateways, whatever, there's an IT person who will say A, B and C are complete crap, while D and E are good. Another IT person swears B and D are great and A, C and E will break down before you get them out of the box, are impossible to get repaired, come pre-installed with f-ton of bloatware, cause random fires, kill your grandmother and give your kids head lice. Or something in those lines.

If you buy a PC, I'd go with any brand name, mid-range or lower mid-range model. Make sure you know what it takes to get it fixed if a component breaks. Most stores will throw in a "deal" of swiping the machine clean of unnecessary trial software. Grab the opportunity.

Or, be prepared to spend couple times as much on a Mac (which very well might be worth it).

TwentyTen

Another Mac suggestion. Love my MacBook Pro. I work on PC's all day everyday ( mostly Dell's) for my job as a tech, and I appreciate my Mac more everyday I come home to it. Problem free for me, for years now. More expensive, maybe, but Mac's are coming down in price, and considering the longevity and stability, it is WELL worth it. Go to Apple, you will not regret it.

SHBoss1673

Oh man, really? Hi dogmeat, I'll give you my creds, then you can decide for yourself whether I know my stuff.

- Bachelors Degree in information systems from UMass Lowell (has a great Computer Science department)
-4 years in tech support first as a rookie techie that fixed laptops, computers, printers blah blah blah
-5 years owning my own business where I built servers, installed computers, set up networks, and did all kinds of funky techie stuff.
-Was a network consultant for 2 years where I did more advanced computer work, also database administration stuff and some WAN installation stuff.

-Now I run and IT department in a company, its far more advanced as it's not the internal IT, it's a hosted app and server department where we have about 80 physical servers, 2 domains, and literally hundreds of images (virtual server, we have lots of VMWare ESX servers, if you don't know what this means, forget it, it's real hardcore geek stuff).

so with that said, I've supported apple, windows, linux, unix, even the occasional DEC Alpha and Sun Solaris.

Now, if you really want to know some good choices, email me, I'd be more than happy to help you. or ask your questions on here if you like, and I'll answer as I see them.

Just so you know though, and no disrespect to the apple people on this post.

I don't have nearly as high of an opinion of Apple as some people do. 10 years ago Apple was an innovator, now they're just like every other manufacturer.

I support about 15 guys right now (serious developers, not just regular point and click people) and about 7 of them are apple users.
They have just as many issues as PC users (although the issues are different, for obvious reasons). I have actually found this to be the case with many situations.

People tend to lump all "PC"s into the same category, but I can tell you, if you get the right machine, from the right company, and put the right version of an operating system on it, it's far more productive than going with the wrong machine that's more "stable". People say apples break less, and that's true, but not because PC's are inherently less reliable, it's because people tend to do weird things with their PC's and Apple is proprietary, so most of the stuff that an Apple can run is in the "safe" category.

what does all this mean? It means if you buy a good PC, run the applications on it that you both need, work with the machine, and don't try to use it as a test bed for all your weird applications, hardware, and questionable email, then most likely it will run for ever.

I've had laptops that have run for 6 or 7 years reliably without issue, and I've seen apples with smoking power supplies after a month of use, it really depends on the user, not the software. Remember, apple runs on a UNIX base, it's nothing special, I've installed Ubuntu and OpenSUSE for years, they run GREAT on Dells and HP's and Acer's, far faster (for most applications) than Apple OR Windows does for most stuff, it really depends on what your requirements are.