buying PC advice

Well it's time to upgrade again soon. And I'm looking at different brands. And NO I really don't have the time nor patience to build my own so that is not an option.

Ok, I have had two HP's the last 2 times and really have been pleased with them both. But I'm looking at other options.

Have any of you ever had a sony or micron or abs, etc. Or do you have any suggestions.

Yes, I know the alienware still looks nice and the price actually isn't too bad for the area 51. But sheesh that case is huge.

Ok, thanks.

Yes the Alienware case is a giant.

I have a Dell, and it's been great for me so far. No trouble with it really.

Sony is supposed to be pretty good, my boss has one at home and hasn't had trouble. They are usually the nicest looking, and if you have a Sony digital camera or camcorder, it all integrates nicely.

All the HP's and Compaq's I've ever used or heard about have been terrible.

You can look at places like www.ibuypower.com for custom built PC's. Ibuypower is probably the cheapest you will find for a custom built machine. They are very affordable. And then you have www.falcon-nw.com and www.hypersonic-pc.com and www.geekgeek.com and www.voodoopc.com

Dell's are always good. I think their prices have gone down and they have some cool specials.

Those sony Vasioas (sp?) look pretty slick.

Stay away from those shops like Future shop, London Drugs, etc. I laugh at their prices whenever I go in there.

Sony's are fine. Both desktop's and laptop's. And like the post above said, any other Sony device will work nicely with it.

However, I still dislike those kind of in store PC's.. like Gateway, Dell, Sony, HP.

Falcon Northwest is actually the oldest custom PC maker, they were out there way before Alienware. Prices aren't too shabby either. Plus, you can have something proffesionally airbrushed onto your case. :D

A system like this one should do you just fine, if you're not an über hardcore gamer.... even if you do game.. it'll still be fine.

All you basically need is a fast CPU, a lot of RAM (doesn't matter what speeds), and a big, fast HDD. Which is basically exactly what the system above offers. However for the computer above, I'd get another 512MB stick of PC2700 just for the smoothness of programs.

Mine is dell, is a nice little thing . I don't know what exactly you're looking for, so I wouldn't be able to tell you what to get, but what I can say is that my old computer (a Micron) had a very bad tendency to to agree with me on a lot of things...so...I wouldn't highly recommend one of 'em ;) , but maybe that was just my computer.

Pank, if you are upgrading your mouse check out this one:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?page=products/details&CRID=3&CONTENTID=4999&countryid=2&languageid=1

This friend of mine just bought one and I drool with envy. He said it was about $90 CA at Cosco.

Cool mouse ;)
Basically what I am looking for is a fast kick butt machine. I'm assuming that the so called gaming machines should be great for graphic desing, correct. Fast CPU, and a good graphics card.

And Dek my last 2 HP's have been great. I had a Compaq years ago and would never buy another one of those (even though HP bought them out).

So basically I'm looking for an uber fast reliable ready to go PC

Oh and how does it work (yes I'm dumb when it comes to some of this stuff). If you get a PC from some of these places can you just get a new MOBO when a new faster processor comes out? Like a year from now when a 4 GHz processor is out can I just get a new MOBO and upgrade?

You may not need to get a new mobo when a new chipset comes out. But you may need to either flash your BIOS chip, or order a new one from the mobo company. But as long as the socket supports the chip you are ok. Although there are other specs to the mobo that you might be giving up in this case. Like bus speeds, etc. Usually newer chips support faster bus speeds, blah blah blah....

But if you plan on keeping this pc for at least a few years, by then you probably would want to get another mobo and chip.

not yet mentioned by anyone, check out cyberpower. they got us a custom athlon system in like 4 days and its been a great machine. good prices too, highly reccommended.

chris