What to do?

[mkillio]

Ok, I'm getting back into PC's and I plan on buying a new one in Sept. for HL2, Doom III, and Deus Ex 2. I plan on getting a top of the line PC and I was wondering what company to go with, I was thinking either Dell or AlienWare.

My next main question is I have a HDTV and I was wondering if there was a way to hook the computer straight up to it and in High Definition.

 

[Tagrineth]

If you get a Radeon 9x00 series card you can get a DVI->Component-out adapter.

I'd recommend AlienWare over Dell any day.

 

[mkillio]

Should I go with 1GB of RAM or 512MB? Keep in mind I won't be getting this computer until Sept. Also, is ATI coming out with a new Video Card by then? Or NVIDIA if it happens to be better.

 

[Saem]

Isn't building a computer a possibility. That'll likely be cheaper. Just wait till you're about 2 weeks away from buying it and bring this topic back to life.

 

[linthat22]

I agree with Saem, building it would be cheaper.

 

[Tagrineth]

Should I go with 1GB of RAM or 512MB? Keep in mind I won't be getting this computer until Sept. Also, is ATI coming out with a new Video Card by then? Or NVIDIA if it happens to be better.

If you plan to do video editing, more is DEFINITELY better.

However, if you're mainly doing still images, you should question whether you'll be working with >512MB pictures (not that common).

OTOH, if you don't do either of those, I can guarantee the only reason you'd want more than 512MB is to shove your page file into a RAMdrive

 

[Mariner]

More RAM is always better, of course. I'm building myself a Shuttle system soon and reckon I'll go for 1GB as it is so cheap these days.

It's not so long ago that my company paid ~£1,000 for an upgrade to 32MB of RAM for one computer. Things are a bit different these days!

 

[Joe DeFuria]

I agree with Saem, building it would be cheaper.

Actiually, I disagree.

From my experience, you can get a bundled package cheaper. The problem with bundles is that you can't always get the components you want.

Build yourself = a bit more expensive, but you get exactly what you want (or don't get what you don't need.)

Buy off the shelf = cheaper than buying all the parts separately if you built the same exact system, but less flexibility.

 

[John Reynolds]

Dell's new XPS line is geared more toward the gamer and will cost a bit less than Falcon or Alienware.

 

[RussSchultz]

Truthfully, dell has been offering some really stupendous deals as of late. Watch any of the deals websites when you're getting ready to buy and be patient.

They recently had a complete 2.66P4 minitower with for ~$300-400. The components alone (case, motherboard, HD, processor) would be at least that. It also came with XP home.

 

[Saem]

I'm not sure about the states. But in Canada, I usually goto the local computer shop and pick out the parts I want and they scale down the price, otherwise I'll go elsewhere.

Most of the parts I end up getting are OEM, since the retail stuff really doesn't offer much and if it does offer something worthwhile, it's an extended warrenty, but those are manufacturers and you have to deliver it, which is just useless.

In the end, I can usually come very close to Dell prices and get the components I want. When I buy I PC, it's a collection of components, so unless the bundle has only the stuff I want, I end up spending extra to fix things or on components that I don't want.

 

[mkillio]

Thanks for everything so far. I was also wondering that since I'm going to be using my PC while sitting on my couch, are there any mouses and keyboards that use RF signals like the wave bird and if so, are they as good?

 

[Johnny Rotten]

Right now the king of cordless mice is Logitech's MX700 rechargeable cordless mouse. Its a beauty, but a little pricey for a mouse.

Cordless keyboards are fairly common as well.

 

[Snyder]

Right now the king of cordless mice is Logitech's MX700 rechargeable cordless mouse. Its a beauty, but a little pricey for a mouse.

Cordless keyboards are fairly common as well.

*sigh* Yes, this mouse is really great, very precise, really ergonomic. Just why don't they manufacture a left hand edition for their ergonomical mouses anymore? In its actual form it's useless to me...

 

[mkillio]

are they infrared or rf?

 

[BRiT]

It seems to be rf, since mine works without direct line of site. I own the MX700 and Elite Cordless Duo. Both are pretty nice setups. My friend uses his Logitech Elite Duo from across the room (~20 feet).