to buy or to build?

N

nerdyrcdriver

AC Members
Sep 1, 2011
1,156
1
36
29
USA
Real Name
Nick
Well, I have been wanting to build a good computer for a while now on a budget of about $450. (I can always add more stuff later). My birthday is coming up and my mom was wondering what I wanted. I have been wanting a tablet for a while, just for fun on the bus and stuff like that. She mentioned the kindle fire, yeah I would like to have it but for the price there are other tablets like the aniol nova 7 advanced for $50 cheaper with better specs and more capabilities. I said, that I would like to build a computer. She has known this for a while and until now has supported the idea. But then she starts talking about how I should get a laptop for college and stuff. Well, a good laptop would be nice, but to get something of the performance I am looking for, I would have to pay more than double the cost of the desktop I want to build. I have no problem with getting a good laptop, but I need ideas on what to get. Oh, another thing to mention is I still have 2 and 1/2 years of high school left, so by the time I go to college, whatever laptop I would buy, would be selling for a much lower price.

so, if you were in my situation, including having 2 1/2 years until a laptop really becomes necessary, (though it would be nice) would you buy a laptop or build a computer that would kick *** compared to anything in that price range?

What laptop would you buy? I am looking for good gaming too. The whole gaming look isnt needed, just good specs. Probably 4gb of ram or 6gb if it would be in the price range. I guess I could always buy a laptop with an open ram slot and add more (so no just throwing the stock ram in a box and never touching it again).

Thanks
_______________
 
Ok, i decided on my own. A laptop would be much better right now. I dont play anything higher end than unreal tournament 3 and dont plan on it.

So, hdmi or vga (preferably hdmi) built into the laptop would be a must. I would probably put the laptop on the shelf above my desk and plug it into my speakers, monitor (thats where the hdmi or vga comes in), and my mouse and keyboard to still have a desktop like experience.

Also, included os does not matter to me because I will be installing a copy of windows 7 ultimate that I have.

No HUGE screen, my parents have a 15.5 in screen and that seems to be about what I like. I would rather go to a 14 something than go above 15.5.

playing ut3 at the screens resolution or my 19' monitors resolution of 1360 by 768 at a decent resolution would be nice. So decent graphics is also kind of a must. I currently have a geforce 210 in my desktop (pretty low end) and it gets me by. I would like 23+ fps on ut3 (what I currently get). It isnt asking for to much but leaves the game surprisingly playable.
 
I make my living supporting several hundred computers at a university research library. Parents ask what laptop to get for their kids. I ask them if the kid can handle a MAC and if so, buy one from the campus computer store at the college the kid will be a student at, with the longest warranty the specific model can have.

We can discuss PCs if you wish.

One thing that makes your decision easier is www.onlive.com
It works, and it WORKS!
Computer decisions for students and parents of students got a whole lot less costly.
 
dbosman said:
I make my living supporting several hundred computers at a university research library. Parents ask what laptop to get for their kids. I ask them if the kid can handle a MAC and if so, buy one from the campus computer store at the college the kid will be a student at, with the longest warranty the specific model can have.

We can discuss PCs if you wish.

One thing that makes your decision easier is www.onlive.com
It works, and it WORKS!
Computer decisions for students and parents of students got a whole lot less costly.
Click to expand...

Unless you want to cut the price in half and then cut that in half, I will never buy a mac. And if I did, it would have windows 7 on it in a heart beat.
 
i recently got a new laptop. 4gb ram icore 3 500gb hard drive, hdmi out, decent graphix. for about 400 check out office stores like office depot i got a great deal there
 
nerdyrcdriver said:
Unless you want to cut the price in half and then cut that in half, I will never buy a mac. And if I did, it would have windows 7 on it in a heart beat.
Click to expand...
i a gree 100000000000000000x i hate mac and i hate steve jobs even more. i wont go into why and how much and what i wished to happen to him because this is not that kind of forum. but macs just cost way to much to start with
 
hackintosh

3 HDD's

one with OSX. one with oneiric ocelot. a SSD for windows (because windows needs it).

choose between HDD's on startup.

triple boot hackintosh FTW!

if you build it, they will come.
 
dundadundun said:
hackintosh

3 HDD's

one with OSX. one with oneiric ocelot. a SSD for windows (because windows needs it).

choose between HDD's on startup.

triple boot hackintosh FTW!

if you build it, they will come.
Click to expand...


LOL I dont hate steve jobs at all. I like him other than an article I found on rctech when he said something along the lines of he vowed to destroy android. Well, that didnt happen. But their computers are way overpriced. $1000 to start and you are paying for looks. Their os is $30 from my understanding (and it better be, it is ubuntu with a few changes) I could be wrong on the price. But If it is only $30 I would consider buying it and throwing it on my second hdd. I like some of the stuff you can do video editing and stuff with their normal program whatever it is. NO WAY am I paying $200 for final cut pro though.

So, anyone got any suggestions on a good laptop for moderate gaming at a $500 price tag? Or what components should I use to build a desktop at that price (not including os, keyboard, mouse, and so on) Just for the mobo, processor, gpu, case, power supply. Anything else I am missing? whatever dvd drive, they are all about $20 give or take $5.

With the flooding and hdd cost, I think I would be getting some pretty low end hdds. My 80gb ps3 hdd would be for linux, probably my 320 for osx and everything else, and some ssd for windows to mainly run on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom