Buying new computer

[stevenvaughan]

It is time to purchase a new computer. My old is a gateway, 4 years old. I went out the other day and was amazed at what has changed. I am not building one, want a out of the box model. Here is what I use my computer for. Surfing the web, movies, pictures, word documents, maybe a game or two, all my personal details, money, etc. I would like this to last me another 4 years or so, but I don't want to drop 3 grand on the top of the line. I know the processor and Ram are important. The hard drive I do have a good working knowledge on. My budget would be $800-1200 with a moniter. No printer needed.

One quick question. Is there a program or cd that I can purchase to wipe my computer clean for reinstall of all the origanal equiptment. I want to make it as easy as possible so my mother of 63, no computer experience, can have it.

Thank you in advance.

 

[villagebumpkin]

It is time to purchase a new computer. My old is a gateway, 4 years old. I went out the other day and was amazed at what has changed. I am not building one, want a out of the box model. Here is what I use my computer for. Surfing the web, movies, pictures, word documents, maybe a game or two, all my personal details, money, etc. I would like this to last me another 4 years or so, but I don't want to drop 3 grand on the top of the line. I know the processor and Ram are important. The hard drive I do have a good working knowledge on. My budget would be $800-1200 with a moniter. No printer needed.

Hi steven

I have been through this before and as far as I can tell you, the best way to make your mind is compare and read a good number of reviews, it helps. I can suggest http://www.inods.com which is a good place to search for reviews (better than google in terms of relevancy)...hope it helps..

but then this site will be useful to compare once you know a couple of good products/models. So it is like confirming the stuff before you purchase. The best reviews are the one thats posted by the some users.

One quick question. Is there a program or cd that I can purchase to wipe my computer clean for reinstall of all the origanal equiptment. I want to make it as easy as possible so my mother of 63, no computer experience, can have it.

Thank you in advance.

I do know one Freeware but I haven't used it myself. Its Active@Killdisk http://www.killdisk.com/ which should help you clean your disk. Try running reviews for these softwares too on inods..coz it is my favorite decision making tool

 

[jcnoernberg]

Here is what I use my computer for. Surfing the web, movies, pictures, word documents, maybe a game or two, all my personal details, money, etc.

honestly, any computer from the $200.00 emachine to the $2000.00 vaio will do all those things. those are the things computers do.

I would like this to last me another 4 years or so, but I don't want to drop 3 grand on the top of the line.

you get what you pay for. i have an old emachine that has been going for two years... only needed a new power supply once. i have a compaq that is three years old, always worry free.

I know the processor and Ram are important. The hard drive I do have a good working knowledge on. My budget would be $800-1200 with a moniter. No printer needed.

You seem like your needs are more "data creation" oriented, so I recommend going with a pentium system. get at least 1GB ram, with at least 120GB hard drive space. DVD/CD burners are pretty much standard.

lucky for you computers in retail stores are arranged by pricepoint. just keep walking until you hit your budget. Computers have almost non existent margins for retailers, so if one is more expensive, there is a reason for it. Buy a decent name and you'll have no surprises. Avoid extended warranties at all cost.

One quick question. Is there a program or cd that I can purchase to wipe my computer clean for reinstall of all the origanal equiptment. I want to make it as easy as possible so my mother of 63, no computer experience, can have it.

yeah its called a restoration disc and it came with your computer. check the box if you didn't already throw it out. sometimes you can catch a replacement on ebay. some newer computers require you to burn them yourself. check if you have some sort of hidden partition on your hard drive, this will be the restore files.

 

[stevenvaughan]

Update

Thank you for you responses. I really appreciate the help. I have all my disks and have called gateway (wanted me to pay a fee). I will look for an aftermarket product to clear the programs.

One last question. Should I upgrade my old one for my mother? Ram, etc. She will not use it that much, so I don't think it is really going to make a difference.