Hey, I have never purchased a computer from a company such as Dell, Gateway, etc...

I am looking at getting a new system (im in canada) and I was looking around and so far the only suitable place I see is http://www.dell.ca

I want something around 1.3Ghz or more, 256MB of ram (PC100 minimum), the full system, speakers, 19inch monitor etc.... for no more than around $2000 canadian.

A regular cd-rom drive something around 48x, no dvd required, and a additional CD-RW drive.

I don't "need" windows installed, I just need all the boxes for software that comes with the system, and then I will install my own win2k pro version (saves me money of re-purchasing)

Any suggestions on good places to buy systems where you get to customize just a little bit more, and for a good price?

Thanks

what are you going to be using the system for primarily?

office use (word processing, etc)
games (quake3, UT, CStrike, or RogueSpear [my fav])
light graphics (psp, ps6)
heavy graphics (ps6, 3d studio max)

one of those or combination of those...?
oh... approximately how much is $2000 canadian in USD?

ICQ, MSN, Internet, Programs such as Dreamweaver, Flash, Adobe Photoshop, etc........

And then also the high end games,

Quake 3
Unreal Tourny
Counter Strike
Diablo 2
Etc.......

I will have nothing less than a Nvidia TNT2 32MB card, or Geforce 32MB something along that line.

Oh yeah, I actually don't even "really" need a video card, I have a extra 32MB TNT2 card sitting here, so that could save some money.

2000$ Canadian is about 1300 or so in US

so can you approximately tell me how much $2000 canadian is?

but you seem like a hardcore gamer... so a GeForce2 should be considered... GeForce2 GTS at least... if not then MX

2000 = aprox 1300

Go with a Dell. I have had several and they are very nice!! That system looks good Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop (which I know about) and I've seen ppl run those games on 600 Mhz so you should be good! Good luck

Ckirby,

If you are familiar enough with building systems, thats the way to go. Although that gateway server is still a sweet deal especially since you could add a 2nd cpu and just add your video card to it.

Best Regards,

try http://www.alienware.com :)

This is how I do it.....
I take the pricew in U.S
say
$100
and multiply it by 1.5 (the average exchange rate)
=$150

CDN and US prices

there is this place called Sams where i live, get an HP for only 1300 that you get a 60 gig hard drive, 196 megs of ram, DVD, Cd burner, monitor, Windows ME
and the processor a AMD 1.2

good deal on that system computerguy even though some mom and pop stores near me also have very low prices.

Well Sams Club is no mom and pops store, I can tell you that much

I have just purchased my second Dell computer, a laptop. I am in Canada also.

I hate to sound like an advertisement, but I just can't say enough good about them.

As soon as I received the laptop, my first priority was to format the hard drive on my PC. With the help of the setup disks and diagnostic disks that come with your Dell computer, it was a breeze.

If you really want to cash in on savings, spend some time going to dell.ca regularly. They have online specials, some of them are only for a day or two whereby the computer is at reduced price, with promotions. The laptop I purchased came with 1 year free internet and a palm pilot, and was roughly 30% less expensive than regular price.


kb

I have to agree. I purchased a Dell Dimension 4100 about six months ago, and so far everything's been great! I can't express how much I love it. I now recommend Dell computers to everyone...

We have old dell 350 's at work 64mb ram... these outperfrom Gateway 733 128 mb ram.. every time.
GAteway's crash.. HD pooch out on a regular basis and need to be replaced. If you want a reliabe system go Dell. The only problem is that the dont have a lot of space for cooling fans.... (ours Anyway)

I got a Millenia Max XP from www.micronpc.com. It has been awesome. I reformatted the HD when I got it and It has been fantastic for all my Web Design Needs.

i'd consider going for more memory too, having dreamweaver, photoshop, illustrator, and a browser or two open along with the usual programs can be stressful on 256 mb... :)

I run Photoshop, Go Live, and maybe Illustrator or Imageready on my PIII 600 w/ 128mb. Man does it crawl to a halt!! But anywho, DELL ROCKS!! check their website a lot as they offer a lot of special deals and promotions. And Dell computers where in Swordfish and that made me really happy!! :D

where can i find cheap ram at least 128 to fit into my Duron 800 mother board

For $1300USD you'll be able to put together a very good system. Although, the 19" monitor will cut a nice chunk away from that if you get a decent one.

Re: Cheap Ram
Computerguy!! Check PM

Well i got a compaq presario 5000T - PIII 1.0GHz , 128mb RAM, 60gb hard drive, dvd-rom, 8x cd-rw, and I LOVE it.....lol but it cost me a pretty penny...I bought it from Staples.....with the printer, monitor, 2 year warranty it came out to be about $1,800 it was $1,449 w/ monitor before the staples store added all thier warranty and stuff to it.....but it is a memory hog.....does anyone know how to make it not hog so much memory?....most of it is stupif program files that compaq has running in the background....

I don't know, every single Compaq I know runs S L O W. My friend got a PIII 800 with like 256 mb memory and it runs slower then my Dell PIII 600 with 128 mb!!!!

I just picked up a Packard Bell
Duron 800mhz
128 meg RAM

and it's running like greased lightning (even under Win ME *sob*)
It came with some pos 3d card, but I dropped a Hercules Prophet (Geforce 2) 64meg into it, and have been playing 'Giants' and 'Pod Racer' with everything turned up all the way at 1200x760, and it hasn't skipped a beat.

Photoshop, Dreamweaver, IE 5.5, Fireworks, and Outlook Express all running together right now, with a Win TV card playing a local channel and it's not even raising a sweat. Never had a Pachard Bell before but I'm becoming a convert pretty quick. The frosted 'ice' coloured keyboard is pretty cool too :D

Greg Moore

Well I never said mine ran slow....mine is a custom made computer by compaq....I just said it hogs a good bit-o-memory....it is lightning fast.....I love it...but for some reason it just uses alot of memory....im running MSN messenger, AOL Instant messenger, CallWave Internet Answering Machine, VShield (McAfee), Virus Scan console (McAfee), IE 5.5, and some other hidden program files and I only have 57% resources free.....

It might be McAfee.. I haven't used that one, but I do know Norton slows things down a bit ( a *lot* on the 366mhz laptop :D )

Greg Moore

Thanks guys, I went shopping here is the best deal I can find so far..... Let me know if you think the price is right.

MISCO computer sales:
http://www.misco.ca

Processor: AMD Athlon 1.2GHz
RAM: 256MB 133MHz SDRAM
Hard Drive: 60GB Ultra ATA 7200 RPM
Video: TNT M64 AGP Graphics Card (32MB)
Monitor: 19'' (.25dp) (18'' Viewable)
Optical Drive: 16x Max DVD-ROM
Optical Drive2: 12x8x32 CD-R/RW
Sound: Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 PCI Sound Card
Speakers: Cyber Accoustics CA-3770 Speakers w/Subwoofer
Modem: 56K PCI V.90 WinModem
OS: WINDOWS ME
Chasis: 7-Bay Mid-Tower
- Comes with keyboard/mouse/etc....



$2,399.00 Canadian
$1,581.62 U.S