Help selecting a computer

[buzz_knox]

I'm looking to replace my obsolete 200mhz Pentium II with something non-stone age.  My needs are:  word processing, 'net surfing, reliable, and moderate gaming (if it could play Half-Life 2, that would be great).  The last is least important, and will probably be the sticking point.  I'd prefer a laptop if I could get one with a reasonably large key board and screen.

Thoughts?

[K Frame]

I just picked up a Dell Dimension 2400. Had a thread here about it...

I don't do a lot of PC gaming, at least not the kind that taxes my system.

Mine has:

Celeron 2.4 Ghz processor

256MB DDR SDRAM

80 Gig hard drive

Intel Extreme Graphics video card

I sprang extra for a 17" flat panel monitor.

Total cost (with a few extras) was $628.96.

I bought MS Office XP through a license agreement with my employer.


Here we go... http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/viewtopic.php?id=860

All told, a very nice system.

[jefnvk]

Everything but the last, get whatever Dell or HP or Gateway has on sale for cheap.  More power than you'll need for those tasks.

For gaming, you definitely want a P4 or AMD processor.  Don't get a Celeron if you want to play games.  Video card is also important, I wouldn't want anythign less than an ATI 9600 or nVidia 5700 series card if I were playing HL2.  If you could get into the ATI x600/x800 series, or nVidia 6600/6800/7800 series, so much the better.  The card is something you could probably add on later, too, just make sure you get a computer that has an AGP 8x or PCI-E card slot.  I am looking at moving from a 9600XT to a 6600GT right now, the new card is going to cost about $140.  Also for gaming, 512MB RAM is the minimum I'm reccomend.


For the laptop, HL2 is pretty much out unless you want to start talking in thousands of dollars.

[Ben]

Pretty much what jefnvk said. I'm a big nvidia fan, but any of the above mentioned cards will do you right depending on your budget. An AMD processor would get you the best bang for the buck. I would actually go for 1 gig of memory. RAM is cheap, and if I had to make a choice, it would be for a lower end processor and more RAM rather than vice-versa, especially if gaming isn't number one on your use list.