----------------------------------- Martin Mon Feb 02, 2004 9:35 pm University Computer ----------------------------------- Well, I'll pose this as a two part question: First off, who's going to university next year and where are you going/what are you going into? I'm taking erotic studies at University of Windsor. lol, actually, co-op computer science at either Toronto or Waterloo. Second question: I'm going to build a computer for university, and I want it to be stable. Gaming's not really a big deal, I just want it to be up as much as possible. I haven't priced this out, because I'm not going to buy it for a while yet (until the summer probably) but here's the basic rig 1 gig pc3200 DDR ram AMD XP 2800+ Barton 512k nVidia geforce 4 ti 4200 128mb 80 gig hard drive I figure that'll run me about a thousand bucks once I add a monitor and case and such. ----------------------------------- Mazer Mon Feb 02, 2004 9:37 pm ----------------------------------- Get an eMachine. :o ----------------------------------- Tony Mon Feb 02, 2004 9:50 pm ----------------------------------- lol :lol: gaming is not important, but martin still needs his 128MB GeForce4 8) ----------------------------------- shorthair Mon Feb 02, 2004 9:50 pm ----------------------------------- Well mazer is right , thats what i currently have for my desktop , and gateway jjust bought them so support will be through teh roof , they have a 4 yerar warranytl aswell , i kicked the crap outta mine and got a newer version , they are quality and are very cheap they use AMD athalon cp technology hte latest version is hosting an athalon 64 bit , which jsut rocks and comes with a flat panel monitor ( sometimes free ) depending on when and where , just to let you know that university of ontario is giving me a free laptop on their wireless network , ibm thingpad 3.0 Ghz, ohhhhh how sweet it is ----------------------------------- Radiohead Mon Feb 02, 2004 10:02 pm u need internet ----------------------------------- im not into computers. or know alot of info on parts. but i do use em efficiently.. adn if ur going into erotic studies u will need a GOOD and FAST internet connection for maximum downloading pleasure. .. thats all i have to say.. ----------------------------------- Martin Mon Feb 02, 2004 10:12 pm ----------------------------------- I custom built my computer. Everything has a 3 year warrenty, and I have 24/7 FREE tech support from right here . ----------------------------------- shorthair Mon Feb 02, 2004 10:20 pm ----------------------------------- when i say suport i mean , they come to your house and fix it , for free if its their fault and they replace all parts that blow or overheat , how they stay in buisness i dont know , i mean hardware supposrt in the simplist form , my first pc was home built but i needed a stable machine for school so i got hte emachines ,my system still isnt complete i gave up on it after i got hte emachines , the only true complete stable computer is a mac (not to be bias ) but becuase the parts are all made especially for them , there can be no software faults of driver incapatabilitys or hardware issues ,its just smooth sailing ----------------------------------- Maverick Mon Feb 02, 2004 10:38 pm ----------------------------------- That'll run a whole lot more then $1000. That'll be over 2g's easily ----------------------------------- Dan Mon Feb 02, 2004 10:56 pm ----------------------------------- i am geting a sweet new laptop for uni, alineware all the way!!!!! ----------------------------------- Maverick Mon Feb 02, 2004 10:58 pm ----------------------------------- YOu a serious gamer Dan? Cause AlienWare aint cheap. I wish I had one. ----------------------------------- Dan Mon Feb 02, 2004 11:00 pm ----------------------------------- no but i need to talke over the world and all. need some ghz to do that. ----------------------------------- Maverick Mon Feb 02, 2004 11:01 pm ----------------------------------- Hahah of course. Me and my 600mHZ will take it first! ----------------------------------- Martin Mon Feb 02, 2004 11:52 pm ----------------------------------- I'm at 1.7, but it seems my computer has every virus in the world. The big 0 fill is on the way. ----------------------------------- .hack Tue Feb 03, 2004 12:02 am ----------------------------------- Alienware is overpriced in my opinion, you could build a machine like that for 1/2 the price. If you want a pretty case, grab a dremel, a piece of plexi and spend 30$ on a cathode. ----------------------------------- Dan Tue Feb 03, 2004 12:42 am ----------------------------------- i am talking about laptops tho. most poleop dont build laptops them self. and alineware laptops are as good as them come, u just cant get them like that eltes where. ----------------------------------- .hack Tue Feb 03, 2004 8:20 am ----------------------------------- Ah, I wasn't thinkin laptop. Yea I would build or mod a laptop myself,, mainly becasue everything is integrated and thats a pretty small board to have to do alot of work so I wouldn't touch it, because once its broken Its broken. Yea above I was thinkin PCs. ----------------------------------- Andy Tue Feb 03, 2004 10:23 am ----------------------------------- modding laptops is not advised ----------------------------------- recneps Tue Feb 03, 2004 3:35 pm ----------------------------------- For a good, cheap computer you didnt make yourself (with warranty, etc) is MDG (www.mdg.ca) i know you've heard of em if you live in Canada. :P ----------------------------------- Andy Tue Feb 03, 2004 4:57 pm ----------------------------------- mdg doesnt have best deals, tigerdirect does ----------------------------------- naoki Tue Feb 03, 2004 5:01 pm ----------------------------------- tigerdirect is pretty good, though you have to read carefully since some of the products are re-furbished. vibecomputers.com, canadacomputers.com and NCIX.com also have some pretty good deals. If you know how to build a computer (or know a friend who does), it's much cheaper to buy the parts yourself. I mean, you know all those modding devices that they advertise in flyers? they're only like $6 - $25, depending on what you're cooling. and the alienware case is pretty nice, but unless you're trying to bed a hottie with a cool case i don't think a massive alien head on the front will really matter much in the long run also, don't emachine computers use Celeron and underclocked AMD chips? sadly, i only know all this because computer engineering forced me to ----------------------------------- Martin Tue Feb 03, 2004 6:44 pm ----------------------------------- It's true. Well, not underclocked, but OEM parts...bleh. www.hltechnology.com is another nice site ----------------------------------- Martin Tue Feb 03, 2004 6:48 pm ----------------------------------- There's no way that'll cost over a thousand Ram'll cost about 200, processor another 200, video card 150, hard drive 100, motherboard 150. Case & monitor and stuff'll add a few more hundred, haven't looked into it yet. Plus these prices are going to fall for the most part by the summer. ----------------------------------- Andy Tue Feb 03, 2004 8:30 pm ----------------------------------- rite now u can get a 200 gig hdd for 159.99 at tigerdirect.ca o and martin, ur forgetting about cooling and power supply ----------------------------------- jonos Tue Feb 03, 2004 8:36 pm ----------------------------------- and they also have the best looking case around :D . very powerful though, but the desktops are really expensive. i priced the one i built that i got parts from abacus computers (in guelph) at alienware, and it was about 1/3 more expensive, but who cares, they have cool cases. ----------------------------------- Martin Tue Feb 03, 2004 10:17 pm ----------------------------------- most cases have PSU and cooling, plus another fan's like 10 bucks. ----------------------------------- naoki Wed Feb 04, 2004 4:53 pm ----------------------------------- darkness is right most of the cases (usually the low end ones don't have one) have a power supply between 350W - 500W depending on the type of tower i dunno if you mentioned it, but what kind of printer are you going to buy? some cheapo "essays only" one or something that can print out photos? because that can run you between $60 - $400 ----------------------------------- recneps Wed Feb 04, 2004 5:56 pm ----------------------------------- you should get a colour laser printer. They're ONLY 1k -20k+ :) ----------------------------------- shorthair Wed Feb 04, 2004 6:00 pm ----------------------------------- if you want a mans printer you need to get a 3d printer , thatwill cut and print on any material ( i think ) it makes 3d carvings aswell , there actually pretty cheap for what htey do there 9,800 $ ( USD ) a guy won one fro mtech tv , there s ocool , there called versa printers i think ----------------------------------- Maverick Wed Feb 04, 2004 6:50 pm ----------------------------------- Ya thats way to cheap. I culd probly makre that in like 3 summers :) ----------------------------------- Martin Wed Feb 04, 2004 7:18 pm ----------------------------------- Yeah. I actually didn't think about printers...I should look into that. Now the new debate: laser printer, or a car... ----------------------------------- Paul Wed Feb 04, 2004 7:23 pm ----------------------------------- car, definately car. Its more useful, but if you argue on the other side, it costs to maintain. Insurance, breakdowns and stuff. If you look at it that way, and if you have more use for a printer than car, then buy a printer. But Universities usually have free non-color laser printing. Everytime I go inside the Humber College place, I see stacks of wasted wrong printing paper in the garbage. ----------------------------------- Martin Wed Feb 04, 2004 7:24 pm ----------------------------------- Hah, don't worry I know. Maybe I can get both :o ----------------------------------- shorthair Wed Feb 04, 2004 7:29 pm ----------------------------------- well the car is more practicle , and then get a cheap printer , cuase unless your printing out quality pictures :wink: :wink: , ten thre is no need for high end , cause i dont think you get marked down for non laser quality ASCII characters , on your paper , but then again ,your gonna want color and a big thing about color is ppm , and unless you need a fast pom you can same some money if you get a slower printer