Best Value Computer in Today's market

[ProgrammingFun]

Im looking to get a new desktop and laptop (my old one's crap ).

I was wondering...

What is the best value computer I can get out there.

Im looking to get at lease i3 with at lease 4 gigs of RAM, decent hard driver (500 Gb +) and it should come with a decent video card or chipset (MW2 compatible ).

I saw that FutureShop had a sale on some HP computer with a choice of i3, i5, or i7 and 8 Gb RAM, and a 1 GB video card (w/ keyboard and mouse and 22.4" monitor).

Is that a good deal?
And are there any other good ones out there that are worth their buck?

Thanks.

[SNIPERDUDE]

ProgrammingFun wrote:

Is that a good deal?

You didn't list a price.

[ProgrammingFun]

Oh my bad

it ranges from $999.99 (i3), $1299.99 (i5) and $1499.99 (i7)

EDIT: i think

[andrew.]

I'm not really sure because for $1000, my friend bought a laptop that had 8 GB of RAM and an i5. It had an integrated graphics card, but still it's a laptop. I think he bought it from Best Buy.

I think to get the best bang for your buck, you have to build it yourself. Go to websites and stores like tigerdirect.ca or ncix.com and order the parts from there. Then just assemble it when it comes.

[ProgrammingFun]

I was thinking AlienWare but thats just too much.
I'm not gonna take the time to assemble one myself .
Just getting one from the market.

[DemonWasp]

The time required to assemble a computer is about 1 hour from "unwrap boxes" to "start installing all of your programs", and it'll save you about 20% of the purchase price in the majority of cases. This requires at most a moderate comprehension of hardware (you have to match a few key interfaces and that's about it).

[BigBear]

Open Box deals at Best Buy or Future Shop are cheaper than building a computer yourself

[Tony]

ProgrammingFun @ Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:00 pm wrote:

I'm not gonna take the time to assemble one myself

Then don't worry too much about the prices.

Not entirely sure what your definition of "best value" is, but if it's "most power per dollar", then it's probably assembled out of used parts that are just behind the top-of-the-line benchmarks. Of course this is just raw spec numbers and dollars, and says nothing about quality, lifespan, bottlenecks in design, balance, etc.

[USEC_OFFICER]

Yah, not all computers are the same, even if they have similar specs. You should probably go on a tech forum for this question. (Cnet if they have one)