Hi everyone! First of all, I'd like to thank you for your help in recent days. I need your help again: After many years of hand-me-down computers, for which I'm very thankful since I had no money to buy one. I've decided to invest on a new pc... I've looked into one brand in particular (brand "D") which has a few specials now. However I'm somewhat afraid my lack of knowledge might get me into something which will soon need upgrade, become outdated or will not satisfy my computer needs to its full capacity. some people say that 128bm will more than sufice for a home computer... while I've read differently. Uses for the new PC: all MS office work- PPT (because of my job, I work with a lot of PPT), Access, Excel. Other programs will also be installed on the new pc with graphics... since I'd like to take a Web Design course. Any help in selecting a good- affordable pc will be mostly appreciated. Learn, and be useful to others

128MB? Hell I have more than that on my video card! I wouldn't run an XP machine with less than 512MB. You could probably get away with 256, but I'd turn off all the eye candy. However, RAM is probably the least important thing to consider when buying a PC as it is the easiest and most cost efficient upgrade you can do. In fact, depending upon the vendor you buy from it can be cheaper to get the additional RAM from a 3rd party vendor and install it yourself than to get it preinstalled with the purchase. Michael J

But then, if you open the case during your warranty period to install ANYTHING, it may void the warranty. DO NOT buy a Celeron-based computer, they are about to become obsolete. Also the 128MB RAM is not good at all. Looks like they are trying to get rid of old stock, trying to hit you upgrade for inflated upgrade costs, or just cutting performance to the bone to sell it as cheap as they can. Any one is not good. If you could be more specific, which is OK here, you will get many more and targeted opinions. (you may get more than you want. <heh>) Search Engines Are Your Friends ☺ Morpheus: There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. "The Matrix"

Yes, specific is fine and brand D (ell) is not one I'd go with myself. But, I'm a tech head and build my own PC's. Things to consider when buying brand name PC's: - Warranty - How long, what does it cover and can you pay to extend it. If you can, again , how much $? - Service - Should it require service work under warranty, does it have to be shipped to some foreign country/province/state for repair or can it be repaired locally at an ASP (authorized service provider). I know for a fact Dell does not use ASP's. So if you need service work done under warranty, then it has to be shipped somewhere else, fixed, then returned to you. This could lead to a long period without your PC. IBM makes use of ASP's. If you live in a larger center, there's likely an ASP nearby. Should your system require service under warranty, your downtime is a couple of days, not weeks. I'm not against brand name PC's. Chances are if you shop around you can get a real good deal and spend less $ on a brandname PC than you would an equivalent custom built system. Just be sure to ask specific questions about service/warranty and get it in writing before you give them your $.

£300 (Roughly $500) will buy you a nice system that will quite happily run even windows next OS, Windows Vista, and will last many years before you would need to get an upgrade/new computer. I think 128mb is a bit low, for what you want I'd get a 512 DDR stick. Go for a pentium 4 or an athlon. Celeron are nice but a bit too slow my liking, and a pentium D is overkill. In windows XP there is a feature to turn off all the "eye-candy" which un-ties a lot of system resources. Daniel Ashley-Smith London, U.K

It certainly doesn't sound as if you need a high end machine to do what you're saying - which is good, because you pay a huge premium for leading edge, and it is mostly only needed for the latest hot games. I've not had a lot to do with Dell, but I gather they use a lot of custom parts, which can make upgrade and repair more problematical. A new machine will be running XP, so 128Mb will run, but 256 is better and 512 what is generally recommended as a base level.

Wow, ask and you shall receive! I suppose I will think this over... yea the D brand sounds really cute and all but it may not be what I need if I'm thinking of upgrading at some point. I was also trying to avoid getting a no-name for tech-support sake but you guys have brought up other issues and consequences a brand name brand may bring. I guess you guys are a much better tech support than I or anyone can ever ask for. Now, any good ideas, or good sites for me to go conduct my window shopping? I am considering spending a bit over the $500 mark. Thank you again... and sorry to impose on you like this. Learn, and be useful to others