Go for a Dell, can't build them as cheap as they sell them. Go to the small business section and look under GREAT DEALS. They are winners! Use your name for business if needed.

Good Luck

C_K]

Donny .... I got mine through DELL and when I had a problem I thought their service was first rate ... even called back to make sure everything was OK ... yes, you do speak with people in India, and some can be difficult to understand, but even there, if you ask to speak with someone else, you will ...
Go DELL .....
t.

Tnanx everyone for the great advice seems the consensus is DELL all the way......
I'll go back to heir site now again and check it out...

Hi Donny,

Checkout this article from PCWorld on Dell Service: Readers Rate the Manufacters

I've owned several Dells, and have been very happy with the PC build quality, but have noticed their telephone service & support to have fallen sharply over the last few years, with considerably longer (60-90 min and longer ) hold times, foreign country language communication problems, plus frequently passing the buck by not accepting responsibility for problems, claiming the problem is not with Dell, but the software or hardware manufacters instead. After years of buying Dell, I decided to buy my current one (a custom built PC) from a Mom & Pop store instead. The main advantage I found is that I got exactly the PC configuration & hardware components I wanted, and at a price slightly less than Dells. The other advantage is that service & support is quick & immediate, allowing me to drop my PC off and have it back the same day. The risk of going with a Mom & Pop store is that with the big guys (Dell, Gateway, Sony, etc) continually taking business away from the Mom & Pops, their out of biz demise appears inevitable, meaning no more service & support. Because of this, I'm still not sure where I'll be buying my next PC from: Dell, Gateway, Costco, Frys, CompUSA, Best Buy, or a Mom & Pop store.

Scott

Scott I hear ya ....my last PC was custom built from a Mom & Pop store ....& yes your correct service cannot be beat...& its not loaded with all the BS programs and stuff you'll never use....it only has what want installed with all quality parts & after 3 yrs it still runs great.....I have givin it to my daughter to use and that's why I need a new desktop ......as we speak I have the same mom/pop store working up a package price on a new custom built one now which I will probably go with being I bought a few from him already & Ive always been happy....besides its 10 min away from me also incase I need service

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 06-13-2006).]

The issue I had with them a few years ago -- guess it was almost 5 years ago now -- was that they loaded lots of their own software onto the operating system. It automatically "did you a favor" by watching your every keystroke, and reporting any problems to hp. This slowed down the system tremendously and used up system resources (Win 98 dayd), so people complained they couldn't run many programs on the taskbar.

I bought one anyway, cause I liked the price, and thought it looked really cool, and thought I could clean out the system easily enough. Turned out to be far more of a hassle than I expected. And then a year later it died. Not sure if my cleaning had anything to do with it.

All this was just before HP and Compaq merged. I haven't kept up. Maybe they're all better now.

Rick

+1 on the PC World article.

Here is the desktop ratings from Jan 2006: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,123409,pg,8,00.asp

And 2005: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,118514,pg,3,00.asp

I admit I was amazed. Emachines scored near the top both years. Emachines used to be a joke! ABS and Dell are mediocre. HP and Compaq almost dead last.

Rick

My music desktop is an Emachines. I never actually intended it that way, as at the time I bought it, I simply was looking for a cheap desktop.... but two years down the road, today all it does is music ( vst instruments and effects, along with a few hosts ), and it never sees the 'net or any non music software.

Although it's been very beefed up with 2+ gigs of ram, and a couple of mid level soundcards and midi interfaces, it's a very simple Athlon 2.4 ( 1600 mhz in the real world ), and it works without any issues, even with today's currently demanding Vsti's, fx, and hosts.

It's certainly a better performer than my old Toshiba laptop was ( also a music only machine with a P4, 2.8 gig processor, 1.5 gigs of ram ) and compares reasonably well vs my new music only laptop ( 1.73 Pentium M with 2 gigs of ram ).

Sometimes specs are a little tricky. My new laptop seems to do about twice as much cpu intensive vst / music program work vs the old one, and unlike my previous laptop, which felt like it was always about to start on fire, this one barely ever gets warm to the touch


I use my older HP ( 800 mhz and 1 gig of ram ) as my normal net, non music software, and printer host, and for what it is, it serves me well for that, but over the years it has had a few issues.

AJ

In the end I just went to the local mom & pop store and had a Desktop custom made to my specs. I pick it up Monday..

Thanxk You for all the great advice & opinions I realy appreciate it!!