Any computer nerds here ?

[js27]

My 10 years old Dell with Vista on it just bit the dust. I have a laptop now and just want a cheap desktop. What do you think of this 2 on Ebay?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Desktop-Computer-Windows-10-8GB-1TB-Bluetooth-WiFi-DVD-RW-HDMI-FULLY-LOADED/363276914548?hash=item5494fdcf74:g:LxoAAOSwslJceGJs


https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Slim-Desktop-S01-aF0123m/154264050584?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200818143230%26meid%3Dfe686f8f78f441f79d41038146aa997a%26pid%3D101224%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D5%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D363276914548%26itm%3D154264050584%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic%26brand%3DHP&_trksid=p2047675.c101224.m-1


Thanks
JS27

[captcolour]

Spend a little more and get a Dell OptiPlex.  These are machines for business so components are a little better than standard private use.  My computer geek son found this one for me:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-OptiPlex-7050-SFF-i7-7700-3-60GHz-16GB-Ram-256GB-M-2-PCIE-SSD-Radeon-R5-430/224274986324?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

You can buy on ebay or check the Dell outlet store.  Dell outlet store ones would come with a guarantee I believe.

At a minimum you want a solid state drive and a second bay for another drive.  If you store lots of pics, videos and music, will allow you to add a 4TB drive for example.  I use the one I bought for a security camera server so added a big drive to it in the second bay.

[Spikedog08]

I like the one for $299 . . not only is it cheaper but appears to be a little better than the one for $50 more.   There are some differences but not very much.  I think for a desktop, the cheaper one should work just fine for surfing and typical computer actions . .


I do agree with captcolour . . that is a better machine than both that you posted . .

[MatchlessIndian]

For normal everyday stuff I have to side with these guys on the Dell OptiPlex. They can be had fairly cheap and for what you are likely wanting to do you will get tons of mileage out of it.

[Chryco Psycho]

Not saying anything bad about Dell Optiplex but I have 4 of them here & none will run ... Help !

[Spikedog08]

Not saying anything bad about Dell Optiplex but I have 4 of them here & none will run ... Help !

Do they boot up?   Wish I was there to help make at least one of them work . . . Give me some details . .

[Chryco Psycho]

Mostly no , the optiplex desktops tend to beep 6 times meaning bad ram or video , but new motherboards & ram makes no difference. I had one set up very well running on linux , started it 15 times before it no longer boots up .
the thinkpad diagnosed as a bad lithium battery but I cannot find the correct one , I know the Acer boots up but I can't remember why it won't work now , I have 2 identical Hp laptops , cannot even make 1 out of 2 .

[anlauto]

I remember the first computer my wife and I bought (my first)....it cost us well over $2000... back about 20 years ago.....nice to see some things went down in price 

[js27]

Thanks you all for your Input !!
Decisions Decisions=LOL

JS27

[RzeroB]

Tower desktops have fallen out of favor ... and as such so has their premium price tag.

Last November I picked up a new Dell Inspirion tower packed with features that I never would have paid for five years ago ... all for less than $500. Found it on the Costco Wholesale website of all places and so far it has not disappointed.

[dodj]

A computer nerd would only recommend a top of the line, balls to the wall, liquid cooled, benchmark blowing machine.

You, on the other hand, want cheap (like I would).
Determine what you want to spend, then buy one with as much memory and storage (HD space) you can get with that money. 

[Scooter]

^^^ I know a lot of computer "nerds" that would have no idea how to put together a custom PC.... ask me how I know this... I'm the guy they went to to help them out. lol. I'm running a water cooled rig right now with a custom loop and SLI video cards. Have gone as extreme as running phased change and peltiers back in the day when this stuff was not available retail and we used things like pond pumps and heater cores from cars to keep our overclocked CPU's and Video cards from melting.

So ya... I'm one of those guys.

My recommendation on a purchase: Get something with at least 4 cores and hyperthreading. Does not need to be the fastest CPU out there and the 3.6Ghz i7 in the Optiplex above would do nicely. 8Gb of RAM would be a minimum but enough for most people and is the standard I use for my IT folks on any new purchase for the office. More RAM seems like a good idea out of the gate but can chew up disk space (pagefile)if you add too much for no reason. A m2 boot drive for running your OS and applications and a good size SSD for data storage. If you do not have that much data storage need (photos is where a lot of disk space gets chewed up for most), just get a larger M2 boot drive and be done with it. If you do need a lot of storage get a good size spinning disk to keep costs in check. A discrete graphics card is always preferred even if low end.

And always back your data up! Get a cheap external hard drive and back up your data at regular intervals or use cloud storage.

Chryco Psycho.. feel free to start a thread.. happy to help out troubleshooting your hardware.

[Marty73]

Be more concerned about components then brand (except Gateway...run away!)

Shoot for the middle

Current gen I5 processor
8 gig minimum ram (more is better)
Solid state drive, 1TB

Unless your doing video editing or gaming, most videos cards will do just fine. Don't waste extra $$ on a touch screen if it's a desktop, you'll never use it.

I do SOHO consulting and repair on the side and this is what I recommend for most of my customers.

Happy hunting

[YellowThumper]

Guess I will just stick with the 8088 i payed $1,700 for.

[Chryco Psycho]

hard to start a thread when it takes an average of 15 mins for each post
I have 3 Optiplex desktops , a 780 & 2 380s , I used the 780 for 4+ years , in may it quit booting up & would beep 6 times meaning bad ram or video card , swapped out the ram & 2 different mother boards , it was running Win 7 , never got past the beeping
So bought the 2 380s working but without hard drives running 3.2 g processors  , formatted 2 hard drives & set it up with Linux Umbutu , it worked great 15 times when I turned it on , 16 time will not boot up , set up other hard drive just will not run , went to the second 380 used about 6 different hard drives some from the 780 & the first 380 as well as a new hard drive , it will not boot up .
Don't even get me started on the 10 laptops that have died since May 
I have also had my tuner , my Dvd player , my phone & the computers in 2 vehicles die in the last 10 months