[homesteadmamma]

We need to purchase a new computer soon and dh wants to purchase one for our family Christmas gift this year. I have a couple questions.

~What type computer would you suggest?
~what would you NOT do without on your computer
~do you have a printer and scanner for yours
~what price range would you recommend (remember I'm in Canada)

 

[jzkitten]

I'm just going to put my 2¢ in from my experience.

I like the e-machines. I've never had any problems with them other than the 1st moniter I had, that they replaced.

I like having the CD-RW drive. Don't know if you have one or not but I save everything from music to pictures to backup files on them.

I would suggest an all in one printer. I have a HP 4-in1 with card slots for digital camera memory cards. I don't use the fax often but it's nice to have if you need it.

As for price we bought the one we have now at Walmart in 2003 for under $700. Since then we've added more RAM and a DVD-RW drive. This year we're adding more RAM and a new video card. The printer was under $250 last year. I don't know how much that is in Canada, sorry.

I do suggest a flat screen moniter. We love ours.
JMHO

 

[sixfreds]

First I would ask what do you use your computer for?
Just internet and email?
Pictures?
Editing Video?
Music?
Gaming?

It all really depends on what you use your computer for.
I would go all in one for a printer but if you use digital camera a lot and want to print pictures you might want to think about one you can put the camera card into that doesn't need to be hooked up to the computer.

I would get the best one you can afford.
You need to think about space too, you can get a good lap-top that does everything but is convient if you don't have a lot of space, if you go desk top I would go flat screen also...

So it all depends on what you use it for my mother-in-law just got one for under $500 and it is great for her she does mostly email I do a lot of digital video and pictures so hers wouldn't be great for me.

Eileen

 

[Gabe]

Great insights.

What will you plan on doing with the computer?
Writing text documents, surfing the net.... You do not need the latest model. A low end one will do all these things and you will be able to get a better monitor with your savings.

As suggested above if you go for a desktop, the LCD monitors are a big plus. They use less electricity and save space. Sara loves her 21 inch flat screen. If you spend alot of time in front of the computer, I would suggest getting a big monitor.

512 of Ram should be enough if you only use your computer to surf the net, use email and basic games.

I would focus on getting good protection for the computer once it is connected to the internet. (Firewall, spyware removal/blocking, anti-virus)

For a printer, you have several choices. It depends what type of things you would like to print. If you are looking to do picture quality prints you might look at models that are good at doing this. If you are looking at printing mostly text documents stuff then I would suggest going with the cheapest inkjet one. You can problably get one for around 60-90 CAD. It all depends on the number of pages you print and how much quality you want on your printed documents. If you send faxes everyone now and then, you might want to look at those all purpose machines.

With the new computer you might look to have a memory stick input so that you can remove the memory stick of the camera and plug it directly in the computer. It saves time and it is more efficient. You can then browse the memory stick like if it was a folder in your computer.

Here are some links from futureshop.ca (A canadian electronic store)

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10068635&catid=#
599$ after rebates.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...665000FS10068730&catid=22333&logon=&langid=EN
299$ after rebates.


http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10069816&catid=
A decent printer with good reviews. 79.99$

Hope this helps!
This computer should last you 3 years. Then you can probably upgrade for more ram or buy a new one after this time.

 

[homesteadmamma]

Thanks everyone for the info. Gabe, we plan on going to Future Shop next week and checking their prices out. Before we buy anything, I'll be posting here everything it includes and get more of your advice.

We do want a flat monitor and we also want to purchase a whole package. We also want lots of space. We are looking at spending about $1,000.00 give or take a few.

 

[AmyBoz]

We are big advocates of Dell around here. If you go to Dell.com, you can actually choose all of the parts that you want yourself. You aren't buying a pre-packaged computer that may have things you don't want/need. It updates the price for you with each addition/deletion you make. We've been using Dells for years and we love them. Rob's job is a computer tech guy, and he strongly recommends the dell.

I, too, recommend an all-in-one printer, but don't bother if you won't use all of the features.

As for the monitor, Rob is dying for an LCD flat screen monitor, but it ain't happening right now. But, I agree with Gabe...if you spend a lot of time in front of the computer, then you want a bigger screen.