That computer lasted about six years. The OS failed to load, and eventually the screen to the laptop gave out. I began to run into crisis mode for the following reasons. I don't have enough money for a new machine, and I have bills coming in. Like many college graduates without a career job, I am making ends meet by paying bills. This computer is just eating at everything else.
Being as resourceful as I am, I went to Newegg.com and began looking at computers. I found a couple, but with intermediate computer knowledge, I didn't know what I was looking at exactly. I had some friends help me out, and they could build a system for $800. It was nice, but met with stiff resistance from my father. Why care what he says about it, right? problem was that he was helping me out here- I would pay him back over time. Perhaps, in hind sight, I should have hard balled him and told him I knew what I was doing.
On his advice, I checked out HHGregg for computers. Every one of them were a non-gaming machine. The only gaming machine on the floor was priced at $1500. I can do better than that on the price for what was given. I will pass on retail stores (my father worships retail stores, thinking "the best" and "all of your needs" can be fulfilled by the large retail chains". He is flat out wrong, but don't tell him that- after all, he knows "everything about computer prices".
Despite his ignorance of computers, he did have one fair and obvious point- I wanted a computer already built and ready to go. I like the convenience of that- but don't want to be effed over by someone knowing what they are doing. I found another machine on Newegg that was going for $700. It was what I wanted, and I began saving up for it. Excited, I checked back a week later and it was out of stock. Two days later, they jacked the price up to $850, above my price range. Newegg just lost my business on that particular machine. *Sticker shock!*
So I decided to try and go local. A local business by my grocery store specializes in computers. I stopped by, but the owner was not in that day. He called me back a few days later and I missed his call. I called the business back, but he is never in. There is so much miscommunication, and with the store answering service calls, I can't pin down a definite time to sit down and discuss the computer.
My options are growing limited. I have one more store I can check out a few miles down the road. A friend of mine who I will nickname "J" provided me a link to a computer on Tiger Direct that meets my needs for an affordable price.
- AMD Phenom II (X4 Quad Core) Processor
- 3.4GHZ Processor Speed
- 1TB HDD 7200 RPM
- 4GB RAM (8GB Max upgrade)
- 1GB Nvidia Geforce GT 520
- VGA and HDMI support
This is a fairly decent computer for $659. It meets my needs NOW while being easily upgradeable in the future. From reading the specifications, the only "integrated" part about it is the sound devices (integrated means no ripping it out and upgrading). If I can gather up my monies for this one, the computer nightmare will be over.
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