$149 refurb PC eMachines.. so so AMD box

[{Ru}EINHANDER]

http://www.compusa.com/applications/sea ... 24-_-email

Well.. still the $229 ($199 after $30 mail-in rebate) eMachines box is a WAAAAAAY better deal since it can easily be upgraded.

[{Ru}Bubba]

What do you think about this one?
http://www.compusa.com/applications/Sea ... u=B69-0260

Between having the 1tb drive and the 2 gig ddr2 ram 450w power supply, and cool looking easy ascess case it seems like a really good deal? only a 2.1 processor but i only have a 1.8 atm sooo lol.

[{Ru}EINHANDER]

Main thing are these:

1.) Video card is PCIe 2.0 so you have an upgrade path and not limited to older 1.x stuff.. you can use just about anything just make sure if they come out with 3.x that it's backwards compatible (even though it talks slower on the mobo path to the CPU).

2.) CPU I think is upgradeable to a quad.. so when they come down in price 1-2 years from now.. you can upgrade that too.

3.) Check again that the kit comes with a fan for the CPU.. I forgot to check that. Otherwise you are looking at another 20-30 dollars. If it comes with one, it will be one hell of a noice maker. Also, this case (I've seen Tiger use it before) has 2 noted problems (not terrible but noted by customers) - a.) PSU is loud.. like a jet engine loud for a computer. b.) wear gloves when putting it together or have some very thick calusus on your hands but the thing is you'll cut yourself without realizing it on the razor sharp edges since they didn't use folded metal in all of the case just some parts. Other than that it's a good case but you may have to replace the PSU (Power Supply Unit) later due to noise.

4.) I chose not to get this one or the $300 one they had because I'd have to put it together for my wife. That's just damn lazy I know; however, I've put the cute quite ones together for her in the past. She loved it but ran it all the time and it gave me a bad name with her when it comes to "it's shutting down all the time!" So I just bought a "good" one but she's on her own. I don't mind building them but I wanted this to be a "sure" thing for Christmas.

[{Ru}Bubba]

Yea i dont blame you. some ppl are the leave their computers on 24/7 type, there are pros and cons with both points of view, but personally i wont leave mine running when im not gonna be using it for awhile, most notably right before bed. And the cute quiet ones comment made me think of that lil cube tower thingy that you built for her.... i swear i dont see how you got your big hands in there to build that dang thing, what was it? like maybe 18 incehes squared? was definitly neat looking though. And power supply noise was never really much of a concern for me, once i put those gaming headphones on i cant hear crap anyways and my video card is a silent one so a lil noise wont be bad yeah it has a cpu fan. but still thats a waaaays down the road.
On a side note i started playing cod4 again, lost all of my stats and had to start back at lvl 1, i just wanted to see how the video card handled everything. at max setting i get about 40 fps, at average settings i get 79-80fps, so waaay better than what i used to be able to play at lol.

[{Ru}Lord_Slayer]

im one of them peeps who never turns the computer off.

[{Ru}Bubba]

no shame in that, my moms never turns hers off either, or her tv either for that matter... lol

[{Ru}EINHANDER]

You know.. I don't condem anyone with the TV or the PC running 'em all the time either. I know it's somewhat of a waste of electricity/wear 'n tear etc.. but actually if you leave electronics sitting around they don't work right or as long when they get turned back on. It's true.. especially with cars that sit for months out of the year as well as the afforementioned TVs/PCs. Starting up a PC is just has tough on the hard drive as it is when you start up a car without the oil cycling in it for the first 10 or so seconds.

Anyway, I need to sleep by a fan and I know many people sleep better in front of a TV. Now getting back to that mini Shuttle computer.. it was awesome.. err is awesome! The only thing is that I'm convinced the PSU just needs to be replaced. I don't want to shell out $40-50 for it and come to find out that the CPU/Mobo was damaged too. I like that little box and it still works just fine as long as she doesnt' leave it running for 5 days solid. What I should have done was put in a smaller (i.e. cooler) CPU and she never would have had this problem. So in a way it was my fault, as I should have stuck her with the slower computer processor but eh.. live 'n learn I guess.