should i get a netbook,notebook,laptop,or build my own pc

i need a new computer mine is 9 and 1/2 years old it runs okay but not that good my price range is somewhere
around 200-700 mabye 800 im leaning towards a laptop but i want a good computer that i can use for about
another 5 to 7 years i know thats pushing it but i want good pc quality and stats wise if i build my own
ill go to a 1000-1200 but thats a last resort if i cant find a good laptop or net book im looking at a acer
net book i havent really looked at note books if anyone can help me decide i wound appreciate it thanks
for any help

 

it all depends on what you want it for.laptops are ok for stuff like checking email on the go,word documents and other applications.desktops are good for games and are easier to upgrade and work doing almost anything a laptop would do.unless you plan on moving your computer from place to place I'd go a desktop.

 

From the sound of it, you are not a gamer of a video fanatic? If so, you can get a basic Toshiba laptop for about $300 new. It will probably last about 4 years (the battery might need to be replaced before then). When it starts to have issues, spend another $300 of your $700 budget to get another cheap laptop...a cheap laptop that is very high-end by today's standards.

Today's slow laptop is a supercomputer compared to what you are using...you should be very happy. Oh, and make sure to get a laptop that comes with windows 7 X64...it has to be the x64, otherwise you will need to upgrade your OS when you upgrade your ram in about 2 years.

 

the parts im currently looking at are
Athena Power AP-P4ATXK110FEP 20+4Pin 1100W Single EPS-12V Server Power Supply

VisionTek 900273 Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16
HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Low Profile Ready Video Card

ZOTAC Synergy Edition ZT-20303-10L GeForce 210 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
(im looking at a couple of graphics cards)

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL

Hanns·G HZ201HPB Black 20" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 X-Contrast 10000:1(1000:1) Built-in Speakers

i also need help getting the other parts like what motherboards
to get same with processor
my big problem is if theyll work together

also is this tower worth it

XCLIO A380COLOR-PLUS Black 1.0 mm SECC / ABS Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

 

thanks i looked at building one so i can game and keep it up to date
i dpnt game much on pc because my pc dont play halo 1 muchless halo
2 i do plan on getting windows 7 64 i ve found a good motherboard
and ram stick for a decent price newegg said they where both great

 

Its hard to gauge newegg feedback reports accurately due to the fact some people will post a review the moment they get a product and verify it works. Ok it turned on. Good for you. Did it do everything you thought it would? Better yet, if its been 5 minuets since you powered it on, how do you know its reliable long term? Are you going to edit or post another review if it dies? Thats and some people like to rate themselves as an expert, but in reality they have little to no idea what there talking about.

For example, look at the ASUS mobos. Most probably have great reviews, but most people here agree there reliability is poor. In my case my ASUS died before its first birthday!! Worked out good in the end because I got me a good MSI mobo, but thats beside the point.

So what exactly are you looking at? Plus I suggest you post the parts for us to verify compatibility. You dont want to get an AMD mobo if you have an Intel CPU or a Socket 775 mobo if you need a socket 1156 mobo.

 

That Athena Power unit is likely to fall to pieces, potentially becoming an electrical safety hazard. Almost all of those parts in that list are awful quality stuff that's unlikely to last two years let alone 9 1/2. I would take the same route as KillerBug suggests. Get a decent quality, low-spec laptop, and use that.

 

I would stay away from G.Skill products. Now generally there quality as been good but the Ripjaws arent that great. I actually had to RMA 2 sets in about 1 month. Then there is customer service. If you ever RMA, dont expect them to notify when they receive the item, or when the item has shipped. Nor should you expect fast replies from customer service. Also you more then likley do not need 8 GB of RAM. In most cases it isnt needed. As long as your not running to many background apps then 4 GB should be sufficient and likley save you money.

 

Wow, I didn't realise their customer service was that bad!

 

so i need new parts what about the monitor the tower i might get
if the parts dont fit in mine(i have 9 1/2 yr old parts in a 4yr old case). i like killerbug's idea but i'm set to build one i might get a laptop for mobility in the far future i also want to build a pc so i can upgrade it as things advance. if anyone has any parts that are
great for gaming that would be great are there any thoughts on the graphics cardsi would like any help you people can offer
is this processor any good athelon II x4 620

thanks

 

If you want a decent performance gaming PC and you can spend $700-$1200, this is what I'd recommend:

$1200 system:

i5 760 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067
P55A-UD3 M/B: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412
4GB XMs3 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
XFX Radeon HD5870 GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150490
NZXT Tempest Evo Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146062
Corsair VX 550W PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
Intel X25-V SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167025
WD1001FALS 1TB HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
LG GH24NS50 24x DVDRW: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

This comes to $1213 shipped, with $30 of mail-in rebates, final price $1183. This is a high-end game system. You can't really spend much more than this and not suffer diminishing returns.

$1000 system:

i5 750 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
P55A-UD3 M/B: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412
4GB XMS3 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
XFX Radeon HD5850 GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150477
Antec Three Hundred case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
Corsair VX 550W PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
WD1001FALS 1TB HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
LG GH24NS50 24x DVDRW: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

This comes to $990 shipped, with $40 of mail-in rebates, final price $950. This still a reasonably high-end system.

$800 system:

i5 750 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
P55A-UD3 M/B: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412
4GB XMS3 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
XFX Radeon HD5770 GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
Antec Three Hundred case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
Corsair VX 450W PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
WD7501AALS 750GB HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283
LG GH24NS50 24x DVDRW: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

This comes to $841 shipped, with $65 of mail-in rebates, final price $776. A more midrange gaming system, but still plenty of processing power, and reasonable games performance.

$700 system:

Athlon II X4 630 CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704
Gigabyte 870A-UD3 M/B: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128443
4GB XMS3 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
XFX Radeon HD5770 GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
Antec Three Hundred case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
Corsair VX 450W PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
WD7501AALS 750GB HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283
LG GH24NS50 24x DVDRW: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

This comes to $689 shipped, with $55 of mail-in rebates, final price $634. A decent midrange system with the same graphics power as the system above, but less CPU processing power.

 

just ignore this message

 

I posted you a list you could use. You've ignored it, and your own parts list isn't very good. The motherboard will be unreliable, the PSU is absolutely terrible, and there is no need for an X-Fi gamer sound card at all. Why not just stick with what I posted?

 

your list was helpful i didnt ignore it why diddnt i use because im looking at a lot of lists of gaming pc parts the top pc the 1200 dollar one can the parts be found on tigerdirect.com

 

and the parts you've chosen are bad. It's about as simple as that really. I recommended what I did for a reason

 

Matt i did not see what parts you listed, but Sams builds are excellent although I was surprised to see an AMD build in there. Corsair has great customer service, and XFX has a double lifetime warranty on there cards if memory serves me right. Personally I like the Saphire cards more as my 4890s served me pretty well but nothing wrong with XFX by any means. Gigabyte mobos are solid. Im thinking of using a gigabyte when I buy a new mobo, although that will hopefully be another 2 years atleast. Corsair PSUs are some of the best quality PSUs on the market, and I personally trust WD with my data, although I cant complain about Seagate drives from personal experience.

lol yeah, I hate to say it but its true. After I sent off the second set I emailed them and asked them to be notified of status updates on my RMA. Did they? No. To be fair though, the time between sending them off and getting them back was nearly on par with Corsair and MSI. It took about 1 maybe 2 business days longer then Corsair or MSI. Oh well its in the past and I have decided not to buy g.skill again.

 

okay xplorer4 the parts i posted did suck i diddnt look up the feedback before i posted those parts sammorris on your list the 1200 dollar pc ive decided on those parts can you get those parts off tigerdirect.com a lot of web sites reviewed this site and said it had great quality,prices,and 1-3 day delivery im just wondering if it is any good if you,xplorer4,or anyone who looks at this fourm has used it

now what is a good moniter size and what windows should i get vista or 7-64bit

oh i forgot to mention my 9 1/2 yr old computer is almost broke i gutted it and put it back together again and it works now but not for long

 

Problem with Sapphire is they're only good for reference stuff, because they can't manufacture stuff for @#"£! If you end up with a non-reference Sapphire card it's probably liable to break. The same does not seem to be true of XFX.

As for what matt posted, it was just stuff like low quality PSUs, Asus motherboards and the rest of it. Components that seem adequate enough until you do a bit of research.

Tiger Direct I've seen plenty of people buy from, it's generally more expensive than newegg and the customer service seems a lot worse. I can't buy from them as I don't live in the US, but I've been recommending US parts for 5 years plus, and there's a reason I always choose newegg.
There is no 'good monitor size' - it's up to you, how much you want to spend, how much desk space do you have, how big a monitor do you actually need.
You would always get Windows 7, and I'd recommend 64-bit too. Vista is now discontinued which is just as well, it was not a very good OS.

 

okay ill use newegg i didddnt know windows vista was discontinued it sucked that bad now the tower for the 1200$ pc it can hold 2 hdd's right 1tb is enough but i might expand it the future

now that i have the parts for a gamming pc i need games i have a list of games already
i generally like pc fps games and strategy games any ideas for some good pc games

 

Pretty much all PC cases can hold 4 or more hard drives. The case I linked you to can hold 6.

As for PC games, too broad, it depends what sort of game you're into, more specifically than just FPS and strategy.