okay, i'm reviving this thread. i'm probably going to buy a desktop computer sometime next year to replace my old dell inspiron which is dying. my reason for reviving the thread is in the hopes of obtaining some real information about which specific model of computer to buy, as the above information is pretty scant and more or less of the 'pc vs mac' mentality. frankly i've found most pc laptops to be shit after about six months, although my sister has two macs including a powerbook that's older than my dell which still runs great. i'm leaning toward getting a dell because i need to run acad and rhino and am skeptical of how well a mac can really run these programs and execute the commands for a serious cad user, and that i want a desktop, not a laptop. i'd eventually like to get the adobe creative suite and a copy of maya as well. what about the gaming pc's dell puts together? are these any help for modeling? anyway, i'm pretty open minded about it. please don't devolve into the mac-pc stuff, i'm looking for "you should buy brand ____ model ____ because ____.

i may be 2 years to late but i say get a TabletPC or Convertible PC

mine has lasted 3 years so far np

the best deal being for the Gateway Convertible PC for 525$
http://www.pcpartsohio.com/BookDetail.aspx?item_id=816

if you are on a budget build your own box of a well reviewed MB and get a softmod able nvidia card

avoid dell and apple if you can help it

if you are looking for a desktop you should just order all the parts from newegg and put them together yourself. if you ever played with one of those electronics kits from radio shack as a kid it's not really any harder to put a computer together. i built mine this way 5 years ago and it's still going relatively strong. i figure once the processor gets to the point where it's just too slow for me I'll swap out the motherboard and chip and upgrade the other components as the need arises. I've already replaced the DVD burner, added more RAM, and added a hard drive. I've been completely happy with going this way as it's given me so much flexibility.beyond all that, you also won't have to deal with all the bloatware that comes with manufactured pc's.

thanks. i don't know that much about computers, but i would be interested in building my own. can you point me to any resources that can streamline the process or make it easier to figure out exactly what components i'd need and how they go together?

MB, HD, RAM, Video card, case(with power supply), DVD

just make sure to match up the processor RAM and MB, speed wise

i find Pricewatch.com helps allot for the initial choices but yes i like newegg.com allot as the source, they most of the time have the lowest price competitively on sites like pricegrabber amazon and pricewatch too.

try this site bossman. it's a couple years old but still very relevant.

if you still have questions or want more specifics about components after reading that I can probably help.

amazon.com looked like it had some pretty good books as well...

so what motherboard did you choose? did you see the new i7 chipset that came out this week?

has a bunch of articles devoted to building the best computer for the money.

thanks mr. shuell

anti, i'm getting a computer next year

i used a boxx + 23" apple monitor + ergotron flex arm when in grad school. They ARE pricey but you can easily talk the rep your dealing with into a small student discount (I got 7%) and the build quality is about the best there is.

er... the boxx's are pricey ;)