[lilzed747]

hey everyone. so last night my laptop finally gave up on me out of no where.

now that im on the market for a new pc im not really sure what to buy.

i have two routes i would like to take:

option 1: buy a used or refurb laptop thats maybe a couple years old. i dont really need the newest most expensive so i figure if i buy a used laptop that is still well equipped i cant really go wrong? some laptops ive seen have upgrade-able ram so i could consider that if i get a good deal.

option 2: my current laptop (7 year old dell) sits on the same desk all day long whether i use or not. seeing that i dont take it anywhere im considering on buying a desktop case and building it up. my desk is kinda small so it would have to be a mini pc.

couple considerations:

my desk is on wheels so i can put it away when ppl come over. having a laptop on top i can just close it and wheel it wherever. now if i were to have a desktop is there a way i can still have a portable desk and mount a nice 17-20" screen?

budget is another issue. being a student and working part time i dont have a huge pile of cash to blow. i was thinking 350-400 max. i dont know if that realistic but i do want something that will last in terms of performance and speed.

requirements:
1tb harddrive
6+ gb ram
decent video card (dont really game hardcore)
decent cpu (do lots internet cruzing, youtubing, but also some video/picture editing and some gaming)
couple hdmi ports, wifi, couple usbs etc.
17" or bigger screen

any opinions or directions would be much appreciated (thanks for reading super long post.lol.)

[mos_skeeto]

That's a tough budget unless you do used. A low end but new monitor (I'm using one right now) will run you around $120. Mine's an LG that's 1080p and 22 inches. Keep in mind that last time you got a computer, screens were likely not widescreen. Because they're measured corner to corner, a new 22 inch monitor is about comparable to an old school 17-19 inch monitor.

So you really have around 380 to play with... for your computer.

With that budget I'd drop the video card requirement and go with integrated video with your cpu (it's free).

I'm sure someone here will help you with a build but also check out https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc

There's a lot of good resources there.

[Manic!]

If you don't game get something like this: Core i3-4150, 12GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Intel HD Video, DVDRW, Windows 8.1 (M11AD-CA008S) (Refurbished) - NMicroVIP (http://www.nmicrovip.ca/core-i3-4150-12gb-ram-1tb-hdd-intel-hd-video-dvdrw-windows-8-1-m11ad-ca008s-refurbished/)

[lilzed747]

That's a tough budget unless you do used. A low end but new monitor (I'm using one right now) will run you around $120. Mine's an LG that's 1080p and 22 inches. Keep in mind that last time you got a computer, screens were likely not widescreen. Because they're measured corner to corner, a new 22 inch monitor is about comparable to an old school 17-19 inch monitor.

So you really have around 380 to play with... for your computer.

With that budget I'd drop the video card requirement and go with integrated video with your cpu (it's free).

I'm sure someone here will help you with a build but also check out https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc

There's a lot of good resources there.

thanks for the response. would you say there is a lot of risk in buying an used computer? $300 is a lot of money to lose if the pc doesnt work for some reason although ive dropped that much on an used phone and it worked out fine.

[whitev70r]

Whatever you decide on, make sure you have this one thing: an SSD hard drive. If you need 1TB for storage, use 128GB/256GB SSD for your OS and programs, the 1TB as your secondary drive. Or just use a 1TB external drive.

[lilzed747]

Whatever you decide on, make sure you have this one thing: an SSD hard drive. If you need 1TB for storage, used a 128GB SSD for your OS and programs, the 1TB as your secondary drive. Or just use a 1TB external drive.

any reason y for this? how about two 500gb harddrives?

[Manic!]

any reason y for this? how about two 500gb harddrives?

SSD's are way faster than your regular spinning drive but cost more per GB.

[whitev70r]

SSD's are way faster than your regular spinning drive but cost more per GB.
prices have really gone down. 256GB are around $100!

correction, $75 at NCIX !!