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Today, while online, my computer finally gave up the ghost. I've been having problems with my fan and I beleive that it overheated somhow shorting out the power supply...my computer shut off and wont do a durn thing. I'm not sure if there's more than a power supply problem, I'm not that savvy with computer repair.

Time for an upgrade anyway, Warhammer Online is coming out and my Athelon 2.0 Gig rig wont be up to the challenge....I'm a little short of cash right now though, being right after X-mas.

My Question is this, is there any way to make the purchase of a new PC a little less painful? I've got the hulk of my current pc along with the 19 inch monitor, also, another 15 inch monitor with a PC with a wimpy Celeron processer that is only useable for internet browsing and older games....but we never use it. I'd rather not pay for repairs to my good machine since I REALLY need a new rig anyway for the games that are coming out right now. I'm just hoping that there is something I can do, sort of like a trade in on a new car, in order to get the machine I need. I'm sure I'll still have to pay money regardless, but surely there's something you can do with these older and broken pc's that are lying around.

Can anyone help?

Well one possible option, assuming your credit isn't bad, and assuming you have some small amount of established credit is to buy off of Newegg.com and use their flexpay option. I can't remember the exact name for it but it gives you the option to pay an amount in 3 equal payments. If you can come up with say 1/4 of the cost and use the flex pay for the other three parts it can make computer upgrades much more comfortable.

This however assumes that you can build your own, since you said you aren't that savvy with computer repair this probably isn't gonna be a good options for you, but I thought I'd put it out there.

Dr Phibes wrote:Well one possible option, assuming your credit isn't bad, and assuming you have some small amount of established credit is to buy off of Newegg.com and use their flexpay option. I can't remember the exact name for it but it gives you the option to pay an amount in 3 equal payments. If you can come up with say 1/4 of the cost and use the flex pay for the other three parts it can make computer upgrades much more comfortable.

This however assumes that you can build your own, since you said you aren't that savvy with computer repair this probably isn't gonna be a good options for you, but I thought I'd put it out there.

That one's cool. I wish there were wedding brokers that
would have let me do that once upon a time.

Hey Deadshane, how are ya?

I sell Ex-Government computers here in Aus. and they may have a similar sitch in the US of A.

For Example.
P4(ht) 3.2 GHz(Dell Optiplex Gx280)
1 GB Ram
60 GB HDD
256 MB Video card
Win XP Pro
$495 AU. 1 year RTB Warranty.

It's not an advertisement, as I don't sell to the States, but look into it a little, and you may be surprised.

Keep cool dude.

Great. 60gb of black ops porn.

akira5665 wrote:Hey Deadshane, how are ya?

I sell Ex-Government computers here in Aus. and they may have a similar sitch in the US of A.

For Example.
P4(ht) 3.2 GHz(Dell Optiplex Gx280)
1 GB Ram
60 GB HDD
256 MB Video card
Win XP Pro
$495 AU. 1 year RTB Warranty.

That will run games from 2002 nicely. I wouldn't give that to my parents nowadays; too far behind the curve. Yes, I am a computer snob!

Deadshane, the best bang for your buck is from a home-assembled computer. If you've got a computer geek friend locally, this is where they shine. Get a budget together and then go shopping on New Egg to get what you need. Barring that, get a Dell with as long a warranty as you can afford, and get a good graphics card (NVidia 8600 is a good mid-range card at this point).

There's little point in trying to recycle old computer parts into a new rig, with the possible exception of CD-ROM type drives, or MAYBE a hard drive.

Good luck; I know how much it sucks to have your computer bite the big one.

How difficult would you guys say that it is to build your own?

I'm not totally slowed...I've upgraded ram, installed new video cards, and am thinking about replacing the power system in my current one (I'll crack it open tomorrow on the chance that I can get back up and running playing City of Heroes on the cheap).

Building my own seems like a big step and its rather intimidating.

It can be tricky. If you do a LOT of research beforehand, you can do it, but you really have to be thorough. I recomment http://www.hardocp.com and http://www.anandtech.com for that sort of thing.

I think the hardest part of building your own would be research to make sure you are getting the best deal, and the level of components you need.

I'll be honest, I boght a Dell a while back, and the build quality on it sucks. Really unhappy with it. If you have, or can start, a small business, you can get a business accoutn through them that will extend you an obscene amount of credit, and some discounts. They also have a par tof their site dedicated to selling almost second hand computers. Some were returned and re-conditioned, some were built but the client later backed out. If you jump on it, you can get some sick deal. But you darn well better know what you are looking for. I hear a lot fo good things about Dell, but I am pretty unhappy.

Well, doesn't THAT post make for a pretty mixed review.