Recommend me a good Company/Computer

I am so busy lately and my computer keeps breaking down on me which causes me a huge inconvenience so I have decided not to build this time because I dont want to deal with RMAing specific parts. So basically I am looking for:

A company that has good tech support and good pricing.

I need the computer to do CAD, the occasional gaming sessions, Word documents, spread sheets etc. Video encoding (sparingly) and web browsing.

I am looking to spend no more than say $1700.

What I looked at so far: Apple iMac and Dell Studio XPS 9000.

Between those two, I think you'll get a resounding "get the Dell" since you mentioned wanting to game occasionally. Of course, most people here are likely to say "you should really build your own." I build systems professionally so would have a conflict of interest of sorts in giving you my "true" recommendation (haha), but Dell makes some very nice XPS systems.

Keep in mind that the warranty is a good indicator of how confident companies are in the quality of their systems. Buy accordingly.

TIGR said:

Between those two, I think you'll get a resounding "get the Dell" since you mentioned wanting to game occasionally. Of course, most people here are likely to say "you should really build your own." I build systems professionally so would have a conflict of interest of sorts in giving you my "true" recommendation (haha), but Dell makes some very nice XPS systems.

Keep in mind that the warranty is a good indicator of how confident companies are in the quality of their systems. Buy accordingly.

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How much do you usually charge your customers? I am not against other options hahaha. Just don't want to spend the time at the current moment to build a computer. I am very meticulous so it would result in too many hours that I dont have.

IMO, I'd consider just upgrading your MacBook Pro and getting an external monitor.

Dell, Maingear, or Puget Systems would get my vote.

Danny Bui said:

Dell, Maingear, or Puget Systems would get my vote.

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Which one would get purely based on warranty support? Not so sure upgrading my MBP would allow me to play games comfortably on my 24".

Might check out the custom desktops on AVA Direct as well - they're a bit on the boutique side but are cheaper than some of their competition. You can get decent 1366 systems for <1500$. IIRC they offer 3 or 4 year warranties on all their builds.

oops NM.. Wrong thread

another vote for AVA Direct if you're going the route of having it built for you. Used them in the past, excellent customer service and not as expensive as others either.

I have no experience with AVA at all, but I would recommend staying away from them. Unlike actual corperations (dell, compaq, gateway, ect) they seem to be more of a small buisness. The difference I have found in corperation and privately owned companies is the huge difference in customer support. For example, if dell makes a mistake, and you call their support and speak to Bob, who in turn hands you back 500$ it doesn't bother Bob because it's not his personal money. Mean while AVA, might not be so kind because that 500$ is coming directly out of their pocket.

I've heard a lot of horror stories about Ava, especially that Micha guy in particular. Do your research on them.

Go with a big brand, they will stand behind their product better.

Good luck.

I'd go with the Dell. Out of all the PC makers that I've had to deal with, they seem to offer the best quality and support. When something does go wrong, which happens, they are quick to resolve it. For example we bought a new PC for our church and I went to set it up and it was DOA. I was pissed at the time, but I have to give it to them, they were quick to send me a new one. No ifs and buts, I explain to the tech what it was doing and he agreed to give me a new one, as opposed to sending parts and try to figure out what's wrong, given it was brand new out of the box.

Another solution is you could get an Acer laptop. It will cut your home's heating bill in half.

Get a dell business rep to quote you a precision workstation as well. We have been installing the t3500's for cad work at a client as their systems come up for replacement. They love them.