Why must I warn about AMD E-xxx processors and then someone immediately links only them? The A-series are plenty beefy for his needs, but the E-series are not sufficient in all likelihood.

 

No doubt the are terribly slow. But I am always weary of buying used computers, and if all you need is an N64 emulator, hell my 1Ghz Snapdragon on my Evo will do that. Shitty as they are, an E-450 is more than enough for what he is going to be doing.

Or you can spend about double on an i3 that will get you 6-8 times the performance. But if you don't need 6-8 times the performance, then don't bother.

 

Newegg.com - ASUS A53 Series A53Z-NS61 Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3420M(1.5GHz) 15.6" 3GB Memory 320GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6520G

Or you can spend $30 more and get a substantially faster (double the cores, way faster graphics, etc.) in trade for 1gb less of RAM in which the laptop is otherwise identical to your previously linked one.

E-series aren't worth the money compared to what you get from an A-series and are, as you mentioned, terribly slow compared to a more functional processor.

(Edit) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230457 - I take it back, apparently you can get the same amount of RAM with no actual downside for $30 more after I actually looked a bit more.

I think you may have talked me into buying a laptop.

 

Thanks guys. Keep the suggesting coming.

 

I guess so. I haven't shopped for a new laptop since 2007/2008, so I am really behind on whats available.

My budget was 600, so I wouldn't mind spending more on something that is a little faster and more feature packed than the ones listed.

A few things that I will need to do or have are HDMI out, backlight keyboard, card readers, etc... The two you listed are nice, but it doesn't give a description of what the laptop has besides the internals.

I'm very sure my horrible computer languge is killing you guys on the inside. I'm sorry. I'm not used to being the noob

 

Newegg.com - Acer Aspire A5560-7414 Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3420M(1.5GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi AMD Radeon HD 6520G

Card reader, HDMI out, and a backlit keyboard isn't exactly something you see listed in specifications.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246322

A good bit more powerful than the above, and based on product pictures, it looks like it has a backlit keyboard. Further, product reviews from consumes indicate it has a backlit keyboard. Also includes HDMI and a card reader based on specs.

 

Wow, these things are getting cheap. I was expecting to spend 600 like I did last time.

Thanks a lot, Senor Blaen. I'll have some more questions later.

 

Actually, the last laptop I linked is a 600 laptop.

You are just hitting up a perfect time to get Back to School sales.

 

Well that makes a lot of sense. I'm gonna use some of this info and shop around some more.

I'll report back with somethings that I like and you guys can give the thumbs up or down.

 

Decided against a laptop, going with a desktop. Never had one, but I realize now how superior they are for the money. I've also come to love my Dell Mini <3 It takes care of my laptop needs.

So, basically I need the same things mentioned above. I have absolutely no idea what anything is or means. I"ll be the first to admit I am a complete computer hardware noob.

Budget will probably be in the 500-700 dollar range. I don't PC game, but I'd like something that will stay somewhat "new" for at least a year or two. I wouldn't mind getting something that was easy to mod/upgrade either. I think it's a shame that I haven't learned how to build computers yet.

Ideas? I'm probably going to be the guy who asks to put a gt30 on his Greddy manifold...
Newegg.com - Acer AM3450-UR30P (PT.SHDP2.001) Desktop PC AMD Quad-Core Processor FX-4100(3.6GHz) 6GB DDR3 1TB HDD Capacity ATI Radeon HD 4250 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Newegg.com - Acer AM3450-UR10P (PT.SHDP2.004) Desktop PC AMD FX-Series FX-8100(2.8GHz) 6GB DDR3 1TB HDD Capacity AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

 

I usually watch this site for a few days before I buy anything: Cheap Computer Desktops, Best Deals & Latest Prices at Dealzon.com

Actually, the first one you linked is on there, I think.

 

Thanks for the link.

Looks like this one is similar, but it has the AMD Eight core FX8100....I have no idea what that is..everything else looks to be the same or similar.
Get up to $250 off Acer Desktops and All-In-One PCs, Best Deal, Cheapest Price, Free Shipping

 

It means it has 8 cpu's. Realistically the only thing that I see that I would want to upgrade on those is the ram and hard drive space.

 

I don't either. I don't know a lot about AMD or really any of the lower-priced hardware (just because I haven't been looking for a cheap machine in a while).

So I usually just google <product 1> vs <product 2> and see what the blogotubes have to say about it.

Also, in general when they are the same brand, higher numbers in the name = better. Not always, but usually.

 

I'm guessing 6GB is the ram? Why would I need to upgrade that? And why more HD space?

 

You wont need more than 6 GB of RAM.

I manage to fill up my 4 GB occasionally, but only when doing intensive video edit compilation, or working with a **** load of really big layers in photoshop. Which is more than most people would ever do.
Even with me maxing out RAM occasionally, I still max out CPU waaay more. I have a Phenom II x4, which apparently is still faster than bulldozer when using software that cant take advantage of more than 4 cores...

The only thing Id upgrade on the desktop you linked is to put a real graphics card in it. Whch may require going to a different case.
Its easy though. Id rather do that 10 times than change the oil in my car.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I don't PC game, so would I really need to change the graphics card? I mean, I just play emulators...mostly N64 and maybe PS1.

One thing that does concern me is the audio quality. I'm a bit of an audiophile.

But overall, would you say that last one I linked is a good/decent/bad buy?

 

No, you will be good with that graphics card for a while. Worst case, if you have a problem with your emulators/playing full screen video/whatever non-gaming GPU intensive thing you might do in 3-4 years, you can easily pick up a $20 graphics card that will blow that one away.

I think that this one you linked with the FX-8100 is a pretty good deal for $450. You may not even need that much computer for what you are planning, but that one should last you a long long time (assuming nothing breaks). I googled the FX-8100 and it is similar to an Intel i5 or older i7, so it is leagues above the stuff you were looking for in a laptop.

You might be able to get away with cheaper, but that looks like a pretty good machine.

 

pretty sure the HD6450 can beat the HD3850 I use, and I play gaymes

 

6GB is the the ram. I run 16GB on my desktop at home, but I like having 3 games open at a time and 1 or 2 VM's. Ram is generally very cheap when bought during its life cycle. At this time you can buy 16gb of DDR3 for less then $100. I would not hesitate to add in more while cheap for the future.

More HD space for hd pr0n and movies. Really that depends on how many things you like to save. I have a huge movie and music collection so I always need more space.

Video card should be more then fine. If you ever decide to switch to Linux on the desktop there might be some issues with getting ATI drivers to play nicely, but that is a lot lower on the list for you.

I am going to assume that the desktop has built in sound. Generally they have been pretty good, at least for a non audiophile. If you find the sound is not up to your needs/wants you can always upgrade to a dedicated sound card later.