Which computer should I buy for my wife?

[jlaavenger]

Which computer should I buy for my wife?

Dell * XPS 410 Mini-Tower:
*Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6300 (1.86GHz, 1066 FSB)
* 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz (2 DIMMs)
* 160 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
* 16X DVD ROM Drive
* 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
* Corel Paint Shop Pro XI - Advanced photo editing
* Windows Vista Home Basic
* One Year Warranty
or
eMachines T5224 Minitower
*Intel Viiv Technology, Intel Pentium D Processor 820, 2.8GHz,
*1GB RAM,
*250GB Hard Drive,
*16X DVD+/-RW Drive,
*Windows Vista Home Premium

I can get either one for the same price.

 

[jlaavenger]

The emachine is a little more expensive. She needs it for Microsoft Office and internet use. Very little gaming.

I have a Prescott 3.2E with Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit on my computer and it's fast. I thought the Core 2 Duo was supposed to be faster even at 1.8ghz? Just wondering.

 

[PCnut]

Yes the Core 2 Duo is faster but 512 ram is not enough for Vista. You need at least 1 gb and 2 is better.

 

[piratepast40]

Something to keep in mind - in the future, she may want to do more than just the Office and internet basics with her computer. What seems adequate and fast right now, could seem terribly slow in the future as you go on to more advanced software and tasks. For most people, it's best to try to squeeze in the extra RAM and faster processor when you first buy the machine. The extra money you spend at the beginning will be forgotten 6 months down the road. Upgrading is always an option but with an economy computer, upgrading may be expensive due to out of date components. Of course, it also depends on if you will actually take the time (and be willing to open up the computer) to add more RAM or other upgrades in the future

I don't mean to sound like a computer salesman. Just trying to point out that a few extra dollars spend now will increase the usability as you learn to do more.

 

[jlaavenger]

Makes since. She has a P3, 933mhz on XP Home but lost the optical drives. They're gone. Won't show up in my computer or the bios.
It has an 80gb HD and 512mb of ram and it's slow as xmas.

 

[croc]

I'd get her that cute pink one that came with its own purse... It was just reviewed on Tom's, should be easy to find...

 

[rammedstein]

i'd go the emacs, bound to eb cheaper, the benifit form the extra ram hellishly outweighs the processor advantage and the 7300le with turbo cache is pretty much as bad as integrated graphics

 

[photographer]

Just my take but I would never go with a mini-tower. Non-standard everything.

As to eMachine v. Dell, Dell hands down. Ever call eMachine support ? Don't bother !

 

[GherkinPekul]

The devious move to make here is to give her your computer so you'll have to build a better one. Always have to stay one step ahead on wives- it balances out the times you will be wrong simply for being male.

 

[rammedstein]

it is a very hard choice lol, i must admit, its like choosing the lesser of 2 evils, still evil, but not as much...

 

[miribus]

Like someone mentioned earlier the XPS is the better of the two systems but definitely needs more ram.
As opposed to either of those you can probably get something of the X2 flavor considerably cheaper than the c2d and with no noticeable difference in the type of apps you mentioned. The cpu isn't as sexy as a core 2 duo but so what?
For that matter, you can go the extra mile and get an inexpensive core duo or turion x2 laptop. The cpu would be more than adequate (at least a gig of ram) and think of how cool you would be for giving her a laptop.
Either way, if you're ever going to upgrade to vista (even if you aren't) 1gb is a must, 2gb is better.