Replace Your Computer
Last week my wife finally pushed me on my promise to buy our grandchildren a new computer.
We had promised to get them one last Christmas, but I hadn’t had time to do research on what their needs were and for a good machine for them. Since I wasn’t able to actually “work” much last week, I put a couple days into researching machines and found them one on Amazon.
It was such a nice computer (and REALLY inexpensive) that I ended up buying one for our son, a couple hours later. It’s been on the “top 100” list at Amazon for over 6 months, and with many good reasons.
It arrived yesterday (7 days after the order – and it only took that long because I used my PO Box for delivery – oops), and I finally had the opportunity to dig around inside and really explore its abilities. WOW! I am very impressed. Not only is it just a very well put together machine with plenty of ventilation, ports and room for upgrades, it includes several excellent features that they don’t detail on the Amazon site, and it comes with a Western Digital Hard Drive (at least – my son’s did). For what this machine cost, well, I’m in absolute shock.
I’m actually ordering myself one right now (yes, dead serious) because I think it would be capable of supporting **my** needs for the next couple years – and for the price difference between this one and the one I really really want (a difference of over $6 grand, and at least one heart attack), the price and capabilities on this one are more than sufficient to make me wait.
Most computers, including this one, purchased around now will include a free upgrade to Windows 7. That makes this an even better machine, because it gets the free upgrade to a more stable and better tested operating system.
So, without further ado, here’s a link to it: Gateway DX4200-09 Desktop PC
Last week when I bought the other two, they were only $330, it’s gone up ~$20 since then. According to Amazon the computer “lists” at $460 from Gateway, but $350 from Amazon. Checking the Gateway site, though, the machine actually lists for $510 from Gateway. Oh, and there is free shipping from Amazon!
The only significant limitations you would have on this computer (64bit + AMD processor) are alleviated by Windows 7, so I do consider that a necessary upgrade – BUT this computer, with the hardware & software it has, should last **me** at least 2 years, and will likely last my son 5 years or more. It will easily last most “task users” five years, as many as eight years with only minor upgrades (less than $200) over the course of it’s life.
I’ve read the reviews on this computer, and almost all of them are biased against the default configuration of including Vista this close to the Windows 7 release. For the price and capabilities, that’s a BS argument. The other complaints are that the computer “only” rates a 3.9 “experience” out of the box, which means that hard-core video gamers need not apply. Again, if you’re a hard-core video gamer (and most people are not!), no computer under $1500 is going to suffice. And for $80 you could easily *make* this computer sufficient for most gaming needs anyway.
I was thinking about all our clients who were in the market for a sweet deal, as I was placing the order, and figured I might as well share it with every one. I think this one is an excellent option.
Regards,
Shawn K. Hall
http://12PointDesign.com/