Should I buy or not?

[Moronicus]

I might be able to buy the following:

Maxdata FAVORIT 1000 Desktop Computer

Intel Celeron 330 2.66GHz !
256 MB RAM (DDR 400MHz)
40 GB IDE Harddisk (Maxtor 7200 rpm)
DVD-ROM/CD-Rewritable Drive (LG)
Diskette Drive
Onboard Graphics Adapter
Onboard Soundcard
Onboard Networkcard
2x Serial/1x Parallel port
4x USB port (2x back, 2x side)
2x Firewire port
Keyboard (PS2)
Mouse (USB/PS2)

Installed with DR-DOS, designed for Windows XP

It's new and a little over € 100,00. Do you think it would serve well as a computer that with upgrading some parts would make a good computer for gaming, audio and watching tv? And if so, what upgrades would you make?

The reason why I am considering the buy is because I'm trying to keep costs down and I know that upgrading this one would be cheaper than starting from scratch. Granted, the processor is not up to date, but maybe even with upgrading that I'd still be much cheaper off.

[Freakitchen]

I wouldn't get that system. It isn't a gaming system, and probably can't be made to be one.

256MB of RAM would need upgrading immediately to at least 512, and that's just for decent Windows XP operation.

The real problem is the onboard graphics adaptor. You'd need to add a graphics card to this system for gaming, and that's only possible if there's an expansion slot. Even if there is, it's likely to be AGP, which is fast becoming obsolete as PCI-Express becomes the norm.

I'd really suggest putting your money towards starting afresh. Taking into account the €100 for the system, and the cash you'd put aside for upgrading, how much do you have to work with?

FK

[Moronicus]

Thanks for the quick reply! Ideally the system would be around € 600,00 but if going to € 700,00 max means a significant difference in quality than I'm willing to go that far.

[jayb1234]

Don't know if that will be more than slightly upgradable or not. What motherboard is in it and what available expansion slots does it have. It might be some proprietary board with no agp or PCI-Express slots, might have a power supply that is too small to allow a good video card or uses proprietary wireing, which means a new motherboard would need a new power supply too. The case also might have nonstandard motherboard mounting. DDR ram, so it is likely to have agp if it has any video card slots. By the time you get that upgraded to what you need, you will probably have to replace just about everything in it. You would probably be better off just hanging on to your cash untill you can get something more suitable. edit: 700 euro = $837 US , you should be able to get a decent setup on that budget. Yes, the extra 100 would make a noticable difference in the quality. Are you looking for an Intel or AMD based system?

[Moronicus]

Thing is I live in Europe and parts are more expensive here due to import tax. Still, you guys got me convinced not to buy this computer. In a way I'm releaved because I've been looking forward to building my own computer from scratch for some time now, that way I actually learn something and can say that the computer is aaaaaaaaaall mine, and not buying this computer brings me back to that goal. Thanks again for the quick replies!

Sidenote: after I told my gf that I wasn't going to buy this computer, she said,"I'm glad you regained your reasoning." lol She always thought it was a suspect deal, a computer that cheap. What can I say? Cheap stuff can be so tempting sometimes. :D

[glc]

That computer may be a good deal for a basic box for web surfing, email, and office apps, but for any kind of gaming or multimedia - forget it. It's like buying an entry level Dell. To upgrade it you would have to completely strip it out and throw almost everything away. At 100 euro I'd be VERY suspect of component quality - probably a PC Chips motherboard and a junk power supply.