Dell

[Mr.T]

holy shit... have i been outta the market for soo long that the prices for desktops are crazy again?!?! i'm in need for a new computer the the little lady. of course she tells me shes wants this XPS 710 for whatever reason. that thing is like a couple grand! what in the hell is soo special desktops these days? for that kinda dough i might as well try an apple i'm thinking.

[hungarianstud]

i say apple all the way. But thats just me. It really depends on what you need it for.
Why don't you just build your own and get it delivered. The prices are pretty good and they deliver suprisingly fast.
And i thought the prices went down.

[Mr.T]

i haven't built a computer in almost ten years... but if the prices for a pre-built are this high, then no doubt i'll go about it that route again. i'd only use it for office apps, like excel and word. she needs it for photoshop and games which is why she picked that one now that i've read more about it. still seems a bit high even for games though.

[hungarianstud]

I just read this on your computer.

6.9 out of 10
The good: Quad-core CPU brings forward-looking performance; Dell's XPS 700-series chassis remains one of the most unique-looking PC cases on the market; large case means lots of expandability.

The bad: Outperformed by much cheaper competitors; Dell's long qualification periods for new graphics hardware might mean more reliability, but it also means that other PCs have next-gen hardware today that the XPS 710 doesn't offer.

The bottom line: The XPS 710 brings quad-core processing to Dell's flagship desktop, but competing systems from others outshine this system in too many ways for us to recommend it. We still like the case and the build quality, and Dell has even beefed up its support, but among other issues, a $5,000 PC is not supposed to be slower than systems that cost nearly $2,000 less.

That doesn't sound to be to good though. Especially for gaming.
And the reason why this machine seems to be so expensive the 2TB hardrive and the 7.1 soundcard.

[Mr.T]

hmm, i'm sure she doesn't need all that. the one i configured was only around $2k... still seems high to me. aren't apples supposed to be better for graphic shit anyways? i haven't used one in years but i remember liking them better way back in the day. i was gonna get one of those new macbooks sooner or later now that they're intel-based. but that got put off. the girl has to come first cause she needs it more for school and shit.

[hungarianstud]

Well apple is the best for grapics thats for sure. But when it comes to gaming your pretty much s.o.l. for now at least. There isn't much for gaming.
And ease of use is amazing. I barely use the mouse. It makes browsing and working very quick. But i have to admit it is good to have both.

[Junkboxy]

Well apple is the best for grapics thats for sure. But when it comes to gaming your pretty much s.o.l. for now at least. There isn't much for gaming.
And ease of use is amazing. I barely use the mouse. It makes browsing and working very quick. But i have to admit it is good to have both.

If he gets a new Mac and doesn't like it, he can just install Winblows and still use it - there's no loss in the hardware. Apple has pretty good quality for its hardware - although they did seem to toss out a lemon with Macbook v1.0.

They do have Unreal and Quake and Doom and Call of Duty on the Mac. If all you are into is single-player stuff, than a Mac can suffice for gaming needs. I think its the hardcore kids who play against each other on-line that may feel hamstrung by a Mac b/c a game like CounterStrike (?) isn't available on the platform.

FWIW, there's an opinion on Mac games by someone is admittedly not a hardcore on-line playing gamer. The one time I joined in on an Unreal match, I got fragged faster than you can say "I'm walkin here!"

[durcam]

Getting an Intel Mac is like getting 2 machines , you can run any versions of Windows and flip back and forth with ease , hell , I've posted a few of these stol........, err , I mean borrowed apps myself , plus I've heard the hardware is much better than it's competitors......