Recommended sources for cheap quality desktop PCs?
 

I've seen bestbuy.ca, futureshop.ca, tigerdirect.ca and dell.ca, any other suggestions. Looking for a 1 GB RAM machine with at least 80 GB HD. The most strenuous processing will come from getting video data from the DV camera through firewire (so needs a firewire port). Other than that, it's just basic email and internet surfing so decent Sempron processor is fine, I don't really need or want to pay for Intel or AMD's fastest duo processor machines.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Canada Computer
 

If you're going to do any sort of video editing, memory and processor is key. Best sweet spot right now is the E6600 (2.4GHz Core 2 Duo).

the eMachines are actually pretty good and cheap. If you're doing serious editing though, Sempron
 

probably won't cut it. You want to invest in the CPU and RAM.

Yeah and a tad more than 80 gig on the HD... 300 gig only costs about $100 now...

Try looking at HP, they have come a long way and seem to have a better...
 

reputation than Dell now. I have Dell, Alienware and VooDoo.

One problem you may have is that most low end units come with integrated video cards. Spend another $200, or more, and get a decent video card. You will not be sorry. As far as HD size, get the biggest you can afford. get 2Gb of memory and a DVD read write drive. Check the bundled software as some a pretty useless and not really free (trial period). Get Windows XP Pro.

Spend a couple of extra hundred dollars in the beginning and you will see a big performance increase over a basic unit.

Lastly check out PCWORLD.COM for a review of different systems.<ul><li><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123848-page,1/article.html">http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123848-page,1/article.html</a</li></ul>

Have you looked at DFSDirect - Dell's Open boxes and off-leases.
 

I've bought from them before and it can be worth the deal. You might have to add a Firewire card but they're fairly affordable.

Just keep in mind that video editing and gaiming are probably the two applications that requires the most processing power - at least from a graphics card point of view. You might want to re-consider your processor requirements and make sure you get plenty of graphics processing.

Just my 2cents.

BTW, if you are looking for deals, I reguarly consult www.redflagdeals.com<ul><li><a href="http://dfsdirect.ca/search.cfm?a=md">http://dfsdirect.ca/search.cfm?a=md</a</li></ul>

Do they even have 80GB drives for desktops? LOL
 

$120 for a 400GB WD SATA. Wait, I got two for the price of one by accident :)

Plus along with the more CPU and memory, video takes up a lot of space unless you have some good fast drives sitting around.

As Vincent9993 mentioned offleases are cheapest. Here is a set-up...
 

I got this for my lady's sister last week(without all the options listed). There were choices of small factor cases or towers. HT(Hyper-Threading) is the next best(cheaper) thing to dual processor since it fools the system to thing there are two. Hard drive connector was SATA not PATA.
Some of these parts can be cheaper if you look hard enough.

HP/Compaq - $220.
P4HT 3.0, I overclocked it to about 3.2.
512MB RAM = (+ $110 for extra 1GB)
80GB = (+ $100 for extra 300GB)
Built in Graphics card (128MB in normal and 256MB in turbo)
Built in PCI-E slot for better card.
CDRW = (Add 35 for DVD-RW)
PCI Firewire card with 2 ports - $25

In all for $490, you can get a
P4HT 3.2, 1.5GB RAM with 256MB Video card and 380GB Drive and DVD-RW drive, 2 Firewire ports and 8+ USB ports(2 infront).

My nephew picked this up yesterday for $100 off the asking price ...
 

I think it's a pretty good deal, I'm thinking of getting one.<ul><li><a href="http://factorydirect.ca/catalog/product_spec.php?pcode=AC6509">http://factorydirect.ca/catalog/product_spec.php?pcode=AC6509</a</li></ul>

So he got it for $100 off that price on the website or that is the discounted price?