Looking to get a new computer and have no idea what I "need" :confused:. I usually only am on the internet, use e-mail, and the kids play some games on it. For Windows XP-do I get Home ed. Media ed. Or assuming not Prof. ed. Also, looking to get Intel Pent. 4. How about Rams? And Hard Drive GB? And lastly, about burners-which is the best as far as numbers whise, 48x, 32x, 16x? Does anyone recommend a Dell? Thanks for the info. Jason :)

For the uses you mentioned:
- XP Home Edition
- 512MB RAM
- CD burner: whatever comed pre-installed is the latest model, usually 48X
- hard drive: 60GB should do the trick nicely, 40GB is acceptable

I use a Dell at home and so do many government departments here at work; I can recommend it.

Dell's do great deals on family PC's so go to their site and see what they have to offer (http://www.dell.com). How old are your kids out of curiousity? If they are big gamers and have to have the latest games etc. I'd get a little more RAM than Need's suggestion.

Dell's do great deals on family PC's so go to their site and see what they have to offer (http://www.dell.com). How old are your kids out of curiousity? If they are big gamers and have to have the latest games etc. I'd get a little more RAM than Need's suggestion.
... and if they do play 3D games please skip anyhting that says "onboard graphics" and opt for a proper PCI-e add-in graphics card.

Looking to get a new computer and have no idea what I "need" :confused:. I usually only am on the internet, use e-mail, and the kids play some games on it. For Windows XP-do I get Home ed. Media ed. or assuming not Prof. ed.? Also, looking to get Intel Pent. 4. How about Rams? and Hard Drive GB? And lastly, about burners-which is the best as far as numbers whise, 48x, 32x, 16x? Does anyone recommend a Dell? Thanks for the info. Jason :)

Windows Media Center is ONLY sold with a PC, not separately. The advantage of Media Center is that it has extensions that can be used to manage entertainment media, like music, video pictures, etc. Some Media Center PCs come with TV tuners that allow it to operate like a TV to record and pause live TV.

Unless you get a Pentium D chip (dual core) you would be better off with an Athlon 64. The Athlon 64 runs rings around Pentiums. (see here: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/index.php?p=2221&tag=nl.e539) It's a true 64 bit CPU that will be able to take full advantage of Windows Vista (next version of Windows). Only the Pentium 800 and 900 series are 64 bit.

For your needs 512M of RAM should be enough depending on the types of games. For hard drives, get the biggest you can afford. I would say a minimum of 160G.

The x number with respect to burners is simply how fast it is compared to the first burners. So 48x is 48 times as fast. However, you don't want a CD burner you want a DVD burner. Dual Layer supporting +/- DVD formats.

I don't recommend Dell anymore because their support has gone downhill. On the consumer end I think HPs are better. They are very price competitive and HP support is at the top. They were recently awarded a JD Edwards top rating.

thank you for all of your help. I took some of your info and went to the local Puter store and found:

Intel 4 3 Ghz
512 MB DDR Ram
80 GB Sata Hard drive
16x DL DVD-RW
10/100 Ethernet
Optical Mouse, Keyboard
ALtec Lansing Speakers
XP Home
17" LCD Monitor
Word perfect software suite
Mcafee(1 year)
2 year warranty
Lifetime tech support

Let me know what you think.
I am now on my way to the Dell website, to compare, I guess.

"Lifetime tech support" - is that free tech support? I offer lifetime tech support to everyone in my city... for $40/hour.

What about the video, what are the specs on that? (Nice system though)

I have no idea for the video specs. What should they be or what is pretty much standard. As for the Lifetime, guess they did not specify if there is a charge and what it would be. Probably should find out huh? Thanks again.
Jason

I have no idea for the video specs. What should they be or what is pretty much standard.
Ask them, it's good to know; plus then you'll have complete specs to hold them to if you decide to buy that system.

Pentium 4 covers a wide range of chips. As I said earlier I wouldn't go for anything less than a Pentium D or Athlon 64 X2.

That's also a small hard drive, but today's standards.

"Lifetime tech support" - is that free tech support? I offer lifetime tech support to everyone in my city...for $40/hour.

What about the video, what are the specs on that? (Nice system though)Hi guys, when you have time, can you check this one out too? Thanks.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=15994&goto=newpost
I don't do much with Windows except as an OS, and use other apps of my preference, so I can't help there..

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/3/3_4_12.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZN)