[marliee22gc]

We run a small business, and work mostly with the internet, Microsoft word and excel. We have lots of documents and do tons of multi-tasking.
* Our last computer crashed (it was an Acer) and fairly new! So now we are shopping for one that will last! I have been doing tons of research online about computers! I would like to go with a dell or hp! I have found that AMD processors tend to be cheaper than Intel processors, but need to know which is better for the programs we run?
We don't need all the extra gaming and music stuff because that's not what we use our computers for! Please any advice would be great!

[JudyKayTee]

I would go with the biggest, fastest Dell you can afford. I have 3 desktops and 1 laptop for my business - all 3 desktops are Dell.

I purchased an HP about 18 months ago. It was a nightmare - HP "on line" assistance didn't have a clue why it kept freezing and several of the reps barely spoke English. I then hired a computer repair person and she couldn't figure it out nor could she make sense of what HP was telling her. It got so bad - and the local retailer refused to help - that I took the retailer to Small Claims Court. I was awarded the full return of the purchase price as well as the cost of repair person.

I wouldn't take an HP if they gave it to me. If nothing happens, you're fine. If there's a problem you're on your own.

[morgaine300]

I'd like to back up to this "crashed" thing. That doesn't necessarily mean the computer itself went bad. All the hardware may be perfectly fine. It may just mean that something got corrupted or you had a virus or something, and all the software pieces are just not working properly together anymore.

Software problems are generally solvable, unless an original disk got wrecked up or something. Did you try a restore point, or a repair or reinstall or anything? If not, I think you should deal with that issue before deciding to chuck the computer and spend money on a new one.

(I once got a free second computer this way. A lady insisted the "computer" was busted and bought a new one. I asked for the old one, reinstalled Windows clean - it was working fine and still is like 5 years later.)

[ScottGem]

I have 3 HP desktops which have never given me a problem. HP is the top selling brand of computer in the world.

As to your issue. ANY computer currently on the market can satisfy the needs of 90% of the users out there. All but 10% do what you do, Surf the Net, read & write e-mail, do some word processing and maybe a spreadsheet.

Having said that, I would get the most computer your budget can afford. This is because hardware is far ahead of software. The more hardware you have the longer it will take for software to catch up.

So I would recommend a Quad processor (either Intel or AMD) with a minimum of 4G of Ram probably more. HD size 500G minimum.