[TaffyGuy]

i recommend you don't pay for microsoft software. in college anything is accessable. if you're buying from dell, get the cheapest software possible, don't install anything important, and just get your hands on 2k as soon as possible when you get to school. in college you can probably find xp (little harder to not pay for), but i wouldn't even bother. for sure don't pay for xp though.

don't get dual processors, thats pretty obvious. you don't actually need a p4 even. if money is an issue, go for AMD. if you're paranoid about heat/stability/compatability like i am, just stick with p3. 256 ram is necessary, 512 is overkill but its cheap as hell with sdram. don't buy a rambus p4, don't buy an SDRAM p4. if you go p4, get DDR, its come down in price a lot. but that seems to be the fad now, so you probably would have anyway.

i'm mulling over buying LCD myself, since my monitor broke and the replacement is misreable and killing my eyes. but i also have a laptop, so i don't even have to look at my desktop barely at all...

you can find reputable LCD's for around $350 now, which isn't so bad... but only 1024x768.

christ i'm gunna get fired. i should really do this stuff on a computer that doesn't have my name branded into it.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by chewmanji Macs are out of the question (too expensive for new ones and compatibility issues with PCs)

For the record, the only "compatibility issues" are if you have software that *only* runs on Windows and needs too much horsepower to be run in emulation -- chances are you will, which is why without knowing more about your software needs I wouldn't recommend a Mac. But other than that, there are no compatibility issues. File formats, native networking, file sharing, etc. are all fully compatible.