can anyone tell me if this is a good choice for a computer

http://www.mdg.ca/en/products/desktops/horizon/

its the one fore $899.99, horizon L. with taxes i think its $1025.

heres are the specs;
NTEL® PENTIUM® 4 PROCESSOR 3.2GHZ - FREE UPGRADE TO NEW POWERFUL INTEL® CORE™ 2 DUO PROCESSOR $290 VALUE!!!
GENUINE (http://www.mdg.ca/genuine.asp) MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® MEDIA CENTER EDITION - FREE EXPRESS UPGRADE TO
GENUINE (http://www.mdg.ca/genuine.asp) MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® VISTA™Genuine Intel® Motherboard
512MB DDR2 MEMORY - FREE UPGRADE TO 1GB MEMORY
250GB HARD DRIVE - FREE UPGRADE TO 500GB!
HIGH SPEED DVD BURNER - Make your own movies
FREE Canon Multifunction PRINTER-SCANNER-COPIER
19” Crystal Bright LCD MONITOR - FREE UPGRADE TO 20” LCD MONITOR
3D Video and 3D Audio Pro Sound
Microsoft® Internet Keyboard
Microsoft® Internet Optical Mouse
FREE COREL® WORDPERFECT® OFFICE X3 (Open, edit and create Microsoft Office documents, spreadsheets. Create stunning multimedia slideshows and presentations. Includes address book and Oxford Dictionary)
FREE ROGERS Hi-Speed or Cogeco Internet on Cable offer
FREE BELL Sympatico High Speed Internet for 3 months
FREE 3 Months Unlimited AOL Internet Service
TRY 3 months of AOL Total Talk VolP Telephone Service

good idea? or should i just wait for the holiday sales?

C$899.99? But with taxes, it comes up to C$1,025.99

With the free upgrades to Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, express upgrade to Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista, 1 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard drive, and 20" LCD monitor as shown, I think it's a good value. Maybe I'll get the computer from MDG probably next month (if the prices remain unchanged)

I'm not sure if shipping and handling is included. You better check the disclaimer on the bottom of the page for shipping and handling issues.

no, i wouldent be buying it online, im going to one of there stores, i live 5 minutes away from one of there locations!


i think i have 2 more hours before they close.

How about some detailed specs.

- Motherboard: brand, model
- PSU: brand, model, wattage
- CPU: brand, model
- GPU: brand, model
- RAM: brand, timings, clock speeds
- HD: brand, RPM, access times

I think it would be cheaper to UPGRADE the system by yourself. Trust me, it's easy. Buying computers from pre-builders like Dell, HP, etc. is a horrible idea. They really like to cut corners with their parts, and the computers are often slow and unreliable. If you really think it would be better to buy a new one without upgrading, then PAY someone to build one for you with parts that you have bought.

Core 2 Duo E6400 - $290
Intel DG965WHMKR ATX Motherboard - $105
OCZ 1024MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz Memory - $140

Total = $535 (Canadian)

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2341557
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2353753&Tab=2&NoMapp=0
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=486747&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

These upgrades will bring your PC up to atleast the medium to high end range as a home/office PC. You could even toss in a Raptor as your hard drive if you want serious performence (for the typical PC user).

Building your own computer is alot better than buying one from Dell or someplace (you have the power!!!) but it comes out more expensive alot of times to build you own then to get a pre-built one. I'd wait for the sales.

Building your own is definitely not more expensive for the parts that you are getting. Sure, it might be a bit cheaper because dell or HP might throw in their own bargin bin motherboard or faulty power supply, but that will cause your system to become unstable and perform oddly. The only way to get a truely reliable system without problems is to built your own. when you buy from dell, you are paying for brand recognition. Why does Nike charge so much more for shoes than a no-name company, even though they are pretty much identical? Brand recognition.

Besides, she already owns a computer. There is no point in buying a new one if you can just pop in a new motherboard with a new CPU and new RAM plugged into it. Why pay for a case, PSU, etc, twice? That's just wasting money. What I came up with only cost $535, which is garenteed to perform better, and costs less, assuming her old moniter/operating system/hard drive/PSU/graphics/etc aren't junk that Dell made. That costs less than a new game console. You could even put in a Nvidia 7900 GT for only $250 more and you will be able to play any game that is thrown at you with maxed settings and a high framerate... but you might need a powersupply upgrade since that thing can draw a lot of power.

Building your own is definitely not more expensive for the parts that you are getting. Sure, it might be a bit cheaper because dell or HP might throw in their own bargin bin motherboard or faulty power supply, but that will cause your system to become unstable and perform oddly.


Sure, it will be cheaper than buying one when people get crapped up parts. A good home-built computer is generally going to cost more.

Are you saying that Dell and HP just randomly throw in faulty parts? I wonder why Dell and HP are going great. Dell's tech support is great from the problems I've had, and I think that helps get them customers. If Dell and HP did throw in faulty parts every couple hundred computers, I would hope that they would lose business. Sure, there is a chance you get a faulty part, but how often does that happen, and when do they turn someone down for repair that does get a faulty part?


Besides, she already owns a computer.


Yes, we established that already. She wants a new one.


There is no point in buying a new one if you can just pop in a new motherboard with a new CPU and new RAM plugged into it.


Compatibility problems will most likely pop up.


What I came up with only cost $535, which is guaranteed to perform better, and costs less, assuming her old monitor/operating system/hard drive/PSU/graphics/etc aren't junk that Dell made.


Once again, assuming that you got stupid cheap parts. Guaranteed???? Hello, $535.00 isn't going to instantly guarantee that the thing will work better than one from Dell or HP. And all of a sudden, Dell starts making Microsoft Windows operating systems? Wow.


That costs less than a new game console.


This is about a new computer, not video game systems.


You could even put in a Nvidia 7900 GT for only $250 more and you will be able to play any game that is thrown at you with maxed settings and a high frame rate... but you might need a power supply upgrade since that thing can draw a lot of power.


Oh, only $250.00 more. And that thing won't do CRAP unless you have a good CPU that can handle that power. Once again, upgrading the PSU costs more money. We want a quality system here.

Building your own is definitely not more expensive for the parts that you are getting. Sure, it might be a bit cheaper because dell or HP might throw in their own bargin bin motherboard or faulty power supply, but that will cause your system to become unstable and perform oddly.

Are you saying that Dell and HP just randomly throw in faulty parts? I wonder why Dell and HP are going great. Dell's tech support is great from the problems I've had, and I think that helps get them customers. If Dell and HP did throw in faulty parts every couple hundred computers, I would hope that they would lose business. Sure, there is a chance you get a faulty part, but how often does that happen, and when do they turn someone down for repair that does get a faulty part?
No, I am saying they throw in low performing parts that you probably don't even know about since they didn't tell you before hand. Does dell tell you what motherboard, PSU, hard drive is going into your PC? No, most people won't even look at that stuff anyway, or even know what it means. So, they take advantage of this ignorance by cutting corners.

Besides, she already owns a computer.
Yes, we established that already. She wants a new one.
But for what purpose? If they want a new one because her current one is too slow, then an upgrade is the cheapest and most effective idea by far.

There is no point in buying a new one if you can just pop in a new motherboard with a new CPU and new RAM plugged into it.
Compatibility problems will most likely pop up.
Not if you pick your parts correctly. There is no guesswork when it comes to looking up socket types and pin counts for the different parts.

What I came up with only cost $535, which is guaranteed to perform better, and costs less, assuming her old monitor/operating system/hard drive/PSU/graphics/etc aren't junk that Dell made.
Once again, assuming that you got stupid cheap parts. Guaranteed???? Hello, $535.00 isn't going to instantly guarantee that the thing will work better than one from Dell or HP. And all of a sudden, Dell starts making Microsoft Windows operating systems? Wow.
All dells come preinstalled with WindowsXP, which you are forced to pay for every time you buy a new computer with them. My point is that recylcing your parts is a good idea. Buying a new computer forces you to pay for parts that you already own, and ones that work just as well as the ones you already own. What's the point of paying for a new floppy drive if you already have one that works perfectly?

Yes, upgrading yourself instantly garentees that your PC will run smoother than dell's or HP's, as long as you know that your parts will fit together well. See, when you a computer from them, you are not told the specifications of your computer. In the description of her computer, they didn't even tell her what processor what going into the computer, just the brand name. Because they don't tell you what's going in, they can put the crappiest, worst performing parts into it and you wouldn't ever know. When you pick out your upgrades yourself, you know automatically that the ones you picked out are high quality, so you know your PC will work fine as long as they fit and they aren't deffective.

That costs less than a new game console.
This is about a new computer, not video game systems.
???

You could even put in a Nvidia 7900 GT for only $250 more and you will be able to play any game that is thrown at you with maxed settings and a high frame rate... but you might need a power supply upgrade since that thing can draw a lot of power.
Oh, only $250.00 more. And that thing won't do CRAP unless you have a good CPU that can handle that power. Once again, upgrading the PSU costs more money. We want a quality system here.

A E6400 is FAR more than enough for a 7900GT. Actually, the 7900GT will most likely be the bottleneck in this case. If you put in a 7900GTX (one step higher), the CPU still probably wouldn't be the bottleneck. The 7900 GT is a very high end graphics card by the way, probably about 20-30 times faster than the garbage that comes plugged into your motherboard. $250 isn't a lot for a graphics card. Some cards sell for $800 (canadian), like the new 8800GTX.

You might not even need a new PSU, since that card only uses ~100 watts of power. Besides, a mid range 400W power supply only costs $50 - less than 10% of the cost of your upgrades.

Not if you pick your parts correctly. There is no guesswork when it comes to looking up socket types and pin counts for the different parts.


Its not about socket types or pin counts, its about software and whether they run well together.


Because they don't tell you what's going in, they can put the crappiest, worst performing parts into it and you wouldn't ever know. When you pick out your upgrades yourself, you know automatically that the ones you picked out are high quality, so you know your PC will work fine as long as they fit and they aren't deffective.


Again, I wonder why Dell and HP are going great.


A E6400 is FAR more than enough for a 7900GT. Actually, the 7900GT will most likely be the bottleneck in this case. If you put in a 7900GTX (one step higher), the CPU still probably wouldn't be the bottleneck. The 7900 GT is a very high end graphics card by the way, probably about 20-30 times faster than the garbage that comes plugged into your motherboard. $250 isn't a lot for a graphics card. Some cards sell for $800 (canadian), like the new 8800GTX.


So if I install Doom or something and try to crank out 200 fps, I can with my "crappy" processor? Sure, the card can hit 200, but if the processor can't handle that speed and can't crank out the movements and input, much less run the game itself, then the processor is going to overheat.

So if I pick up a card from Wal-Mart for 100 bucks, its going to perform worse that the 250 buck one? Going along with your theory, the $250 card is just another crappy piece of hardware that someone is selling to technically inept people.

In my opinion, get the computer. It looks good for a great price.

im not a she. and i got the computer this morning , its really good , i really like windows vista.

srry for double post , i just forgot to mention that my computer broken badly. there was no boot screen , all it says is that the file dat.dll is missing or currupt and i must replace it, and before theres another error message that says i have to replace my primary hard drive. I just back up my files, that i want on a couple of cd's. and i was thinking of buying a new one anyways so i just went for it.

Well ok whatever, but you could have gotten the same thing for a fraction of the price if you had just upgraded.

The only thing Dell and HP have been "great" at is capiltalising off of morons. You don't have to sell a quality product to get rich. One of the main reasons they are so big is because they cut corners on the important parts that no one cares about, so they are able to sell their systems for cheaper, but of course this results in odd performence.

For example, why is it that my 5 year old HP Presairo gets lower benchmark scores than my 6 year old custom built PC, yet the HP has a better CPU, GPU and more RAM? It's probably because HP cut corners on the motherboard and hard drive quality. Man, that computer was the worst descion in my life, other than that time I got arrested for under age drinking (hey, everyone was doing it!)

And the E6400 is a good enough processor for the 7900GT, any enthusiast will tell you that. An AMD 4000 is good enough for a 7900GT.

i cant upgrade if the computer is pretty much broken. i will upgrade the computer i have right now , im thinking of getting a 750 GB harddrive and 7 GB of ram instead, and as soon as the real version of windows vista comes out im getting it, i think its comming out before christmas..

If your computer doesn't work, it is 99% of the time a software issue, not a physical hardware breakdown. A visual inspection will almost always tell you which part is broken, if any are broken at all. If you had simply formated your current hard drive, you would have found that the "problem" would be fixed. So... there really was no reason not to upgrade, unless you have no experience, and no geek friends.

First of all, there is no reason to upgrade to a 750 GB hard drive unless you have a massive amount of games on there. Really, the most you would ever want on a hard drive at one time is 30 GB... because the more you load onto your hard drive, the slower it gets because more of the outer platter tracks get used up. If you want a hard drive upgrade, look into getting a Raptor or other high RPM, low response time drive.

This is what I consider a nice hard drive. Notice the 10k RPM and the 16 MB of cache? This drive also has extremely fast response times, which is ideal for gaming. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2368641&CatId=2457

Also, all motherboards only support 4 GB of RAM at most, so forget about getting 7 GB of RAM. You probably won't need that much until five years from now. If you are looking for a RAM upgrade, buy a couple of these: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1558804&CatId=0

im not a she. and i got the computer this morning , its really good , i really like windows vista.


My apologies.


If your computer doesn't work, it is 99% of the time a software issue, not a physical hardware breakdown.


Oh, get educated. 99% of the time? According to you, faulty parts show up all the time in computers.

Well, if I have enough $$$, then I'll get a new computer, and probably get some upgrades.
and as soon as the real version of windows vista comes out im getting it, i think its comming out before christmas..
shakiko, Windows Vista (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/) won't be released to the general public until 2007.01.30.

I'm thinking about getting a new computer before Windows Vista releases, probably I may a new PC with the OS Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 or Media Centre edition 2005, and get Windows Vista Ultimate when it releases on 2007.01.30.

I found this here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx)

A new PC that carries the Windows Vista Capable PC logo can run Windows Vista. All editions of Windows Vista will deliver core experiences such as innovations in organizing and finding information, security, and reliability. All Windows Vista Capable PCs will run these core experiences at a minimum. Some features available in the premium editions of Windows Vista—like the new Windows Aero (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/default.mspx) user experience—may require advanced or additional hardware.
A Windows Vista Capable PC includes at least:

A modern processor (at least 800MHz1 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx)).
512 MB of system memory.
A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.Windows Vista Premium Ready PCs
To get an even better Windows Vista experience, including the Windows Aero user experience, ask for a Windows Vista Capable PC that is designated Premium Ready, or choose a PC that meets or exceeds the Premium Ready requirements described below. Features available in specific premium editions of Windows Vista, such as the ability to watch and record live TV, may require additional hardware (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/hardwarereqs.mspx).

A Windows Vista Premium Ready PC includes at least:
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx).
1 GB of system memory.
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)2 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx), Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel.
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
DVD-ROM Drive3 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx).
Audio output capability.
Internet access capability.Read all of the Windows Vista Capable footnotes (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx).
[/URL]Review the Windows Vista [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/systemrequirements.mspx"]minimum supported system requirements (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capablefootnotes.mspx).