Hey Windows-savvy people

[trix]

I've had some good experiences with newegg.com (as Triple Zero mentioned), but if you aren't comfortable putting together your own PC, perhaps getting a cheap Dell or something, with a warranty in case something goes wrong, but be worth the extra little $$ it will cost.

As for specs to look for, if printing and Photoshop are your primary concern, and you don't care about gaming or video editing, pretty much anything cheap and new would work great.  I'd go with 2 GB's of ram, in one stick if possible to be future proof (easy to add more), a 250GB hard drive (should be like $50), and any modern processor that fits on the motherboard.  For graphics, I'd stick with OnBoard (built in to motherboard) video, but make sure the motherboard has a pci-express x16 port (most of them should) in case you want a dedicated card in the future.

That said, photoshop isn't that intense, anything relatively modern should work great.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That was spectacularly unhelpful.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Here, I'll just post my own advice:

"Just buy a new computer. Any will do".

[Doktor Howl]

That was spectacularly unhelpful.

You know, you may have a bad attitude.  You should try to be nicer.  Like me.

[trix]

That was spectacularly unhelpful.

I am operating with no knowledge of how much you know about computers.  Thus, I posted specific ranges of memory that might be good for your usage scenario (Photoshop, internet, not much else), corroborated Trip's hearsay about newegg, and, just in case the specific information was too technical to make sense of, included the general recommendation that anything new you will buy, no matter how cheap, will work for what you need.  Used, however, is another story.

Exactly what kind of help are you looking for that I seem to have missed?

[Doktor Howl]

That was spectacularly unhelpful.

I am operating with no knowledge of how much you know about computers.  Thus, I posted specific ranges of memory that might be good for your usage scenario (Photoshop, internet, not much else), corroborated Trip's hearsay about newegg, and, just in case the specific information was too technical to make sense of, included the general recommendation that anything new you will buy, no matter how cheap, will work for what you need.  Used, however, is another story.

Exactly what kind of help are you looking for that I seem to have missed?

I think she may have been looking for a brand & model for less than $400.

But it's hard to tell.  Nigel is mercurial, and prone to mayhem.  She once beat the fuck out of a fat guy, because he stuck his finger in her ear at a bar.

And that's kind of hot.

[trix]

That was spectacularly unhelpful.

I am operating with no knowledge of how much you know about computers.  Thus, I posted specific ranges of memory that might be good for your usage scenario (Photoshop, internet, not much else), corroborated Trip's hearsay about newegg, and, just in case the specific information was too technical to make sense of, included the general recommendation that anything new you will buy, no matter how cheap, will work for what you need.  Used, however, is another story.

Exactly what kind of help are you looking for that I seem to have missed?

I think she may have been looking for a brand & model for less than $400.

But it's hard to tell.  Nigel is mercurial, and prone to mayhem.  She once beat the fuck out of a fat guy, because he stuck his finger in her ear at a bar.

And that's kind of hot.

Ah, well used, if you aren't scared of ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX520-Desktop-Computer-PC-Refurbished-/230617646558?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item35b1e205de

Only an 80GB hard drive though, but hard drives are very cheap.  I just bought a 250GB laptop drive for $50.

I'd offer more options, but I'm late for Math, will return later.

[Luna]

Nigel is mercurial, and prone to mayhem.  She once beat the fuck out of a fat guy, because he stuck his finger in her ear at a bar.

And that's kind of hot.

I still say she let the fucker off easy.

[Salty]

Nigel is mercurial, and prone to mayhem.  She once beat the fuck out of a fat guy, because he stuck his finger in her ear at a bar.

And that's kind of hot.

I still say she let the fucker off easy.

Yeah, unlike that one noob who recommend Linux to her. He sat refreshing the page for her response an when it loaded his eyes rolled into the back of his head and vibrated so hard they liquified.

[Sita]

Here, I'll just post my own advice:

"Just buy a new computer. Any will do".

Pretty much this, actually. If you aren't into gaming with the machine you don't need top line.
Make sure it has at least 3GB memory, because anything less than that will slow you down. And if you are doing any video (not sure if it's the same for just graphics) then don't have an on board video card if possible.

As to brands, I'm not sure really anymore. My laptop's an Acer, only problems I've had with it is due to age (it's close to 6 years old)

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That was spectacularly unhelpful.

You know, you may have a bad attitude.  You should try to be nicer.  Like me.

[bds]

If you already have a spare monitor, something like this would be excellent, and the hardware isn't going to be outdated any time soon: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103369

some other stuff to look out for if you spend some time browsing newegg or other manufacturer sites (HP, Dell, Acer, blahblah)

processor - for $400 you could get an Intel Core i3 - these are the lowest model of the current next gen Intel cores, and are relatively awesome - you get a big bump in performance vs. the older dual cores and so the hardware's gunna last you a while.
- otherwise, a fairly standard Core2Duo dual core (anything that runs over 2ghz ought to run fine)
- the AMD cores tend to come in a little cheaper than Intel stuff (but you do take a performance hit usually) - look out for Athlon 2s maybe

RAM - again, for $400 you can get 4gb ddr3, like in the link I posted above
- there's really not a lot of reason NOT to go with 4gb ddr3, unless you're getting a great deal on 2gb and plan on buying some more sticks, bumping 2gb to 4gb RAM just helps keep the system running quicker, especially if you're gunna be opening a few slightly hefty photoshop documents

everything else - i wouldn't worry about getting a video card, unless you're planning on editing video or gaming
- I wouldn't expect hard drive space to be an issue - you might be able to pick up 1tb like in the link above, but don't let that be the dealbreaker, anything above 250gb will be fine, and if you need to expand you can grab 1tb drives for about 50 bucks now anyway


hope that all helps!

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

What version of Photoshop?

Do you have any interest in building it yourself?

[Doktor Howl]

Get netbook for < $300.

Plug old monitor into it.

Plug old keyboard into it.

Wireless mouse ~ $16.

Boom.

[Doktor Howl]

That was spectacularly unhelpful.

You know, you may have a bad attitude.  You should try to be nicer.  Like me.

What?  I am but a humble country Doktor.