what brand to choose for desktop computer?

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Others have posted Dell, and other name brands, but these are highly effective marketing ploys. Dell, HP, Compaq are good 'puters, but overall your best bet is to "build"one yourself, i.e. you can pick and install everything yourself: from the casing, the screen, to the cards, motherboard or you can pick everything and have an independent dealer assemble it for you.

Both ways are cheaper, and you get a great learning experience from this e.g. what is RAM, what is a hard drive, what is a motherboard, etc. It's not that hard or complicated and this experience will you make you tech savvy, and you'll never go back to "name" brand. Ask any one who had name brand then built their own.

First ask yourself what you need/want it for: gaming, music, video, etc. This will help you in deciding what kind of audio, video cards and other components designed to fit your need.

Sure you can call Dell and ask one of their tech/customer support for advice on amount of memory, motherboards and all the other bits and pieces, and they'll give you some nice information, but remember their bottom line is to sell you a Dell.

Also, if you do decide to build, don't buy an expensive item because you think it'll be the best. You need to buy items with COMPATIBILITY in mind. The worst thing is drop dough on a motherboard and have it incompatible with your hard drive, etc.

Drew and C S, above, have responded with honest and reliable advice too...Show more

As another responder indicated, HP and Compaq are both really HP. HP just kept the Compaq name for branding. Between Dell and HP, both systems are stable. I have had more issues with Dells at work, but only when initially getting them setup. For some reason the Dell server power supplies occasionally seem to give a problem. Fortunately Dell is very responsive in getting us a replacement and they, like the HPs tend to run well for many years. Oh, why not consider a Lenova desktop too? They offer some decent systems and often offer them at a lower cost....Show more

Find a site that will let you ASSEMBLE a computer and send it to you via mail.

Brand name desktops have proprietary software and OS's that keep you from unlocking the full potential of your pc

newegg.com is a good place to surf for exactly what you want.

Dell used to be good in the late 90's, the days before "DUDE, YOU'RE GETTIN' A DELL" people sleep on Acer products because they don't know what to look for, so they depend on commercials. Acer products don't come with specialized OS like Compaq and hp and dell and all that, but they have great specs...

Don't rush your purchase, a computer is like your hip bone when you buy it. Trust and believe......Show more

Dell is the No.1 in Desktop
Toshiba is the No.1 in Laptop....Show more

I reccomend you consider a Toshiba. Toshiba is up and coming and has just as good hardware products as Dell and HP or Compaq. With these you are paying extra just for name recognition. Toshiba use to be of lessor quality, but today is as good if not better, and is much more reasonably priced for the same specifications.

A consumer can purchase a machine that is exactly the same, is as good quality, performs just as well, at a lesser price, than when purchasing from Dell, HP, Compaq or another of the well known brands. As I said, you pay for name recognition, which is not something I think we should pay for....Show more