How much do computer prices usually drop in 1 year?

Your question is a very good one and well phrased. The answer to your question can only be answered after you determine what your needs are. However, even with that, I can tell you, I observed a few things already:

When you say you are looking for a desktop computer that is $2,500, I can first tell you that much money for even a laptop will get you way more than most students on earth require on their most demanding day in college. A $2,500 laptop is actually as strong as a $4,200 laptop and can do a lot more with respect to graphics, film, music editing and gaming, plus components will last a lot longer and be able to do more.

A $1,200 desktop is like owning a $2,500 laptop or better. Plus a desktop can do things that laptops cannot do. At this time anything over a 2.0GHz is for faster film editing and graphics or gaming. Only if you are a serious gamer will you need to buy a desktop over $1,000

If you are a typical college student, than your needs are not that great. Creating documents and reports, chatting, websurfing, music, DVD's, a little film editing and pictures. If you don't need film editing and not a gamer $2,500 is serious overkill and a lot of money down the tubes.

If your battery, heat sink and motherboard fried, my guess if you spent more money in repairs than what you paid for your computer and frankly, that should have never happened. I had a Dell that was suppose to be specially made with robust hardware to last for a long time. After 4 years the motherboard blew. Laptops should last you 5 years.

An Apple computer MacBook Pro laptop typically sell for $500 less than when it originally hits the market for $2,000. Since PCs laptops are generally made with cheaper hardware the laptops are of poorer quality and breakdown more faster. Unfortunately you purchased your last Laptop from a company at a time when a great company was sold an owner who was clueless and running the company into the ground. The original owner who started Dell has since repurchased his company and is trying rebuilding it to put the quality and service back in-he cannot stand seeing things happen to the company he gave his sweat ad blood. You inadvertently were caught in the time period under the clueless owner.

If you can use a desktop, I would highly recommend it. The desktop will last longer, run better, be of better quality and enable you to swap out better parts

Only thing I would recommend to you, is to try to study what you want to use your computer for. You can also get educational discounts.

I personally like Macs, but if you are on a budget and a college student, there are a lot of PCs that should certainly suit your needs if you don't have gaming as your top priority. Most Desktops last 10 years, most PC laptops are replaced after 3.5 years, Macs laptops are at 7 years.

If you do buy something soon, make sure it has an eSata hard drive. If you are not a gamer, you'll NEVER need the high end processors and graphics cards that are being sold.

You had a very bad experience owning that Dell. I would strongly suggest, putting those stressful experience in perspective...That is very rare. There are a lot of good deals out there that will suit your needs for a lot less with the quality you require. You are on the right track, but don't need to spend all that money.

If you do get a Desktop PC, I would recommend getting XP over Vista. Unless you're a gamer for very specific appications, it's nothing you need to experience.

First off, go home built. It will save you at least 500$

Next, with moore's law, the hardware now will be "obsolete" in at most 18 months, bringing down the price. But overall, for a simular system, it could go down about 1000-1500$ by next year, given home built, but you may be able to pick one up for around the same price in a back to school secial.

once you would be doing a good number of gaming you're maximum in all probability going to decide for 4gb of ram, you ought to in all probability get away with 2gb yet maximum extra moderen video games and fairly on line ones hog up a good number of supplies. Vista and domicile windows 7 by themselves can use as much as 1gb of ram on their own at circumstances. a sturdy twin or quad middle processor 2.5ghz and up must be wonderful does not somewhat count variety besides the fact that if it incredibly is AMD or Intel. AMD is the extra inexpensive path and provides merely just about as good of overall performance in video games as Intel. Intel overclocks extra proper once you're into that. yet all that incredibly does for the main area is provide you a miles better variety to gloat approximately in benchmarks and does not somewhat supply any realworld overall performance features that your'e going to be conscious.