Many are on the move with the latest in portable tablets, laptops, net-book, etc, but there’s still a great demand in the stable desktop market, for people who work at home or for personal use. Also, for parents who may need to keep a close eye on their teen-who is always on favorite social networking sites. The goal is to have a great running desktop, that won’t break the bank in these economic times for the average family household.
Desktops and All-in-One’s are a great choice because for the most part, they are inexpensive in comparable to laptops, and have more speed, memory and software overall. What computer will fit your lifestyle when surfing the web, gaming, business or schoolwork is what you need to keep in mind. Here are the top five affordable desktops and the companies that will help you get the best deal.
Dell: Inspiron 560
The great thing about Dell, you can get the bundle with desktop and Monitor. It comes with a 19 inch (18.5) Monitor, 16X DVD+/-RW combo drive for burning movies and data CD’s. 4GB Memory, 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive, 15-Month McAfee free security software, with Windows 7 (Genuine Home Premium/64Bit) and 1 Year Basic Service Plan.
Price: Starting at $618; Sales price at $499
Dell Website
Tip: The online deals are ‘as is’ and you can get more savings, if you call their customer support number for better deals.
HP/Compaq 500B Microtower PC
All HP computers comes with Windows® 7 software, but can be downgraded to Windows XP Professional. This model comes with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor, 2-3GB, memory, 130/320/500* GB hard drive depending on what setup you get. The prices are $20 dollars difference. This model doesn’t come with a monitor, but they are priced at $130 for 15-22 inch and $127 for 19-24 inch screens.
Starting price at $449/479/519 without monitor.* Monitor $130-179.
HP Website
Options to pick upgradeable memory*
Tip: Free shipping with selected deals.
Sears: Mirus Intel Pentium
If you want to get in on a great bundle deal, check out Sears’ computer department or their website. The Mirus brand has an Intel Pentium Dual Core processor, with 3GB memory and 320GB hard disk drive. The system comes with Windows® 7 Home Premium with a 19′ inch LCD monitor and AIO Printer.
Price: $649 for Printer, Monitor and Desktop system
Sears Website
Tip: Go with a less name brand and you will load up on savings. Remember, it’s not the case but what’s inside.
Wal-Mart: HP Pavilion MS225 All-in-One Desktop PC
Wal-Mart has some great deals on All-in-One systems on Dell and HP. There are streamlined to fit small spaces-which work well with today’s busy lives. This system comes with Microsoft® Works 9, and software for music, movies, and more. It has a one cord setup that will make installation a breeze! Comes with standard Windows® 7 Home Premium, AMD dual-core processor, 4 GB memory and 320 GB Hard drive.
Price: $587.54
Wal-Mart Website
Tip: Only $0.97 cents for shipping at home.
Apple: iMac (All-in-one)
We can’t forget the creative person, and if you are an artist, writer or director, the best way to go is the Mac. It’s a complete work horse. The issue is price or reliably. The lowest price on desktops for the iMac starts at $1,199, for a 21.5 monitor. Let’s face it, sometimes you can’t settle on price when sexy cool is what you crave. It also has LED backlighting, a higher resolution computer experience, and its eco-friendly. It comes with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of memory and Serial ATA hard drive up to 2TB for gaming, editing, movies and so much more.
Price: $ 1,199
Apple Website
Tip: Higher than a Windows PC in price, but the iMac is known to stand in performance for years to come.
Overall Tip: Always get a 2-3 year extended warranty on all makes and models. Many computers can have issues at the first or second year. It pays to be safe.
