Help picking a computer???

[90thatoneguy]

Hey everyone, I was hoping you guys can help me out. I'm looking to buy a new desktop and I'm not that good at comparing computers. I just want to get the best one I can with the budget in in which is $500 and has to be from Walmart. I will be using this computer to surf the web and watch videos. Also I will be producing music on it too. I just want one that will last me a long time and be fast. My best options I see are 1.    http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/HP-Pavilion-500-223w-Desktop-PC-with-Intel-Core-i3-4130-Processor-8GB-Memory-1TB-Hard-Drive-and-Windows-8.1-Monitor-Not-Included/34083880?type=search            And 2.   http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Acer-Black-Aspire-TC-ATC-605-UW2U-Desktop-PC-with-Intel-Core-i5-4460-Processor-8GB-Memory-1TB-Hard-Drive-and-Windows-7-Home-Premium-Monitor-Not-Inc/39405639?type=search      Could you guys help me out???

[DaveLembke]

I trust HP more than I do Acer.

The i3 is weaker processing power than the i5

With these systems you would get a better quality HP Core i3 or a lower quality Acer Core i5 

For the fact that you are not gaming the Core i3 should be good for 3 to 5 years of use and possibly longer. I also use audio software and generally they dont need a powerful system to function. The only difference in say an older system running one of my audio editing/mixing/conversion programs and a newer system is that the newer system would process it faster into an MP3 while the older computer would take longer to process to create the MP3 file.

If you were doing video editing and encoding then you would definitely want more processing power than a Core i3 probably. This is not to say that the Core i 3 cant handle it, since I know for a fact that it can because I have edited and encoded video files on much older processors, it is pretty much the same as the audio projects where the more powerful the CPU the faster it is to complete creation of an encoded end product file from a project etc.

[90thatoneguy]

Thanks for the fast reply! I just don't know much about computers. The main thing I'm worried about is the speed of the computer like surfing the web and being able to watch Netflix without it taking forever to load or rebuffin. With the music I don't mind if it takes a little longer to process to MP3. I just want the best bang for my buck since I'm stuck having to buy from Walmart

[DaveLembke]

Only other difference I didnt state prior is that the Acer comes with Windows 7 while the HP is Windows 8.1. So if you have an OS preference that is also something to consider.

HP usually uses ASUS and INTEL for their motherboards which are good quality board makers.

Acer on the other hand makes systems that cut corners in quality to throw a faster CPU at the model to try to make the sale in people who only look at specs and dont consider quality. The desktop systems that are Acer that I have had to deal with in the recent past were ECS motherboards which are not very well trusted boards. Some of these boards may last years while others are bad batches and fail due to lower quality components used to make the boards cheap. in addition to this depending on what board they are using you might find out that it doesnt have a PCI Express slot for example and so it cant be upgraded as was the case with some eMachine systems that only had Integrated video and no PCI Express slots. The funny part with these boards is that the motherboard had a location for the connector to be, but they must have specifically ordered the boards to not have the PCI Express slots to reduce cost and make the system into a throw away when the Integrated video someday is no longer able to handle the rendering etc.

As far as netflix etc, as long as you have a good fast internet connection of greater than 5mb download and 1 mb upload and no one else uses the internet connection at the same time, you should be all set.

[90thatoneguy]

I was wondering about acer because I've heard  good things but also bad things about them, and with hp I only have heard good stuff. I was just wondering because I saw that the acer has the Intel I5 processor and the hp only has the I3. Like i said I'm not too familiar with computers and don't know if that's a huge difference or not. I usually take pretty good care of my computers, I've had a sell laptop for 8 years and it still runs pretty good.

[DaveLembke]

The Acer is a gamble ... yes they do have some systems that are trouble free, but they also are known for systems with problems in quality that dont last as well.

The HP is the best bet if your not willing to gamble and willing to go with Core i3 instead of the more powerful Core i5

The problem here is that the Acer could be the most well cared for computer and yet could still die prematurely but outside of warranty terms to where your out all that money or faced with getting it repaired such as motherboard or power supply replacement. If you were looking at both systems from a consumer report standpoint the  HP would likely be a white circle and the Acer would be a black circle to show contrast in the difference between the brands. White circle being better than a black circle with 1/2 shaded circle being in between etc.

 

[90thatoneguy]

I appreciate all the help! I'm just having a hard time picking between them. Can you tell me why the i5 is better than the i3? Is it a lot better or just somewhat better performance? Do you personally think it's worth the risk?

[DaveLembke]

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4460-vs-Intel-Core-i3-4130

Link above shows the performance difference and the difference is pretty significant between them. From the system that your upgrading from the Core i3 is likely way faster. I feel it would be an easier choice for you if they were both Core i3's or both Core i5's, but the Acer is more powerful solely because of the Core i5 processor.

It still kind of comes down to if your willing to gamble with low quality parts and maximum speed or good quality parts and less processing performance.

With the Acer if you have a failure with it that is outside of warranty terms your most likely looking at a $50 power supply if you install it yourself or a $60-$100 motherboard to replace a blown board. The CPU and RAM would probably move over to a replacement board without any troubles.
So if your willing to gamble and able to fix the computer troubles on your own then the Acer is a valid choice. However if the computer would have to go to a computer shop and get repaired your cost of repair can easily exceed the worth of the computer. For motherboard replacements and full rebuilds if using a different motherboard than original, it usually costs the clients around $120 in labor + parts so if the board was $100, then its $220 to fix a $500 computer. Power supply replacements are generally $40 for 1 hour labor + parts cost such as a $50 power supply so for $90 they have their computer back.

NOTE: This is NOT to advertise or solicit my services, its just to give you an idea of what it may cost if you had to have someone service the computer outside of warranty. Also while I charge $40 an hour, I have seen some computer repair shops charge as much as $90 an hour. But because I dont have any overhead there is no need to rip people off and so $40 is honest and my clients are happy with that. 

[kbit]

 Go with the Acer , easier to fix in the future as in motherboard upgrades and power supplies . HP will be limited to HP parts and you will always have a mediocre machine while in a year or two you could upgrade the Acer for less than $200 and have a competent machine that would last and be relevant { i5 cpu will be able to run software well for a good number of years to come }

[soybean]

Why do you think you must buy from Walmart to stay within $500 budget?  You don't.  Other retailers, OfficeMax, Staples, Best Buy, HH Greg, etc. often run special sales which offer systems at very competitive prices.  You could also buy from an online-only seller such as newegg.com. 

[camerongray]

HP will be limited to HP parts

Since when was this a thing?  Pretty much all consumer HP towers (not talking about the business lines and small form factor desktops) use standard parts, (Micro)ATX motherboards, ATX PSUs, and everything else that you would expect is standard.