[Celebrated]

Hi, Let me first explain one thing. I don't know hardly anything about computers, except for what I hear from people, lol. I decided to post here, because you guys/gals seem to give good computer advice to people and I was interested on what your opinion are of what I'm looking at.

(Let's toss out the "build your own" option because I'm currently a salaried worker for a company, plus I have two night classes a week. Not to mention I like to go out drinking often, lol. So no it's not a option that I am interested in.)

Here is what I need. Since my dual-core HP became the computer in my Mame cabinent, I need a bedroom PC. I have the quad-core in the family room and it's fine, but I don't want another quad-core or to spend that kind of money for a bedroom computer.

Basic requirements:
Windows XP, because I don't own a computer with windows XP anymore. There are quite a few things I can't get to run correctly on Win 7 that are older programs.
Ability to play 720p files, my HP dual-core did, flawlessly, so I expect the same.
Ability to play some mildy demanding games, nothing like COD, but at least keep up with some disc games.
Of course run Office and all that work related crap.

Pretty simple, right?

Here is the one I'm looking at:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

How would it compare to my former dual-core? AMD Athalon 2200XP, 3 gig ram, ATI Radeon 2400 HD video card.

Am I correct in thinking it "should" be a better computer? How's the price, looks decent compared to other websites. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

[fajar]

maybe its,but try find core2duo rather than dual core, ,its better, i3 would be much better. also playing 720p need VGA too, but I guess FX 3500 isnt bad either if you just want to play 720p.

what about budget ? how much do you have ?

[Krow]

Pretty sure most "disk" games nowadays need more than 2GB RAM and at least some sort of graphics card.

[Finestizpro]

i would consider wasting more getting an i3 would be worth it

[ShadowTracker]

Originally Posted by Finestizpro

i would consider wasting more getting an i3 would be worth it

Correct

[pump]

get at least an i3 with 4Gb ram plus a decent video card.

[FluX]

Don't buy that computer.

At most websites you can purchase parts then select an option for them to build it for you for usually ~25-50$. With that you can get better PC parts for less price.

But if you're budget is 200$ and want to play games that are out currently... you'll need to really shop around. Spend 400$ and it'll last you 2 years minimum.

The most important piece of hardware for your needs is a video card. You can go for an old core2duo to reduce the cost of the build, but the video card does the heavy lifting when it comes to 720p movies as well as games.

[BlackSheep]

I still have my old Dell Dimension e520 with a core 2 duo. For video card I got a Radeon HD 5670, also got the CoreAVC Professional video codec. I have no problem playing 1080 HD video, and all the games I've tried work fine, so maybe you could get away with a cheaper card if you want. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ], though it's only available w/ Vista . Maybe you'll get lucky though and find the same system somewhere else with xp?

[ChaosMaster]

Originally Posted by FluX

Don't buy that computer.

At most websites you can purchase parts then select an option for them to build it for you for usually ~25-50$. With that you can get better PC parts for less price.

But if you're budget is 200$ and want to play games that are out currently... you'll need to really shop around. Spend 400$ and it'll last you 2 years minimum.

The most important piece of hardware for your needs is a video card. You can go for an old core2duo to reduce the cost of the build, but the video card does the heavy lifting when it comes to 720p movies as well as games.

I question that. If your spending $50 on labour, that leaves $150 to spend on parts. And i3 CPU new sells for that price alone.

Back on track, that computer isn't good value, not for a 10 year old system. Finding XP on a system is going to be hard, it's second hand market only, which isn't a bad thing. From what I hear from you, consider a newer EEEPC or EEEBOX which runs a dual core ATOM and ION2 which is powerful enough for 1080p. Even better, look for a new system based on the AMD Fusion APU/E350 platform. More than enough grunt for you, it's new so you get warranty, and is cheap. If your looking second hand consider a AMD system, as their intergrated VGA are far more advanced than Intel's integrated dodgness. P4's are crap hole as well.

Something like this might be closer to your requirements:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
But again, that's still a little over priced, as is everything on FleeBay.

[OtakuDao]

That is definitely not worth it & I doubt it'll fully fillfull your requirements. If you have a low budget & etc I really suggest you just take an hour or so to learn about the parts and how to build a computer. Asking for assist elsewhere can be helpful to. Trust me its not hard to learn computer parts once you get the hang of it , its really simple.
For really cheap and long-lasting computer parts & etc you can go to newegg.com .
If you still decide that you rather buy a already built computer I would suggest you get something with a better video card & ram for your fullfillments.