What's the best computer---under $500.00?

[Sandishooligans]

We're in the market.  Our 8 year old Gateway just can barely function anymore.  Want to stick to a desktop model (so I can get a nice big LCD screen) but also am interested in the company's customer service, in case we need help.  Any suggestions?  Nothing fancy, just a nice basic model that's quick and has lots of memory.

Thanks!

[Marcia from MI]

Sandy do you have an Ink Stop near you?  Around here they were selling refurbished laptops for 399.99

[cheryl186]

We have a store here in Cinti called Micro-center.  They have some great deals on desktops.  Do you have one of those where you live?  Or you could check them out online.  That is where I buy mine. 

[Teresa]

Tigerdirect.com is another great online site. I'll check and see what they have. I got my laptop from there last year and Randy has ordered a lot of other stuff from them over hte years. Also, if you have a Comp USA in your area, they are going out of business, so the prices may be pretty decent there, especially after next week.

[Teresa]

Sandi
I didn't know if you had found anything yet or not, but Dell is doing a pretty good sell right now. You can get a basic computer without  a monitor starting at $349. Something I found interesting was you can get a really good system with a 17" widescreen monitor for $499 ($100 off their reg price) and a really nice system with a 19" widescreen monitor for $699 ( $150 off their regular price). We have all Dell's at our office and their technical support is pretty good. It would definitely be worth looking into. I knew you needed a large monitor, just wasn't sure if you wanted larger than 19" or not. For some reason I'm thinking 21" or more, but not sure.
Here's the link for Dell.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/inspndt?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

[Sandishooligans]

Thanks all for your input.  The Dell deal sounds good.  Thanks again.  :thumb: