New Pc Or Used? $500 Budget

Ive seen used IBM desktops on O.co for $100-200, with a 1 warranty and countless happy reviews. My PC started doing the rainbow stripes yesterday while I watched a Divx movie, my last PC did this and it was dead a day later so I need to make a decision now. It is probably my motherboard, making it 2 in 2 years. Does that seem like bad luck or user abuse?

I watch and burn a lot of movies, lots and lots. I have worn out the internal disc writers in every PC I have so I now use a external one. I would really like to run Windows XP Media, or a OS that lets me watch and record TV. If I buy something cheap/used then I thought I could buy a HP Touchpad so that I could use my PC for media and have the touchpad for kicks. I dont want to spend more then $500, how would it best be spent? I cant buy much new with $500 or can I?

No laptops, no macs, no way I could build it myself.

 

Hi jacquefromla. Are you looking for a complete system or just the Tower?
If you are working to a tight budget I would be looking at Dell.
They have some excellent value for money online deals.
If your monitor is OK then I am confident you can buy a Tower to suit your needs within your budget.

 

Just the tower, and I am hesitant to spend more on any PC. I think I pick up lots of malware and my PCs drop dead at very young ages. I have never met anyone who bragged about owning a dell? I miss my Sony so much, it had everything I ever needed. I didn't know what I had till it was gone

My Viao played videos but the HP I have now doesn't keep the pic and audio in sync.
The HP could handle more tasks at once then the Vaio.

DSTM I don't know if I need faster processors or more memory? I am open to anything. I just dont know how to tell from a description or know what to look for. Something makes a video play better, files open faster.

 

Hi again. The better the motherboard, Processor, Graphics Card, memory, the faster the PC will be, however you are restricted by Budget. Dell has improved a lot and give more bang for your buck.IMO.
To get a computer to be lightning fast costs big Bucks and well out of your Budget unfortunately.
Get in touch with the PC manufactures and ask them what is the best buy they have within your price range.
Post the specs of what is offered and we will advise you which is the best buy.
With processors the more cores the better.

 

I have no experience of buying in the USA...but have a look here:

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=10&name=Desktop-PCs

If you want to burn movies etc, think along the lines of maybe 3 or 4 gigs of RAM and a decent graphics card. Others here can advise on the best processors (CPU).

Note: I have nothing to do with Newegg.com and have not made any purchases from them, but they seem to be very popular in the states.

 

If you are getting the rainbow lines then that's the graphics card (normally overheating)
I wouldnt rush to buy anything new if what you have is sufficient, do you know if it has onboard graphics (do you plug the monitor into the motherboard near the USB slots/ethernet connectors)

or does it plug into the tower further down where the 'expansion slots' are