Time to GET IN SHAPE for Vue 4 Folks... Earlier this month Dell unveiled a new model with a 1.7-gigahertz Pentium 4 processor the fastest chip available. Within weeks, the price had dropped by 20 percent to $1,349...

Man, I can't believe how the prices are dropping! It's almost like the prices are dropping AS the technology increases. My PC was $1900, without the monior I bought separately, and it "only" has a 600 MHZ Athlon. I figure in another 6 months, I'll be able to buy a used PC, twice the power and storage as this one, for probably a quarter of the price. :)

When I bought my 200mhz Compaq (not the one I have now), it was the fastest thing going at the time and it cost $1900 with out the monitor! How times have changed! But I'm glad they have ;). Laurie

funny you should mention this te dell P4 is one of the PCs that I am considering getting the other is a 1.3 GHZ Athlon from gateway unfortunately by the time I add the ram that I would like and a couple of add ons Both systems top out at around 1900+ also probably without the monitor maybe if I wait a couple of more weeks the price will drop or If I wait for the next release the prices will drop like a stone......of course then I would probably want the new one :)

I have learned a few things over the years....waiting doesn't really do much good in a market that changes so fast. By the time the computer arrives it's already outdated :). I've been considering getting a new chip...my mobo will handle up to a PIII 1.3ghz. That's nearly double what I have now and since the P4's have come out, the PIII's are cheap. I'm not ready to buy a whole new kind of ram yet. I have 384 megs of sdram. I figure a PIII is a heck of a lot better than a Celeron...and I'll be able to run a 100mhz bus (my ram is only 100mhz). Should be a hell of a boost in performance all by itself :). Laurie

Even though the P4 chip is down in price It didnt appear to get a very good review...I am also looking at the PIII because it got a better review and it uses less expensive ram than the 1.7 Ghz that I am looking at

Hi, I am no expert but I heard rumours about P4 might eventually work with SDRAMS instead of those bastard RDRAMS that costs more than my old car. AMD is obviously also soon (this summer?)releasing a new AMD4 processor that looks very interesting...it was just released in a laptop version. But you are right Daffy34...one should be happy with whats available...that is usually more than enough...maybe not! Enjoy Sunshine in Life Ole

Attached Link: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5089428,00.html

It must be time to go shopping, eh? ;) *GATEWAY: 'PC PRICE WAR...? COOL.' The story: CEO Ted Waitt just borrowed a line from the Men's Wearhouse guy: "I guarantee it." Rather than engage in a tit-for-tat price war with competitors, Waitt's Gateway is issuing a blanket decree: We'll beat any advertised price on a PC from Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sony, or Toshiba. To support the program, a series of television ads will run with the phrase, "PC Price War...? Cool."* Full story at URL. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5089428,00.html

Upped the PII-350 to a AMD 1Gig + MSI Mboard + 512Mb mem, paid $360 for the lot, give me price wars anytime. Guess I'm ready for VUE4. :) Just got back from the USofA , noticed that while the hardware had a slightly friendlier pricetag, the software was rather (10 to 20%) more expensive.

Wow, hein, you got all that for only $360.00? That's incredible. When I bought my Compaq, I also paid extra for free upgrades for two years-- I have to pay for the parts, but the service is free--- I guess I'd best get on it before time runs out!

The last "brand" computer I bought was an Amiga in 1985 and even that one I upgraded and rebuilt, usually works out cheaper and you can go as fancy as your wallet permits. Ofcourse if your computer training is by trial & terror you learn to live with the occasional error :)

"Of course if your computer training is by trial & terror you learn to live with the occasional error." That's rather the position I'm in hein...I know just enough about hardware to be DANGEROUS! LOL! I usually muddle my way through tho. Of course if I didn't have the help of the hubby I'd be sunk! ;) We make a good team tho...he knows all about hardware and I'm the software guru. :) Laurie