On Fri, 09 May 2003 12:13:08 GMT, "Truth_Seeker1" <DrewStuffL@excite.com> wrote:

>Hi all, I have a semi-personal question. I am a college student, sophomore.

>I am considering buying a new computer (desktop, $2k). I already own a

>laptop ($2.5k) which I use for taking notes in class, finishing reports

>while at the park...

>I have found a few applications that I'd like, and possibly need, to run but

>that I don't want cluttering up my laptop. So I am looking at Gateway

>desktops. Does this sound spoiled to anyone? My parents have always said

>that I have too much money and that I *know* I have too much money.

>I could probably run those apps (applications) on the 3.5 year old Gateway

>desktop that I have. Doing so would save a lot of money, it wouldn't be

>*too* slow.

>What I really want to know is whether I am in the league of normal college

>students. I want to be normal, and don't want to spend more money than

>normal college students can. Do you think I should buy the desktop?

>If you feel comfortable answering, what could *you* afford?

I have been using a Win98 FE 800MHz computer for everything

(including video editing), and it has worked well for me,

and it has been fast enough. I debated for a few days before

buying this week a 2.66GHz LOADED computer for $700 from an

Aldi grocery store. It turns out to have real advantages for

still digital-image work (which I just started doing), in

addition to the obviously-faster rendering of video - but I

did not *need* this computer (and for anything but image

editing, the old computer was more than fast enough). The

price for what was on it and included was the "clincher"...

I lean toward the "spoiled" point of view for you - $2k

seems a bit much for a computer these days (and $1400 bought

an excellent 2.2GHz laptop from the same source as my most

recent desktop...;-). At least look around for better

deals...;-) And, no-one of "worth" is going to judge you by

the speed/age of your computer...;-)