Buyer's Guide - Entry Level to Mid-Range, March 2005
by Jarred Walton on March 15, 2005 1:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Miscellaneous Components
That takes care of everything but the actual user interface to the computer: the mouse and keyboard. (Networking, as usual, will be supplied by the motherboard.) What we include here is merely a standard keyboard and mouse, and personal preference can always play a part. We like both Microsoft and Logitech input devices and are happy to use either. If you have a different preference, buy that instead, as there is generally little difference in "performance" as far as keyboards and mice are concerned - at least in the business market. The only "requirement" we have is that the mouse has to be of the optical variety, and it has to have a scroll wheel.
Click to enlarge.
Price: $25 shipped
Logitech gets our recommendation here due to the better value, although we reiterate that this is a personal choice. The keyboard includes additional shortcut keys that can be relatively useful, along with a good quality optical mouse. More expensive options always exist, like mice with additional buttons, but they can't beat the price of the Logitech bundle. If you like wireless input devices, Logitech also offers several cordless combos that only cost a bit more.
Click to enlarge.
Price: $36 shipped
We would prefer the five-button Microsoft Optical mouse, but others like the three-button design more. For those who type a lot, however, "natural" keyboards are a great way to reduce wrist stress. Cheaper and more expensive Microsoft bundles exist, but considering that the Natural Elite keyboard typically costs $29, the mouse is being thrown in for $7. Sure, that's only about $12 less than normal, but it's still a decent discount.
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rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
The Leadtek GeForce 6600 is $109 at NewEgg. It's only $7 more than your 6200 PCI-E selection.rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
"what happen to 6600 non-GT?"Man, that's an excellent question. I was wondering the same thing.
rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
I think you're socket 939 mobo recommendation is incorrect.The Chaintech board that's $91 shipped (actually $89 shipped from NewEgg) is the nForce 4 board, but it's not ULTRA, meaning you don't get the firewall, the SATA2, or NVIDIA nTune software.
I THINK this is the board you're wanting to recommend.
If it really is the Chaintech ULTRA board, please let me know exactly where I can get it for $89 shipped.
BTW, if you do a pricegrabber search on the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra board, the non Ultra board will erroneously be displayed in the results for new egg.
The Chaintech VNF 4 ULTRA board is $101 at ChiefValue....that's the cheapest I can find it.
rivethead - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
bigpow - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
what happen to 6600 non-GT?Jep4444 - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
you beat me to it ChineseDemocracyGNR, the 9600SEs 64bit bus cripples the 9600 far more than the 75mhz core clock reduction on the 9550also the 64MB 6200TCs are even slower than the 32MB ones due to use of slower memory, the X300 would beat either of them anyways
you guys really didn't look enough on the budget GPU recomendations
Booster - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
Displays - 'costED a year ago' - is that correct?ChineseDemocracyGNR - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
"AGP Graphics Recommendation: Sapphire Radeon 9600 SE 128MB DDR 64-bit, 325/400 GPU/RAM clock (bulk/OEM)"This is a very, very bad recommendation. The Radeon 9550 128MB ***128-bit*** will give much better performance for the same money.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
"PCIe Graphics Recommendation: Leadtek GeForce 6200TC 64-bit, 64MB (256 shared) PCIe with 350 MHz core"
I also don't agree with the PCI-E recommendation. I don't think $71 is a good price for a 64MB 64-bit 6200 when the X300 (not SE) is only $76.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
I actually don't mind this though, but the 9600SE is so bad I hope you change the guide before more people read it.
filterxg - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - link
Another great read. Thanks for the guide!