Best Place To Buy Desktop Computer Online [WORK]
If you're looking to buy a new computer sometime soon, you may well wonder how to properly time your purchase to get the best deal. Are there certain times of the year that are better for buying a new computer?
best place to buy desktop computer online
That said, while tax holidays can be an advantageous time for students and adults to buy a desktop or laptop, there are sometimes limits on how much the computer can cost to avoid sales tax. You may get a sales tax holiday on a $1,000 laptop but not a $3,000 desktop, for instance.
For much of the early 2020s, the best time to buy a desktop computer, laptop or whatever electronic device you wanted was immediately. If you were in need, and you found one with a good price, you were advised to get it, then and there.
When shopping for a new computer, prioritize what you're looking for: Do you want the best price or the newest product? While you can find discounts for desktop and laptop computers during the holidays for all brands, you may want to buy an Apple computer at a different time if the goal is to get the lowest price. In other words, if a new Apple product comes out, you'll want to look at what the new desktop or laptop replaced. You may want to buy an older version, which is likely to be offered at a steep discount.
As for the best time to buy an Apple desktop or laptop, Brown suggests typical shopping holidays and holiday weekends. That said, she says she has had particular luck getting good deals on Apple laptops and desktops during Black Friday.
If you're interested in a Microsoft laptop, it's best to stick to shopping holidays and the aforementioned times of year. Brown says that if you don't end up buying a desktop or laptop during the holidays, you'll have plenty of other chances to get a good deal.
Brown says that used Apple computers and desktops are often a great deal. "Like comparably priced PCs, Apple hardware is high-end and has a long life. For this reason, refurbs from the Apple store site can be a great option," she says.
Building a customized personal computer can be quite nerve-wracking, especially for beginners. Luckily, there's help available on the internet. If you want to generate ideas for your next rig, here are the eight best custom PC builder websites that can help you navigate all the clutter.
Known for its wide selection of components, CyberPowerPC is one of the best custom PC builder sites for pricing. Here you can build a base gaming desktop for as low as $769. The site also offers financing options via Affirm.
The company also offers some of the cheapest base gaming desktops and is also known for quality custom PC builds that focus on matched components working well together. Xidax's online catalog is also well presented, ranging from the least powerful X-2 to the overpowering X-10 models.
Snazzy, innovative laptop designs are constantly evolving. Smartphones are ubiquitous and astonishingly capable. So where does that leave that '80s relic, the desktop PC? There are still plenty for sale, and innovation never stops in the desktop market, especially among small-form-factor and all-in-one models. But many shoppers seem to consider desktops an anachronism, heading straight to the laptop aisle for their next computer purchase.
That's not always the right move. Desktops aren't facing extinction, and they're doing anything but standing still. For consumers and businesses alike, these are the most cost-effective and customizable desktop computers for 2023, as shown by our favorite examples from recent reviews. Check them out, then read on to learn everything you need to know about finding the best desktop for you.
With the OptiPlex 5090, Dell crafted an affordable office (or remote working) desktop with a professional-grade Intel Core i5 processor including vPro security technology built in as well as plenty of room for future component upgrades or replacements. While the base configuration is a little bare, higher loadouts are where it's at, which make better use of the multiple USB and DisplayPort connections.
At the other end of HP's all-in-one desktop offerings, the under-$500 Chromebase 22 brings the appeal of an easy-to-use, online-friendly Chromebook to your desk or den or kitchen counter. Its 21.5-inch 1080p screen pivots between landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical) modes, letting you switch from enjoying a YouTube or Netflix video to seeing most of a webpage or Google Workspace word processing document without scrolling. Its small-footprint, cone-shaped base doubles as a surprisingly high-quality speaker, and it offers a high-res webcam and wireless keyboard and mouse.
We've reviewed an impressive variety and capability of desktops above, right? We don't deny that a laptop or tablet is a better pick for people who depend on business travel, or whose computing consists mostly of basic surfing and typing from the living-room couch. But for small offices, families, creative pros, gamers, and tech tinkerers, desktops are often the best choice and the best value.
Google's ChromeOS is a viable alternative to Windows and macOS, but desktops running it (called Chromeboxes) are rare and best suited to niche uses like powering a restaurant menu display. A fourth option is to buy a desktop with no operating system at all and install an open-source one of your choosing, such as Ubuntu Linux. We don't recommend going this route unless you're technically savvy, willing to experiment, and okay fixing software compatibility issues and other quirks.
Macs and Windows PCs are available in all three of the major desktop form factors: mini PCs that can fit on a bookshelf, sleek all-in-ones with built-in (and usually high-resolution) displays, and traditional desktop towers that are bulky but offer room for more or less easy expansion. These three forms each have strengths and weaknesses, and none of them is an obvious best choice for everyone. You'll have to choose based on what you plan to do with your desktop and where you plan to put it.
All computers have a CPU, but most laptops and many cheaper desktops don't have a dedicated graphics processor, or GPU. Instead, their display output comes from a portion of the CPU, a slice of silicon known as an integrated graphics processor (IGP). An IGP is fine for basic tasks, such as checking your email, browsing the web, or even streaming videos. Doing productivity work on an IGP is completely within bounds. Indeed, most business desktops rely on IGPs.
When evaluating a desktop, beyond looking at what ports are present, also evaluate where they are. Are they easily accessible? Towers tend to have a few commonly used ports on the top or front (usually a headphone jack and few USB ports). Some AIOs, in contrast, have some of their key ports hidden behind the stand, in hard-to-reach places.
For most people in the market for an inexpensive desktop tower, there's no single best time to buy. While traditional sale holidays such as Black Friday can net you the odd bargain, when you find a system whose features, price, and performance match what you're looking for, take it home.
This is where return policies come in handy. If you find a desktop with your ideal specifications online but can't audition it locally, a seller with a liberal return policy is your best friend. Just make sure you've got adequate time to return it, if it ends up not working out.
Armed with all of the knowledge and decision points above, you're almost ready to shop. The final consideration is how well a desktop PC performs. We review hundreds of PCs every year, evaluating their features and testing their performance against peers in their respective categories. That way, you'll know which are best suited for gaming, which is our favorite general-purpose all-in-one, and which is the best if all you need is a small, powerful system you can get up and running quickly.
Our current best value deal pick is the Lenovo IdeaCentre AMD Ryzen 7 desktop that also includes 16GB of RAM and dual storage (256GB SSD + 1TB HDD). At $549.99, the Apple Mac mini M2 desktop is discounted by $20 and it's a great option for those looking for a low-cost, small-form-factor macOS computer. Speaking of small, the configurable Dell Optiplex 5000 micro config is worth taking a look at if you need a Windows Professional business desktop.
If your desktop upgrades include a high-powered graphics processor, the best way to see those impressive graphics is with a sharp monitor. Max out your brightness and refresh rate for the strongest, sharpest response (and save a few dollars with our roundup of discounted monitors).
Finding the best desktop computer is no easy task, but there are some great options in 2023. Our top pick for the year is Dell's XPS Desktop 8950 with its powerful Intel and AMD CPU options, as well as discrete Nvidia GPUs. There are still great desktop PCs from HP, Apple, Lenovo, and less-known brands like Falcon Northwest too, though.
We've extensively tested dozens of desktop computers to find the best PC for gaming, your home office, and everything in between. If you want to score a deal, make sure to keep our roundup of the best cheap desktop deals handy.
The best overall desktop PC is the one that will work for the most people, and that's the Dell XPS 8950. It's understated in all the right ways, reasonably priced considering the power you can pack inside, and comes in a variety of configurations to suit work, gaming, or both. Choosing the highest-rated PC isn't easy, but the Dell XPS 8950 gets rid of that issue.
Regardless of what configuration you choose, you'll find something that matches your needs. That's because Dell builds them custom ordered, which is the best feature of the XPS 8950. The options are nearly endless, with prices ranging from $750 to over $3,000 depending on the parts you choose. Some of the desktops come without a discrete graphics card, meaning they're more suited for work than games. However, you can get one of the more expensive ones that include a discrete graphics card.
Dell is offering this new XPS desktop with Intel Alder Lake and DDR5 RAM for those who are in search of the best gaming PC. You can add up to an RTX 3090 graphics card as well, which is a serious amount of power considering the size of the machine. Powerful hardware means more heat, but the XPS 8950 gets rid of it well with optional liquid cooling and a case with plenty of room for airflow. 041b061a72