Solve your computer headache for $449

We did it. We purchased a new home computer for Christmas. I had grown tired of trying to maintain our older system, which was an eight year-old Gateway purchased shortly after Microsoft’s initial release of Windows XP. Our old system had become slow and generated more error messages than I cared to see. I simply could not get the error messages to go away, as the system searched for programs that were either no longer there or had no clear purpose.

Our new system is an HP a6619f Desktop PC, purchased at OfficeMax for $449. For $449 I got a faster system at 2.20 GHz with 4 GB memory and a 500 GB hard disk. It simply didn’t make any sense to upgrade the older Gateway. To save money and preserve the environment, I did reuse the older Gateway monitor.

I am used to buying relatively expensive PCs to handle digital photos and video and hope that I have not been overly economical with this HP purchase. Judging from the specifications, I do not think so.

There you have it. For $449 plus tax or thereabouts you can replace an older PC with a brand new system, solving your PC headache. It’s not quite that simple. I also spent $79 for a new copy of Microsoft Office. Still it is a relatively reasonable solution to what had become a persistent problem.

About Mark Mizen

I have over twenty years professional experience in all aspects of photography and digital imaging. I am Chair of the ISO WG5 TG2 committee responsible for physical properties and durability of imaging material and am currently with HID Global working on systems for security printing for IDs, licenses, and credit cards. Previously, I was Director of Digital Development at Creative Memories from 2009 to 2012 and was responsible for the Creative Memories digital products and services. I also established and directed the Creative Memories Technology Center, which evaluated new products prior to product introduction, assisted with production difficulties, and provided technical information to support product sales.

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2 Responses to Solve your computer headache for $449

Keith House says:

January 20, 2009 at 8:42 pm

Not sure where you got MS Office for $79.00….a good free alternative is Open Office at:

openoffice.org

Does all that MS Office will do and does it for FREE!

Make sure you calibrate that old monitor to your print provider….a good way is to get several 8×10 prints made and adjust your monitor to their output by adjusting the RGB channels and gamma until they match the prints….most video cards are adjustable by right clicking on the desktop and going to “advanced” and there you can tweak the display output to match your prints…..then you will have predictable color….if you are using a Mac go to System Preferences > Displays and it will guide you through the calibration process…..on linux the calibration process largely depends on the video card in your machine….

Congrats on the new PC!

Mark Mizen says:

January 21, 2009 at 7:13 am

The Home/Student edition of Microsoft Office is available through many of the Sunday circular advertisements for $79.95 with the purchase of a new PC. I wanted MS Office so that my system would be compatible with the system I use at work. Another good free system, which I have used, is Google Docs.