Brendocon wrote:[potential stupid question]Are laptops more expensive than similarly-specced PCs?[/psq]
Plus I find 'em very uncomfortable for prolonged use, personally—too much hunching with neck at odd angles.
I'd suggest a basic off-the-shelf with onboard stuff, a reasonably quick processor (no need to go overboard) and then just put a beefy graphics card into it yourself (check for a free AGP slot when buying.) If you're after a TFT it's probably cheaper to get it as part of a package.
In three years chances are reasonable you'll still be able to upgrade the graphics card rather than having to bother with a full overhaul. You can always add a bit more RAM if necessary too, though I'd suggest starting out with 512Mb (and at least one free RAM slot) initially.
You'll probably never bother upgrading the processor, so just get something a few notches down from whatever a company is charging the most for.
Brendocon wrote:The notion of building my own computer from bits and pieces fills me with hysteria and dread.
Yeah, me too in the five minutes between fitting a motherboard and getting it to power up... you'll get used to it if you start down this road, though. Knowing how to switch stuff in and out is potentially a decent time and money saver. It probably isn't worth trying to carry over too much from a system of that vintage though, so would suggest buying a system this time and just getting to grips with adding a decent graphics card and possibly some extra RAM.
One thing: be aware that some systems manufacturers nobble so that only some cards will physically fit into a case. Always get info about free slots (RAM, AGP, PCI etc) and consider an established local firm for the base build.
A local firm would also handle a custom build and do the card/RAM stuff for you, plus be a point of contact rather than having to ship back to a website address if it turned up incorrect or dead-on-arrival.
