Black Friday

Last Friday was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that signals the official start of the Christmas shopping season with incredible shopping discounts. While my goal was to buy a Nintendo Wii (at full price) I was unwilling to stand in line for 48 hours to attain that goal. Instead I found some great prices on computer components to help me prepare my aging PC for a Windows Vista upgrade in January.

For those contemplating a new PC purchase I urge you to wait until after the January release of Vista preinstalled on new PCs. The primary reasons you would want Vista is that it replaces an aging Windows XP operating system and offers much improved security over XP. As an example, Microsoft has already released Internet Explorer (IE) 7 but critical features such as "Protected Mode" which reduces the risk of spyware infiltration is only available when IE 7 is installed on Windows Vista.

I also have wanted to take advantage of the Media Center features available in Windows Vista Home Premium to allow me to record TV programs based on episode rather than time slot and channel. I am reluctant to use a service such as TiVo which charges a monthly fee for their service to digitally record video.

Here is how the upgrade is going:

Started with an October 2003 Dell Dimension 2400 (2.2 GHz Pentium IV, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB drive, CD-ROM worth ~$400) and a Dell UltraSharp 17" Digital/Analog Flat Panel (~$400). This system seemed to be good enough to upgrade (I would suggest 1.6 GHz CPU minimum).

The first upgrade memory - I upgraded to 2 GB RAM ($180 on eBay) which also really helped the performance on the current OS. Microsoft recommend at least 1 GB - but I strongly suggest 2 GB.

Next I bought a VisionTek Radeon X1300 PCI video adapter for $79 (sale at CompUSA). This Dell has an Intel 845gv integrated video system and didn't offer an AGP video slot. This new card is an ideal upgrade for anyone that is in the same boat (otherwise a PCI-Express or AGP card is a better option). The X1300 has a PCI to PCI-E bridge with 256 MB Video RAM which meets the Vista Ready specifications and will have driver support. This card also offers a digital interface for my existing flat panel and a TV output for watching stored videos. I also chose to upgrade the power supply from 250W to 450W at PowerLeap for around $40.

On Black Friday I picked up a DVD burner ($19) and 200 GB Maxtor internal drive ($19) at Staples. The DVD is required to install Vista and a larger disk was needed to have room for the upgrade as well as have plenty of room for stored video programs. I figure that if everything works well after the upgrade I will look for a good deal on a second internal drive with 750 GB.

I will need to pay for a Vista upgrade in January and estimate $200. I will perform a 'clean' upgrade with Vista which will install the OS onto the new disk and migrate the data files from the existing drive.

Finally I will also be looking for a PCI TV tuner card that is Vista capable to allow me to capture TV programs off of the cable service. (I will probably spend around $50 on this.)

All told the upgrades should cost around $600 (estimated savings off list ~ $300) . Of the $600 most of this would have to be spent on upgrades on a new basic PC anyway (the Vista license being the one item that would see a discount from an OEM) in other words I will be spending around $600 to upgrade my PC versus spending around $1000 for a new PC with similar specs (not including displays and albeit with newer/better technology).

Before you consider an upgrade I highly recommend that you first download and run Microsoft's Vista Upgrade Advisor. Good luck!

Black Friday sales also yielded some other nice deals such as 2 GB SD memory cards for $35 (Staples) for the Wii and a 360 GB External Firewire drive for $80 (CompUSA)  for our Apple iBook. And my wife was able to land a Nintendo Wii yesterday so the family should have a very fun Hanukkah in a couple weeks (in the spirit of making this minor holiday enjoyable for children).

Comments

[Colleen]

Retailers are trying to make the rest of December black too - I just posted an Office Depot coupon on my site good for 15% off - that's a great deal!

[Marti]

12/22/06
Stopping by everyone on my blogroll.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a glorious New Year!

[Stu]

Thanks Marti - and Happy New Year to you and yours!