Buying a computer for my cousin's kid and haven't had to shop for one in a very long time.

What do you all consider musts for a teenager who:
Will want to surf the web at high speeds
Will have a bunch of programs open at the same time
Is NOT into gaming.
Loves music and movies and will want to enjoy both with crystal clear video/audio
Doesn't really burn stuff yet but may want to in the future

I'm trying to get her something that will not be obsolete in a year so I'd like to put her ahead of the game.

Feel free to suggest a particular computer or just break things down to necessary-processor, memory, hard drive, monitor, graphics and sound card... etc.

All suggestions will be appreciated!!

Steve

as much ram as possible, but you can probably skimp on the video card if she's not going to be playing Doom or other online games that require fast framerates. i mean, dvds'll play on anything. are we looking desktop or laptop? and why not a powerbook?

I hate to say it, but you probably want to get a Dell 3000 series or better. People love or hate Dell, but my experience is that the machine is really nice, works out of the box, and it doesn't have any propriatary harddisk partitions that prevents you from reformating and reinstalling all the software you get with it. Plus they include all the software, unlike HP/Compaq where they give you a "recovery disc."

as far as processor speed, even the slowest speeds today are fine, as long as you aren't into gaming. i would say speed and amount of memory are now more important than the processor. Speaking of memory, I would make sure you get 512MB of ram and the biggest hard-disk you can afford. DVD +/- writers are a good bet, too. But at the very least you need a CD-RW and DVD ROM. If you want crystal clear audio/video, you are better off not getting "on-board" sound and video.

Good luck!

What's your budget?

A few tips:

1. If you have to choose between spending $50 on more memory or $50 on a faster processor, choose the memory. A gig of ram will do wonders for a system.

2. If you want it to last make sure it includes new technologies. PCI Express, Serial ATA and 64bit processors are becoming standard.

3. If gaming and/or video editing aren't important you don't have to spend more than $100 or $150 on a video card. You'll get more than enough performance to play dvd's or anything that isn't very video intensive.

4. Never underestimate how quickly you can fill a hard drive. Get the biggest you can afford. 250gb drives are affordable so why not get two?

5. LCD monitors are popular but have their drawbacks. Nothing is more annoying than looking at a screen full of dead pixels. Samsung seems to have the best policy on dead pixels, and make great monitors so I'd suggest you get one of theirs.

6. There was a discussion on speakers here a while back. Do a search for it and you'll find some good suggestions. You can get some serious sound out of desktop speakers these days.

For good audio make sure you get something that does not have the audio card built onto the motherboard. Same for video, even if she's not playing games. Don't skimp on speakers, but you don't have to blow a ton to get great sound, and having more than 2 satellites is more hassle than it's worth. For having many programs open at once, I agree that a lot of ram is a good idea. Samsung LCD's are awesome. You can get a solid DVD/CDRW combo cheap - don't bother getting seperate drives.

eMAC with the 80g hard drive and cd burner. (you can also get the dvd player in it). It's the most basic model that Apple makes.

High functionality and it's great for entertainment purposes which will ultimately be more important for a teenager. Decently priced too.

I'll second this since I found out the hard way. I have a Dell just now and while it's been brilliant in terms of reliability it's complete horseshit in terms of upgrading.

By upgrading you mean motherboard/cpu, right? Otherwise, I think adding a better video card, extra hard drive, new DVD/CD, etc is pretty straightforward, eh?

Wrong! I had to send back my new video card because the layout of inside of the computer was so appalling I was unable to fit the new card. Basically I'm stuck with the out-the-box capabilities.

Wow, really? How old is this machine? I just got one about a year or so ago (4200 series) and the layout was great. they tied off all the cables nicely and all the unused cable connectors had rubber covers. all very tasteful. as of now, the only thing that is original to that machine now is one of the harddrives and the mb/cpu/memory. Everything else was stripped and trickled down as upgrades to the rest of the fleet.

Thanks guys!

As far as budget I'm thinkin' $1500 unless that's really unrealistic. I truly haven't had to price a computer in many years.

I've had Macs and loved them. I've never had problems with Dell but have never had to make any significant upgrades as has Konstantin. She's got a Gateway now but I don't think she cares about brand unless it's something that really has a rep as being unreliable.

Steve

I just tell people to buy the best eMachine they can find if they're not into gaming. I don't see a reason to buy a good Gateway or a Dell if you're just using it for school, work or watching DVDs.

It's just over a year old. I got it last January.

Yours probably wasn't built in Ireland as mine was.