Buying New Computer
 

Thinking it may be time to replace the four year old Dell desktop and want input.
The Dell is fine for its purpose but lacks RAM and hard disk capacity.
What should I include beyond >8meg RAM and 256GB SSD, USB ports and HDMI?

What's the goal?

Need a desktop?

What monitor(s) are you using today?

How much heavy lifting will the machine be doing?

Tax software H&R Block, Excel, Word, storing several GIG of mp3, all run adequate on current Dell tower. Multiple apps can be slow with only 8G memory.
Using MS One Drive cloud storage.
Have another tower system want to use as network server when I get time to reformat the diskdrive.

Since you are talking about format... server... and stuff that means that you know what you are talking about... just get anything you want to buy, now a days the quality standards are way better than 20 years ago when you really needed to pay attention to what you were getting.

The only advice i could give you to get a good warranty with it and consider built one aswell because those have more chances to be upgradeable than factory made stuff.

Can't remember seeing any Zwift rides on your Strava feed, but if it's something you might use in the future, you'll want a decent graphics card.

keep an eye on slickdeals.com for random deals

For PC, I like the Intel NUCs.
For Mac, maybe check out the new mini.

PC not Mac.


"built one aswell"
Don't care to build computers anymore, the Dell and HP purchased both have lasted well enough.
Looking on Amazon at referbs and some are intriguing.

tiger direct.. don't spend too much $$ they're all disposable anyway..

Try Dell outlet. Same warranty as new. The newer SSD's are lightning fast.

true...I was going to suggest getting new ram sticks and samsung EVO SSD but the way Dell discounts things, maybe cheaper just to get a new machine...

Just FYI, I bought a Beelink fanless desktop computer for specific use. It's about the size of a sandwich and has a 4k video card. It comes with Windows 10 OS, two HDMI, four USB, one of which I use for the wireless keyboard/mouse. I use it for my Zwift setup but it's basically a computer that stays connected to the TV all the time. I just leave it in sleep mode connected to HDMI 2. Graphics are sharp on my 4K TV.

Computers have become so reasonable that you can typically get more than what you need for a decent price. For what you are doing with it, an Intel core i3 or i5 would be great. You really don’t need an i7. The 256gb ssd is probably not going to be enough because Windows and your programs will take up about 100gb, so I would recommend 500gb because they are not much more expensive than 256. 8gb ram should be enough, but 16 is noticeably much better. A 2-4gb video card is worth getting over integrated graphics in case you do want to use it for any type of games or video. If you are not interested in that, the new integrated graphics are supposedly quite decent. If you already have a monitor, make sure the video card has a matching type of connection (dvi-d, HDMI, etc). If you belong to Costco, you can often find good prices with a doubled warranty. Or you could stop into a place like Best Buy and usually find a decent deal.