If you're reading this, and you know literally anything about shopping for a computer without having a nervous breakdown, could you let me know? I'm ridiculously out of touch.
Here's the thing --
I'm looking at buying a desktop computer, and I DESPERATELY need help figuring out what to get. My budget is really tight, I haven't had a desktop of any kind for almost a decade, and I'm completely lost looking at my options. Anybody want to help a confused elder millennial get out of the dark ages?
My current budget is a firm $500, unfortunately, but I don't know how much that can buy technology wise these days. I'm willing to spend that 500 on a very basic no-frills machine and upgrade it as I go, if someone has the patience to walk me through it.
I want a machine that's
- Able to record, import, edit and export media, video, audio or both, without choking.
- Able to run Twitch, OBS, and Steam simultaneously, without choking.
- Compatible with the Arturia midi keyboard I bought in uhhhh 2017? 18? I never managed to get it working before my last computer melted.
- Running a stripped down OS that's both flexible and intuitive. (I'm terrified of Linux, as I've failed to get Mint running several times in the past. I hate trying to function on Mac. In a perfect world, I would run Windows 7 forever. Is there a Libre OS, in the same vein as LibreOffice and LibreWolf? Open source Alternatives welcome, if they don't require a ton of tweaks to run things like Steam, OBS, Ableton, or Sony Vegas.)
Pipe dream: Built-in optical CDR/W & DVD drive. Do they exist anymore? Can I install one myself later, without the risk of bricking the whole thing?
Confused: RAM? Graphics card? Sound card? SSD? Processors? Help me, I've been living in Android World for almost a decade.
Stuff I know I don't want:
- LEDs everywhere
- "Highly customizeable," as in "You'll need a comp sci degree to get it to run an *.exe, but it's Soooo intuitive~~~"
- Complicated command-line based installations, or a UI that requires a lot of back end tweaking and coding. (As previously stated, Linux freaks me out. Hell, even GitHub makes me nervous if I'm having trouble finding a particular piece of software)
