PC help please...........what to go for!

Originally Posted by Blue Flame

If you are buying now then get this on Thursday

http://www.aldi.co.uk/special_buys/s...pid_56411.html

Great value and a good package.

doesnt include keyboard, Mouse, speakers, monitor etc

good price if you can source decent bits though

sorry does include Keyboard and mouse

Originally Posted by Lissa

Can anyone explain what the difference is between Intel Celeron®, Pentium dual-core, and Core™ 2 duo processors and AMD Sempron™, Athlon™ 64, and Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core processors

Different types of processors, each having a different set of capabilities, mostly varying in terms of how fast they are. That's really about as much detail as anyone needs to know about processors (BTW, out of those, probably the Athlon 62 X2 Dual Core's would be the fastest, but only if the operating system you're using supports both 64bit and Dual Core technologies).

Originally Posted by orose

If you want surround sound, you'll have to lay out a bit more cash though - I'd budget about £80-100 for the internal card and speakers.

I reckon you don't need surround sound personally, in which case £5 will sort out your lack of sound. If you want surround sound (and say have it on the TV), you can run a wire between your PC & TV, and heypresto, surround sound.

If your machine is running slow, you don't usually need a new one, you just need to do a little spring cleaning. If there's something missing that you want it to do, but it doesn't, it can usually be added. You don't need to upgrade.

That said, if you're eager to spend the money, and you're looking at those Dell's, buy the cheaper (they'll both do what you want), and haggle with the staff on the phone (don't buy online with Dell). Get the big stick out if you have to so that you can drive the price down, and don't touch Vista. Stick with what you know for operating systems, which is XP from what's been said.

IMO, if you spend £250, you've probably spent too much.