New PC question

http://outlet.dell.com/Emea_Dfo/EuDi...inventoryTable

There is one on there with:

XP PRO
2Gb Ram
2 x 160Gb HDD, so you could even mirror
DVD RW
ATI X1300 Pro (MRMGA2+)

Its £456.

Buy a Dell base unit, tell them you want Windows XP ("I won't buy from you if you won't sell me XP" usually works).

Ignore people telling you you need this processor or that processor; unless you want to play games, render 3D graphics, or edit home movies etc you don't need the Super-Duper Intel Quad Core Extreeeeeemeememe X653478950000000 processor with 234524 teraflibbles and an integrated sheet lightning enema device. Any of Dell's base units will be fine for checking email, using Word, watching DVD's etc.

If you want a GAMING PC, let me know; I spec and build for pretty kuch everyone I know, and also get competing quotes for my company (Local Authority). I can build you a MONSTER (None of this alienware overpriced badged crap :P )

[tigersaw]

Originally Posted by krhall

Dell would be favourite here, if only for price and the fact thatr for about £500 you can get a decent PC and a 19" TFT, sell the TFT on ebay for £125 and you have got a decent PC for £375.

TBH I could get a better spec machine almost anywhere, but its the form factor, low noise and power consumption thats just as important.

Personally I would not buy from Dell because of their poor customer / technical support. (your mileage / experience may vary)

Acer do a really neat looking small machine, but I have no experience as a customer of theirs, as my environment is about 75% dell with a few HP's slowly being brought in.

Try planet micro for the best deals. Very often you will find they have deals on certain units. I build mine own PCs but if I was looking for cheap-ish one I would get it from them.

[tigersaw]

Originally Posted by krhall

Acer do a really neat looking small machine, but I have no experience as a customer of theirs, as my environment is about 75% dell with a few HP's slowly being brought in.

Yup, seen that, same size as an xbox, much like the HP.
None have 2 GB off the shelf though, and come with a monitor I don't need and would have to sell. (unless I had 2... hmmm theres a thought )

What about the phillips version of the HP?

Ebuyer are always worth a look.

http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?strSea...olShowAll=true

I have no experience of Vista but would personally be concerned about compatibility of current hardware and availability of drivers. However as all new pc's come with it installed go with it and cross that bridge when you come to it. If a pc comes with 1Gb of ram then it is always possible to add more if you find vista needs it.

Hope this helps

Tesco units get rated highly. Not the prettiest. But who cares..

Originally Posted by Ashy

Ignore people telling you you need this processor or that processor; unless you want to play games, render 3D graphics, or edit home movies etc you don't need the Super-Duper Intel Quad Core Extreeeeeemeememe X653478950000000 processor with 234524 teraflibbles and an integrated sheet lightning enema device. Any of Dell's base units will be fine for checking email, using Word, watching DVD's etc.

Correct ... to a point

Whilst I agree that Dell's base units are fine for those activities, the original poster mentions using photoshop, which I know to be cpu/memory hungry at the best of times so whilst the latest/greatest "Super-Duper Intel Quad Core" will make Photoshop FLY, it is not absolutely necessary.

Go for the biggest processor and memory that your budget will allow.

I've used Photoshop on a "stock" (that's non-overclocked) Celeron-based machine and to be brutally honest it SUCKED!

IMHO
Pete