desktop pc.....

[DJmissbehaving]

looking to buy a desktop pc for my mums christmas.....just wondered if anyone can give tips as to whats good and whats not?? What ive to look out for?? It will only be used for internet access mainly and i will use it to avoid using my laptop as much.....much apreciated if someone could get back to me. Thanx

[groove on discos]

meh dells are good for cash and so are acer... owned one acer... lasted like 10 years and its great... got a new dell... its mega quick and my freinds got a new acer.. ye its really good... so go for them, just dont go lower than like 300 pounds or it will be bad =p

[Jiggles]

What would be the budget?

[discomobiledj]

PC World = Quick purchase and receive, normally good sized HDD

Dell = Take 2 - 3 weeks for delivery but built to your specification.

I'd actully go to PC World at the moment, some good deals at the moment

[Jiggles]

Dont got PC world! They sell rubbish IMO. The amount of times i have fixed a PC world PC is unbelievable! Dells are possibly the best pre built.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Dont got PC world! They sell rubbish IMO. The amount of times i have fixed a PC world PC is unbelievable! Dells are possibly the best pre built.


PC World are a reseller of PCs including most of the biggest makes in the world, so how do they sell rubbish?

[A1DL]

PC World are a reseller of PCs including most of the biggest makes in the world, so how do they sell rubbish?

I don't imagine they sell rubbish, as most of their SKUs are bog-standard across all the popular high street retailers. However, IMHO, the competence/knowledge/attitude of the staff is generally very poor.

Oi, u want fries wiv em floppy disks mate?
Av a nice day innit!

[DJmissbehaving]

What would be the budget?

Around 300-350....

[Excalibur]

PC World = Quick purchase and receive, normally good sized HDD

Dell = Take 2 - 3 weeks for delivery but built to your specification.

I'd actully go to PC World at the moment, some good deals at the moment
My local one told me there would be some good deals in a couple of weks or so, before Xmas. ;) ;)


PC World are a reseller of PCs including most of the biggest makes in the world, so how do they sell rubbish?
Gear's OK, as for the staff sometimes........................


I don't imagine they sell rubbish, as most of their SKUs are bog-standard across all the popular high street retailers. However, IMHO, the competence/knowledge/attitude of the staff is generally very poor.

Oi, u want fries wiv em floppy disks mate?
Av a nice day innit!

Quite! Prices are fine, kit is branded names, t's the after sales and Customer Service which can be the weak link.

[Jay]

PC World don't sell rubbish, just often charge way too much, £40 to change some ram? No thanks....

[A1DL]

PC World don't sell rubbish, just often charge way too much, £40 to change some ram? No thanks....

Is that expensive? Sounds fair to me.

Our IT support company would charge us a minimum half an hour's labour for a job like that, plus a call out of £90 if they did the job on site. Which again, isn't unfair in my book.

[Jay]

Changing Ram takes about 1 minute and thats if you take your time...

Its about as hard as chaging a lightbulb

[Vectis]

Around 300-350....

Hmmm. Not quite Mac Mini territory. Shame :o

[One Vision]

Around 300-350....

For that kind of money you can get a decent business based PC from Dell.
I recently purchased one for a customer and its a cracker, don't be put of with it only being a 2GHz processor the spec on the processor is very high and not one of the cheaper options that some others provide.
http://i.dell.com/images/global/products/superview/sv_vostro_desk.jpg
Order Details




Product
Unit Price
Quantity
Price



Vostro™ 200 MT(D092016)
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E2180 Processor (2.00GHz,800MHz,1MB cache), Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1 - English
£ 301.23
1
£ 301.23

Item
Description

Base
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E2180 Processor (2.00GHz,800MHz,1MB cache)

Memory
1024MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512]

Keyboard
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)

Monitor
19in E198WFP WIDESCREEN UK/Irish Black (1440 x 900) TCO99 DVI-D

Video Card
Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X3100

Hard Drive
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache

Floppy Drives and Additional Storage Devices
19-in-1 Media Card Reader

Microsoft Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1 - English

Mouse
Dell 2 Button USB Optical Mouse

Modem
No Modem

Optical Devices
16x DVD-ROM Drive

Sound Cards
Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio

Speakers
Creative Labs Inspire T10 Speakers Black UK - 'Designed for Dell'

Shipping Documents
English Documentation with UK/Irish Power Cord

Gedis Bundle Reference
D092016

Microsoft Application Software
Microsoft® Works 9.0 - English

Standard Warranty
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day

Enhanced Service Packs
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Onsite - No Upgrade Selected

CompleteCare
Declined CompleteCare

Protect your new PC
McAfee® Total Protection for Small Business - 30 Day Trial Protection - English

Order Information
Vostro Desktop Order - UK

Dell System Media Kit
Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)

Online Promotion Option for GEDIS Configs
Dell Internet Order



Total excl. VAT VAT Rate VAT Total incl. VAT
Sub-total(s): £ 301.23 17.50% £ 52.72 £ 353.95
Delivery Charge: £ 20.00 17.50% £ 3.50 £ 23.50
Delivery Discount: -£ 20.00 17.50% -£ 3.50 -£ 23.50
Total Price: £ 301.23 £ 52.72 £ 353.95

[theoloyla]

meh dells are good for cash and so are acer... owned one acer... lasted like 10 years and its great... got a new dell... its mega quick and my freinds got a new acer.. ye its really good... so go for them, just dont go lower than like 300 pounds or it will be bad =p

You started using a computer when you were 2?:eek: :confused:

[501damian501]

most people are going for dual cores, with a min of 2gb ram, a computer which runs vista i would be looking at 2gb to 3gb of ram, also a nice sata hard drive size probley 160gb, amd athlon x2 are good value processors same with intel dual core, if your budget can go this far, maybe look at an intel core 2 duo.

[501damian501]

Changing Ram takes about 1 minute and thats if you take your time...

Its about as hard as chaging a lightbulb

some people dont have the knowledge to change ram.

[A1DL]

some people dont have the knowledge to change ram.

It's not just about having the knowledge, within a company there's also the authority and insurance aspect to consider.

In my businesses, all IT hardware and software work is carried out by an approved support company, whom are familiar with our installations.

If, for whatever reason, a telesales assistant decided to take the lid off a computer to replace the rams and suffered injury as a result, I wonder if our employer's liability insurance would cover someone carrying out a task inappropriate to their job role and normal duties. I doubt it somehow!

[DJmissbehaving]

For that kind of money you can get a decent business based PC from Dell.
I recently purchased one for a customer and its a cracker, don't be put of with it only being a 2GHz processor the spec on the processor is very high and not one of the cheaper options that some others provide.
http://i.dell.com/images/global/products/superview/sv_vostro_desk.jpg
Order Details




Product
Unit Price
Quantity
Price



Vostro™ 200 MT(D092016)
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E2180 Processor (2.00GHz,800MHz,1MB cache), Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1 - English
£ 301.23
1
£ 301.23

Item
Description

Base
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E2180 Processor (2.00GHz,800MHz,1MB cache)

Memory
1024MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512]

Keyboard
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)

Monitor
19in E198WFP WIDESCREEN UK/Irish Black (1440 x 900) TCO99 DVI-D

Video Card
Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X3100

Hard Drive
160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache

Floppy Drives and Additional Storage Devices
19-in-1 Media Card Reader

Microsoft Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1 - English

Mouse
Dell 2 Button USB Optical Mouse

Modem
No Modem

Optical Devices
16x DVD-ROM Drive

Sound Cards
Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio

Speakers
Creative Labs Inspire T10 Speakers Black UK - 'Designed for Dell'

Shipping Documents
English Documentation with UK/Irish Power Cord

Gedis Bundle Reference
D092016

Microsoft Application Software
Microsoft® Works 9.0 - English

Standard Warranty
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day

Enhanced Service Packs
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Onsite - No Upgrade Selected

CompleteCare
Declined CompleteCare

Protect your new PC
McAfee® Total Protection for Small Business - 30 Day Trial Protection - English

Order Information
Vostro Desktop Order - UK

Dell System Media Kit
Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)

Online Promotion Option for GEDIS Configs
Dell Internet Order



Total excl. VAT VAT Rate VAT Total incl. VAT
Sub-total(s): £ 301.23 17.50% £ 52.72 £ 353.95
Delivery Charge: £ 20.00 17.50% £ 3.50 £ 23.50
Delivery Discount: -£ 20.00 17.50% -£ 3.50 -£ 23.50
Total Price: £ 301.23 £ 52.72 £ 353.95

This sounds pretty good....where did you get it from??
I do prefer windows xp but i dont suppose its matters....just a personal preference

[discomobiledj]

That would be dell

[501damian501]

It's not just about having the knowledge, within a company there's also the authority and insurance aspect to consider.

In my businesses, all IT hardware and software work is carried out by an approved support company, whom are familiar with our installations.

If, for whatever reason, a telesales assistant decided to take the lid off a computer to replace the rams and suffered injury as a result, I wonder if our employer's liability insurance would cover someone carrying out a task inappropriate to their job role and normal duties. I doubt it somehow!

if you follow the correct steps and have a basic knowledge, injury will most probley not happen, i cant it wont happen, because you dont know whats going to happen.

[Corabar Steve]

& if you don't know what you're doing??

[Arnold_disco]

I would suggest a Dell Ubuntu computer.

[501damian501]

i would suggest, asus motorboard, kingston ram, maxtor harddrive, intel dual core processor, antec case with power supply and fans, ect ect, last you a century :D

[One Vision]

most people are going for dual cores, with a min of 2gb ram, a computer which runs vista i would be looking at 2gb to 3gb of ram, also a nice sata hard drive size probley 160gb, amd athlon x2 are good value processors same with intel dual core, if your budget can go this far, maybe look at an intel core 2 duo.
Ordanarily I would absolutely agree with using at least 2gig of ram when using Vista.
If you look at the refresh rate of the ram its not cheep 1gig ram but DDR2 667MHz Dual Channel. which is very good spec so you don't tend to get the usual refresh lag.
Even with Vista installed its absolutely rapid even when multi tasking.
However if it was mine yes I would have gone for at least 2gig ram and a higher processor due to doing graphic design etc.

[501damian501]

ram rates for vista.

Windows Vista Edition 32-bit --------Windows 64-bit
Windows Vista Ultimate 4 GB ------------------128 GB
Windows Vista Enterprise 4 GB-----------------128 GB
Windows Vista Business 4 GB -------------------128 GB
Windows Vista Home Premium 4 GB------------16 GB
Windows Vista Home Basic 4 GB ------------------8 GB
Windows Vista Starter ---1 GB ----------------------N/A

[One Vision]

So were did you google them figures from?


Vista Home Basic
System Requirements
Operating System

Processor
Required 1 GHz or faster processor

Memory
Required 512MB of RAM or more

Hard Disk
Required 20 GB hard disk drive with at least 15 GB of available space

Display
Required Support for Super VGA graphics

[Jiggles]

Considering that a 32 Bit OS will only take a max of 3GB!

[501damian501]

over 3gb young lad ! you can install shed loads of memory in 32Bit systems but it wont see more than 4gb and will only show about 3.2gb, if i remember rightly it has something to do with video memory addressing, in some computers only about 3.2gb will show but 4gb is there so dont worry.

i have just checked the laptop memory and its vista home premium 32bit with service pack 1 and it shows the full 3gb of ram it has installed inside the beast.

[501damian501]

So were did you google them figures from?


Vista Home Basic
System Requirements
Operating System

Processor
Required 1 GHz or faster processor

Memory
Required 512MB of RAM or more

Hard Disk
Required 20 GB hard disk drive with at least 15 GB of available space

Display
Required Support for Super VGA graphics

your rates here are for minimum, the rates i posted are maximum :D

[Arnold_disco]

Why Vista?

[Jiggles]

why Linux?

[Arnold_disco]

why Linux?

Faster, Free, More stable the list goes on

[Jiggles]

Same could be said about Mac. But this is another discussion!

[Arnold_disco]

Same could be said about Mac. But this is another discussion!

£400 at the cheapest. Its just not worth it.

[Jiggles]

It is. If you want something that will last its worth it. No screw ups on my so far and iv had it for almost a year. Im still on my first install. Unlike when i had Ubuntu installed for one week it had to be reinstalled a few times! Gave up after that.

[Arnold_disco]

It is. If you want something that will last its worth it. No screw ups on my so far and iv had it for almost a year. Im still on my first install. Unlike when i had Ubuntu installed for one week it had to be reinstalled a few times! Gave up after that.

I took me a few installs to find out what not to do! But for the average user its fine.

[discomobiledj]

I've been using Vista Ultimate for almost a year now and I've not had one problem. It's quick, easy to use, downloads every update needed without me having to tell it too.

This is far better than XP and would never go back.