blair

Okay guys - I've had a quick look and this hasnt been asked for at least a couple of weeks

Does anyone have any recomendations for good online retailers of out of the box plug it in and turn it on PC's ?

I know I could get it cheaper buying components and building it myself but I quite frankly can't be arsed - the last time I did that (a good few years ago) I ended up with all sorts of hardware interupts and clashes

The machine will be the core of my home wireless network so needs to be reasonably speedy, plenty RAM and at least 80Gig drive. Preferably also have good graphics / maybe a TV card, at least Dolby 5.1 either on the motherboard or separate sound card and obviously be pretty damn good for some online gaming

Anyone care to point me in the right direction ?

Ta

HankScorpio

http://www.overclockers.co.uk were doing pretty good deals on shuttles, probably worth a look for bigger boxes too.
I've bought a fair bit with no problems but I have heard their returns service lets them down a bit...

andymar00

Dell will be the cheapest if you can find what you want off the shelf but if you change or add components they get expensive, also try www.meshcomputers.com

Andy

blair

Thanks for the rec's I'll have a look later today

David Lock

I found Evesham most helpful and I am definitely an "unpack the box and plug it in type". DL

halowrx

http://www.carrera.co.uk/

Be surprised if you can beat the specs and prices - also best of both worlds because u choose what u want and the price changes accordingly.

So u get ot build without the build

paulr

I've heard good things about Evesham computers,like they are better than most when it comes to upgrading.

deano555

Just bought a new system from Mesh all top notch components, well pleased.
I originally ordered a Dell system but found that they had moved all their sales, customer support and technical help to Deli in India, and found it veryn difficult to understand telephone conversations.
One tip though, find the system you want and then ring them to negotiate price, I got free delivery and about £200 worth of sound and graphics card upgraded for around £50.

cheers Deano

imlach

I know you don't want to build one, but I just bought a Shuttle and built it up myself in under 1 hour......dead easy, and access to thie Shuttle case is terrific as both cover lifts off and allows easy access from both sides....

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=601387

Add in a Athlon 2500+ processor (£50), 160Gb Seagate Barracuda HD (£80), 512Mb memory (£50), and your choice of DVD/CD drive.....and you've got a nice small form factor box. Built mine for under £300 as had an old cd-rw to put in it (it forms the basis of my CCTV system and is going in the loft).

Has Dolby 5.1, and tv-out, dual monitor output, and Geoforce II graphics, and 4 x USB2, and 2 x Firewire, and 1 x LAN all built in.

Only 1 PCI slot, but with all the above on the motherboard, you prob don't need much in the way of expansion....

blair

Hmm - for that sort of price difference I could be tempted to build from components

I keep hearing that its a lot easier to go down the component route compared to 5 years ago - was it really just a matter of plugging in the components and then firing up the PC with driver discs to hand or was there an element of fiddling with the settings to get things up and running?

I feel a weekend of web-based PC spec and price comparisons coming on

imlach

OK...here's what I did....

Courier delivered the bits at midday. I read the photo instructions....and put it all together.

Drop in processor, attach heatsink, slot in RAM, Attach IDE cables, fix in hard drive & CD writer - and put cover on.
That was it.

Installed Windows XP (left it on its own to do that), and then inserted the driver CD that came with the Shuttle - 1 button press to do that.

That was it.
Easy!