Mr.Manchester

ok, the PC i have had this past month is poo and will be landing back on comets doorstep this week, so im back in the market for a new one!

anyhoo, is anyone doing any deals at the moment, i would prefer to have just the computer tower only, i dont need monitors etc etc.

iv just been looking at this.......what do you reckon?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...uct&sku=490191


my budget is £500

we mainly use the PC for the internet, but my g/f is mad about playing the sims, so it must be good enough to play games and have good graphics.

what would scooby do

first you buy from Comet - then next you look at pcworld - do you never learn

try this :-

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...hs1&l=en&s=dhs

Mr.Manchester

need more power! lol

scoobyjimbo

Hi

Why not build your own for a challenge or get someone who does know how to build them do one for you, works out cheaper and you get to customise the pc to your own spec.. just a thought..

J

Mr.Manchester

i did that last time, its sat behind me in the bin lol

R1916v

Kind of right, it works out cheaper if you are buying cheap components, but as soon as you start loading up on "decent" things it does work out a bit more, not a lot but enough to notice.

I mean most of the pre built ones use slower HDDs, crap motherboards, not great psus (had two blow from comet pcs, both were fujitsu siemens), integrated video etc.

You spec up a decent processor, case, mboard ram + psu and you start getting very near your 500 budget.

Have a go on sites like microdirect/ebuyer at how much all the bits you want come to. Putting a machine together aint as hard as everyone makes out, just think of it as technical lego

As prebuilt systems go though Dell/HP are about the only two cheap ones Id trust, something liek this looks decent enough for the cash (I kno it has a monitor, but as a guide) http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...hs1&l=en&s=dhs

Edited to add dell have a decent offer on where they give you a gig of memory as well at the moment.

what would scooby do

yup spec up a decent dell instead - less hassle and prolly cheaper than custom build..

Mr.Manchester

the thing is i need a pc within the next couple of days as i use it a lot, i cant really wait to have one built, although my brother works at micro direct so i will get discount on parts etc but then il have to wait a few weeks for him to build it

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

The other good bit about building your own is that you can use the drives out of your machine, saving more money. I'm assuming the rest is too out of date to be worth salvaging.

So:

1) Don't buy from PC World - hideously over-priced.
2) Don't buy from any other parts of the Dixons group (Dixons and Currys) for the same reason. D*mmit I can build the same machines for three hundred quid less and I don't get a discount for quantity.
3) Don't buy from Tiny/Time unless you want me to kill you. Unbelievably bad computers at inflated prices.

PC Pants may be a rip-off, but at least you're being ripped off over a reasonable machine. Apart from the bin-end graphics cards anyway. Notice the way that cards are just describes as "128MB video card"? That's because they hope you won't notice that it's a 128MB 5200.

Personally I'd say don't buy Dell or H-P either, but that pretty much eliminated everyone. Out of the unholy duo of Dull and H-P, the latter is probably the least worst. But in both case don't expect to ever upgrade componants, 'cos many bits are non-standard.

If you're not brave enough to build your own, or to get a geek friend to do it (our rates are very reasonable), then try some local independant computer stores, but ask around about their reputation. And Alcor are sh*t BTW.


M

scoobyjimbo

Meridian has a good point about reuse of existing kit like floppy drives/cd drives etc.. i have recently built a new server for my hosting business and did just that. It is right is you build yourself and dont buy carefully then it may cost you more than say buying from dell etc as they mass purchase and so can sell cheaper.. But if you look out for the specialis from companies like scan and ebuyer etc then you can build a high spec server/pc for less than the big boys for example would charge you. I speced up a P4 3.4 with 300GB HD, 3GB ram, Quality MSI motheboard, 9800 pro graphics card with dell and then bought the componets myself with a better case for less money buy buying carefully. But if you are in a hurray and dont have the patience then i guess buying it already built is your best bet. I am well chuffed with my config and this will have been the 5th PC/server i have built for myself in 8 years..

J

R1916v

Yeah, I managed to get my system for a very good price picking up stuff from places like microdirect's deal of the day and it does a good job of things (get a shade under 7k in 3dmark 2003).

Although their offers have gone a bit crap lately, fine if you want a dvdr as they are there every bloody day!

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

But take a very good note of what is inside OEM machines. I've just bought an H-P 2.8GHz P4 for work, via the GCAT agreement (anyone who works for the government will know what I'm talking about). That's great except it's a P4B - that is, 533MHz bus, which Intel haven't made for months and has long been superceded by the P4C - 800MHz bus. I nearly killed someone when I went through the BIOS and found out. Oh - and the H-P (and other) "SFF" machines will only take half-height AGP cards. I wish you luck trying to find one of them. And that's not in the brochure either.


M

R1916v

Yeah we use the HP Evo ultraslims and its a knightmare when someone says they want something that uses a full height card

chris's scooby

I've got a Sony one.

As i only ever use it for comng on here it's fine!

Mr.Manchester

well hopefully i should be picking this up tomorrow...........

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/110_205575.html

it was a return from a customer due to dodgy software, if it can be fixed then its mine

beemerboy

contradiction of terms, surely??

BB

lol at you going back to Comet.... hahaha class..!!!

Mr.Manchester

well the comoet PC wasnt able to be fixed

so i went to PC world and bought another, now im using a Compaq Presario.

3.2 GHZ
512MB
160GB HDD
DVD Drive
DVD writer
128MB Nvidia GeForce FX5200
Tv Tuner Card

plus a few other bits for £550.

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

I wish you luck with this bit:

- that card is slower than a wet sunday afternoon in Lowestoft.


M

Mr.Manchester

i never play the games its my missus so im ok lol