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.. not sure where the best home is for this thread… its not an “off topic” but its not “on topic” either … so that said, here goes.
desktop – which one ?
i suppose i need a high end office type – solid and reliable, back up and stability more important than whizzy gaming stuff… but i’d want it to be able to handle quite a few windows open at once…
after sales really important – returns policy and so on…
wise words welcome.
In my opinion… if future proofing and adaptability are important then building your own PC is the best option. Obviously this depends on your skill level.
Again in my opinion there are several things you need to consider before you start looking.
– What is your budget?
– Will you be running XP or Vista? (or other?)
– 32bit or 64bit OS? (64bit will recognise >4gb RAM)
– I suggest a minimum of 2gb RAM but recommend 4gb which will enable you to do some serious multitasking.
– How much storage do you need? Can you reuse drives from an old desktop?
– Do you need to buy a monitor or just a tower unit?Here are the specs of my desktop PC which is very fast and very reliable. Only took a couple of hours to nail all the bits together.
ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP iP35 Socket 775 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
4GB Corsair (2x2GB) DDR2 Memory
Sapphire HD 3650 512MB DDR2 Dual DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB Hard Drive SATAII 16MB Cache 10000rpmThe Velociraptor is probably overkill! It only has Windows on it. Everything else is stored on a combination of other hard drives bringing total storage to just under 2TB.
The graphics card is a cheap but functional one as I don’t play PC games at all.
… i just typed a reply and its gone… puff …
so here goes…
Build own – aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. i’d have more chance of swimming the atlantic. ( did you see that woman who swam for months in some sort of net, whatever next )
sorry – building own is not an option.
Budget £500 base only.
not fussed on vista but want to move to W7 – so whichever is better.
32 – 64 – whatever is best for upgrade to shiny future W7.
4GB – deffo. it may be sitting around twiddling its thumbs for now but you never know when i may want to play a car chasing, monster crunching, the boys are back sort of game.
storage – 500 i reckon.
just base.
i’ve read about Zoostorm being ok, any prebuilts you’d recommend ?
Nail bits together 🙂
A quick suggestion from my own view on this – just go to Dixons/Currys etc and buy the cheapest.
It will come with more GBs of storage than you need, multi core, optical drives, plenty of RAM.
My local Tesco has a Quad Core with 2gb Ram for £299! And a dual core base only for £199 (by Acer)! I am very close to buying one for the Mrs! If support is an issue then go for a brand that can offer support, eg Dell? They have some great value machines and will have help lines etc too.
It’s hard to belive that most home/office users will come close to needing anything near that power. I only use the 3rd and 4th gbs of RAM when running virtual machines, or processing some horrendous SQL query.
Good luck with buying. If you get it online from one of the stores here then feel free to click through before purchase :)!
I’d recommend Dell too, like jez suggested, as I and friends have bought laptops and desktops which have been great.
So long as you Google whatever pre-built desktop you choose, to ensure there are no known issues, everything should be fine.
I usually recommend Dell to my clients.
I currently support in the region of about 100 Dell laptops and desktops of various ages and specifications. Generally they are very robust and reliable and they are easy to work on and to source replacement components if they have a problem. By the way, the failure rate on the machines I support are one replacement main fan and one replacement keyboard in the last couple of years.
Don’t forget that you may be able to bag a bargain in the Dell online outlet.
I’ve been looking at Morgan computers for a desktop PC, can’t made my mind up weather to buy from them. There is Quidco available is you do buy one from there.
Within your budget they have quite a few PC’s.
This HP looks good-
http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=5175&CategoryID=142&SubCategoryID=183
There is a link on that page for the full spec sheet from HPThe one I’m thinking about is £75 more than the amount to stated, but might be worth a look.
http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=4907&CategoryID=142&SubCategoryID=183
That one has a 1TB storage, Quad core & Vista Home Premium 64 bit installed.
Worth a look.Good luck searching, I’ve been doing it for weeks now, but I’m no nearer ordering one yet- too much choice!
🙂.. i was worried someone would recommend Dell.
Do you know when you say.. never, i will never buy from company X, as a point of principle.. in a hand on heart, power to the people bet you i won’t sort of way.
well … me and Dell.
My mother had an issue… i was disgruntled.. they did sort it out, to be fair, but… it would be a ” i never said that, must have been someone else….”
Thanks for the help / advice .. think i’ll blame the Gordon Brown / quantiative easing… for my revised view… 🙂
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.. i was worried someone would recommend Dell.
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!lol Fair enoughIn years gone by, I’ve bought a couple of desktops from Evesham (now defunct) and one from Tesco. All have been absolutely fine and good value 🙂
battling with pride to avoid Dell ….
.. whats the view of Acer ? after sales ?
Would you get 32 bit and XP ?
if combined with 4GB ram can you then “easily” upgrade to W7 for more whizziness ?
Just a minor point, if you use a 32bit operating system you will not be able to use the full 4GB RAM.
I personally don’t particularly like Acer that much, though that’s mostly due to the rubbish support a few of my friends had, and a load of defective laptops. Though pretty much every brand has it’s good and bad moments.
Whatever system you decide on, make sure to google it’s name/model number and something like “problems”.
I must admit for no apparent reason Acer doesn’t inspire me with confidence either.
Great tip on googling it… thanks Alfihar
Online research is great, but remember if you look hard enough you will usually find what you are looking for! So when you find reports of issues try and take a judgement on how well the issues are dealt with and how common they are :).
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