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Buying a new PC


MarkW

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My home PC is playing up and im thinking its time for a new one, and quite fancy having a play with Vista.

 

Ive built my last two, but they seem so cheap now I dont think I can be arsed and just want to buy one ready built.

 

Apart from Dell, where else sells PCs for a good price? I need a decent flat screen as well as still have a huge 19" monitor.

 

Im not a gamer, but it will be used for browsing, downloading, photo/video editing, occasional movie/TV watching and general use. Need plenty of storage for video/photo/music etc.

 

Want to spend around £500ish and thinking dual core, 2GB RAM, 320Gb+ HDD, 256k graphics, Vista premium, 19/20" monitor.

 

Dell had an offer that ended yesterday with this spec (500Gb) for £569, but today it is £649 again :scare::thumbdown:

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500 inc VAT? going to be stretching it maybe..

 

Well up to £600 inc VAT and delivery at a push:

 

The Dell offer was:

 

AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+

Vista Home Premium

2GB RAM

20" Wide Flat Panel

500GB SATA HDD

256MB ATI Radion

was £569 inc VAT and shipping

 

I was really surprised at what you can now get for the money, as I havent really looked at PC specs in the last couple of years.

 

Unfortunately today its gone up back to £649, but I have a mate who's other half can get a discount on Dell so Im exploring that avenue at the moment.......

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Well you've covered my usual port of call, which is always Dell. Another I have heard used by a mate from uni was Novatech, but I am unsure as to how they rank against Dell any more.

 

Before you buy a Dell, type "Dell is hell" into Google and read what is says about them.

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try these been around for a years and a few from work have used them :)

 

http://www.evesham.com/default.asp?e=60 ... 93EE0#home

 

like you i build my own pc's and just change whats really needed :)

 

Evesham used to be the main supplier for a company I used to work for. It was cheaper for us to buy HP machines and sell them on.

 

I always build my own aswell :thumbs:

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Can't beat MESH mate, they always win Computer Shopper reviews and they are very competitive on price. I recommended one to my salesman recently and he bought one about a month ago and loves it. He paid under £400 including a widescreen monitor.

 

www.meshcomputers.com

 

HTH :thumbs:

 

+1

Also heard of them.

 

Dell have always been good to me. Yeah sure their proprietry specs for stupid connectors and stuff is annoying, but mine have always been solid. Dell Outlet can be awesome for a bargin. I got a laptop for uni, Lattitude D600 - was £2k on the normal site and I got it for £1200 - bargin!

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500 inc VAT? going to be stretching it maybe..

 

Well up to £600 inc VAT and delivery at a push:

 

The Dell offer was:

 

AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+

Vista Home Premium

2GB RAM

20" Wide Flat Panel

500GB SATA HDD

256MB ATI Radion

was £569 inc VAT and shipping

 

I was really surprised at what you can now get for the money, as I havent really looked at PC specs in the last couple of years.

 

Unfortunately today its gone up back to £649, but I have a mate who's other half can get a discount on Dell so Im exploring that avenue at the moment.......

 

GET A MAC MINI ;) MUCH BETTER :thumbs:

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Mac Mini - Sorry but you are really paying for the size with these things now. OK they look got but compared with the system above it will wipe the floor with it..

 

£529 gets you in a mac mini in comparison to above...

 

1.8 Intel C2D vs AMD 64 5600 (not sure probably around the same ish)

512MB vs 2GB RAM

80GB Drive vs 500GB Drive

Unkown GFX vs 256MB ATI

No Monitor vs 20" LCD Panel

 

Hmm to me looks like you are paying a hell of a lot for a small case which unless your in the living room IMO won't really make a difference

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hmm but its a mac :thumbs:

Which are now powered by Intel so near enough just a small PC :p

 

Stick with a bigger form factor unless you need a smaller one as you pay for the reduction in size with performance.

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Mac Mini - Sorry but you are really paying for the size with these things now. OK they look got but compared with the system above it will wipe the floor with it..

 

£529 gets you in a mac mini in comparison to above...

 

1.8 Intel C2D vs AMD 64 5600 (not sure probably around the same ish)

512MB vs 2GB RAM

80GB Drive vs 500GB Drive

Unkown GFX vs 256MB ATI

No Monitor vs 20" LCD Panel

 

Hmm to me looks like you are paying a hell of a lot for a small case which unless your in the living room IMO won't really make a difference

 

Agree with you Rob. I dont really care what it looks like as its going in my study. More bothered about getting the best spec for the money.

 

Thanks for all the advice, checked them out and agree mesh look good :D

 

Everything i read says intel core 2 due is better than AMD, but taking price into account im not to sure.

 

This one from Mesh looks good....but not sure about the integrated graphics...

 

 

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.as ... KEY=163427

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Intel are dropping the prices of their entire CPU range on 22nd July, so i would wait a week or so.

 

Reading other forums, it appears the current quad core 6600 will be the same price as the current Dual Core, so it might be worth waiting a couple of weeks to see what happens

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Intel are dropping the prices of their entire CPU range on 22nd July, so i would wait a week or so.

 

Reading other forums, it appears the current quad core 6600 will be the same price as the current Dual Core, so it might be worth waiting a couple of weeks to see what happens

Whens are quad core lappy's out? :teeth:

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Dell alternate their offers every two weeks so that deal will be back on. I tell people to wait for the free double memory offer which tends to run every two weeks.

 

The Dell outlet is great for home users. Most of the PC’s are cancelled orders rather then returns but the spec can be a bit random. i.e crap monitor or no dvd writer. Worth a look as you can save quite a bit.

 

HP are also worth a look in now. Dell are laying off staff in the main factory in Limerick for cost cutting reasons. Apparently HP are now number one in the market.

 

For a home PC I just tell people to set a budget and buy whatever spec you can get. It’s a bite the bullet deal. Specs are constantly changing so just do it.

 

With Dell I think there’s no problem so long as you avoid the entry level PC’s (small things) and low spec laptops (motherboards tended to fail a lot).

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Intel are dropping the prices of their entire CPU range on 22nd July, so i would wait a week or so.

 

Reading other forums, it appears the current quad core 6600 will be the same price as the current Dual Core, so it might be worth waiting a couple of weeks to see what happens

 

Interesting news, think I will hang on for a bit.

 

Dell alternate their offers every two weeks so that deal will be back on. I tell people to wait for the free double memory offer which tends to run every two weeks.

 

The Dell outlet is great for home users. Most of the PC’s are cancelled orders rather then returns but the spec can be a bit random. i.e crap monitor or no dvd writer. Worth a look as you can save quite a bit.

 

Dell outlet is good, but I do want a 19"/20" monitor too so the new bundles have seemed to work out cheaper when I have looked so far....will keep looking.

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You can buy HP PCs direct from their website and they aren't as dear as one might think. Reputable brand and warranty service can count for a lot.

 

My experience of Dell replacing a hard disk was that they did it the very next day - after 4-5 hours of phone call!

 

JohnK

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