Could Anyone Recommend A New Pc Please...

[swfcdan]

Evening all,

as above im looking to get my sister a new PC for xmas but on a budget of a maximum of £375

she doesnt need some super dooper thing that can navigate to the moon and back, jus do the basics well really.

it must be able to copy and burn CD's do the basics word processing etc and b able to cope with Sims2 the game :D

so could anyone recommend a place to get such a pc

thanks in advance

[maneesh]

Evening all,

as above im looking to get my sister a new PC for xmas but on a budget of a maximum of £375

she doesnt need some super dooper thing that can navigate to the moon and back, jus do the basics well really.

it must be able to copy and burn CD's do the basics word processing etc and b able to cope with Sims2 the game :D

so could anyone recommend a place to get such a pc

thanks in advance

what about dell? they have the bog standard pc incuding monitor and vat for 349..

best day to get their good prices is saturdays (my mate works in their marketing dept!)

[P38Aaron]

agreed Dell, also there made to be upgraded too so it should last a little longer than others.

[swfcdan]

cheers guys yeh i had looked on the dell website and they seem pretty good. monitor and what have you are not needed but they seem good for the cash and plenty of people seem to use them.

[Sagitar]

Evening all,

as above im looking to get my sister a new PC for xmas but on a budget of a maximum of £375

she doesnt need some super dooper thing that can navigate to the moon and back, jus do the basics well really.

it must be able to copy and burn CD's do the basics word processing etc and b able to cope with Sims2 the game :D

so could anyone recommend a place to get such a pc

thanks in advance

There are several little places near us that will make up a PC for you at low cost. They have the great advantage that you can visit them if (when?) it goes wrong. Many of them have inexpensive re-builds based on high spec machines returned from local businesses.

There must be similar places in your area? Ask around locally - look for someone who has been doing it for a few years and who will give you some customer contacts to check with.

Very few PCs are built other than with standard bought-in components and your friendly local guy can give you a bespoke job.

[Mr Flibble]

Dells are good machines if your looking for a PC that will run Microsoft Office and have Internet Access, for that they are very good value for money.

But.............. you can get a Toshiba A100 Laptop from PC World at the moment that is £400 and it will do the same job but also take up less space on a desk.

If you want anything more such as playing games etc I wouldn't touch the Dell, allot of their stuff is "on-board" or "shared". For example the graphics card is a "Shared Graphics Card" which means that you loose some of your RAM to compensate for the amount of Graphics memory you have (This also usually means the motherboard is cheap and nasty).

Basically avoid anything that says it has a "VIA" chipset or "Intel P4 Celeron D".

The Intel P4 is a much better chip if you can afford it, strecthing the budget to get the P4 will be worth it in the long run.

Personally I'd buy a laptop with a dedicated graphics card (such as the one I've mentioned above).

[Kremmen]

I personally would recommend Novatech. For one the helpline (should you require it) is not in India. I have heard amusing and pathetic stories about Dells' support.

Also with Novatech you can specify that you want a pucker XP CD and not a 'restore CD' or restore partition.

And, if you are within range, you can go and collect.

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

have a look here:

http://www.dabs.com/productlist.aspx?&...&PageMode=1

I ended up buying an HP machine with XP pro when they had a special offer in Summer - for half the price of a MAC I was looking at.

So far no probelms...£349 I paid. Only down side was you get no screen or keyboard/mouse. If she has one already, she down't need one, so you get a better machine for the dosh!!

Whilst people can make you a PC, for less, you have to remember that most will promise to use top range components and then build you a bag of *******!!

It's happened to so many people I know. Stick with dell, HP or other branded stuff.

PS - with Dell you can actually haggle with them...my brother did...

[Kazi]

I use two of the low end Dell machines at work and they have been nothing but trouble. Id look elsewhere, but I guess its like anything, you get what you pay for. Have you considered a Mini Mac?

[fatpieman69]

I use two of the low end Dell machines at work and they have been nothing but trouble. Id look elsewhere, but I guess its like anything, you get what you pay for. Have you considered a Mini Mac?

I almost said that but he want's to use SIMS2 wich I don't think will happen on the mac.

Craig

[maneesh]

what about fleabay? i just picked up a new media centre pc base unit for 300 odd quid..saw loads of "lower specced" base units under 200 squid...

[Tyger]

umm hello?

http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2005/06/thesims2/

:D

[fatpieman69]

umm hello?

http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2005/06/thesims2/

:D

well I feel stupid

Buy a Mini Mac

Buy a Mini Mac

Buy a Mini Mac

She'll love it, performs well, small, gets all apps that you would need as standard and most important for a woman IT LOOKS GOOD!

Buy a Mini Mac

Buy a Mini Mac

Buy a Mini Mac

Craig :D

[swfcdan]

thanks guys, jus read this thread now but i actually bought a mini mac before i saw this

i was just thinking about this as a few of you have a carputer.

would it be easy to connect one of these minis upto the sat nav screen and audio system?

[crazylex]

My experience with dell is bad - business though not personal.

I have heard they use old component stock that they buy cheap from component makers- thats why they seem to be cheap.

I bought 3 about 2 years ago, 1 replaced 3 weeks ago - other 2 are struggling.

Strangley, I got two recently from PC world business on line, one for about £250 (with DVD writer and more) and the other was £ 125 - I kid you not. Just the pc though and it had Linux on it, but put windows on it from the binned PC.

You could always try these who I have used and are good : ccl or light computers we built our server from coponents from these and it is incredidably quick and cost about £500 in component form though.

If you do go with Dell, they change their offers very often, and often do free delivery and double RAM offers - keep an eye out

[fatpieman69]

thanks guys, jus read this thread now but i actually bought a mini mac before i saw this

i was just thinking about this as a few of you have a carputer.

would it be easy to connect one of these minis upto the sat nav screen and audio system?

I was looking at trying to do this sot of thing but I just give my brother the bits and he works it out, he's really good at that sort of thing.

It should work but It's not going to be a walk in the park. you need someone who is very electrically minded.

Craig

PS give up and give her the Mini Mac! save you a big headache and cash!