vibro100 Posted July 20, 2011 Report Posted July 20, 2011 OK, Im in need of a new PC. Im currently using a Dell Dimension 4600 Its slow and old and time for somthing new. I only need the hard drive as my monitor etc is ok. Im looking for somthing fast, im self employed and do my own accounts, i store some pictures and music on it, and of cource the interent. (Somtimes the kids play games) I'd like to stay on Windows XP as im use to it and my netbooks are also with windows. My problem is i dont know anything about computors, so what should i be looking at? Quote
The Geoff Posted July 20, 2011 Report Posted July 20, 2011 If you just need it for the stuff you outlined (office software, interwebs, basic games) you don't need one that's all that fast, spend £500 and you're away. "Fast" (as in £1000+) is generally only needed for hardcore gaming, video editing and other really intensive graphics jobs. Quote
network.ned Posted July 20, 2011 Report Posted July 20, 2011 You could do worse than another Dell, and they'll ship with out a telly. Have a look at: Inspiron 620/620s Desktop | Dell UK Quote
vibro100 Posted July 20, 2011 Author Report Posted July 20, 2011 You could do worse than another Dell, and they'll ship with out a telly. Have a look at: Inspiron 620/620s Desktop | Dell UK Funny, I was just looking at this system. What memory size, processor speed, and hard drive size would you recommend. Quote
JCalver Posted July 20, 2011 Report Posted July 20, 2011 RAM,=4GB, processor=i3 or i5, (i'd go for i5), HDD, unless you download a LOT of stuff/have a lot of music or photo's, 1TB should do you fine. Easy way to tell - find out how much data you currently have that you want to transfer. You can always plug your current hard drive into your new PC if you find 1TB aint enough (after formatting it to remove the OS of course). You're unlikely to find anywhere that will ship a box out with XP nowadays, just because it is quite outdated. You can certainly buy it, it will cost you about £70 on its own, so factor that into your budget. Like Geoff said, office based tasks are pretty easily dealt with even by low-end computers these days, a lot of people tend to buy computers that are specced way higher than they will utilise, paying more than they really need to - don't fall into the same trap! Quote
The Geoff Posted July 20, 2011 Report Posted July 20, 2011 Like Geoff said, office based tasks are pretty easily dealt with even by low-end computers these days, a lot of people tend to buy computers that are specced way higher than they will utilise, paying more than they really need to - don't fall into the same trap! So he needs 4Gb Ram?! To put it in perspective, my setup has 1Gb of RAM and a 2.4Ghz processor and it's overkill for everyday stuff. Running Minecraft slows it down a bit, and video editing isn't the fastest, but it's generally more than I need for the web and office software etc. How about a cheap-ish desktop for the everyday computing use and a console for games? Two birds, one stone, plenty of change from £1000. I like the look of network.ned's suggestion, plus bigger HD if needed, looks ideal and fairly cheap. Quote
Bigmp Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Yeah but geoff a little bit more RAM keeps things running faster longer... A 3-4GB system with a decent i5 would keep running for years to come but a 1GB on an basic i3 will need to get an upgrade in only a few years. Quote
ChuckFickens Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Windows loves RAM, the more you chuck at it the happier it is, but if you've only got a 32bit OS then it's not worth going over 3GB as the OS will only recognise a tiny bit more than that (4GB is the technical limit, but some of that limit is allocated for other stuff) You are really restricting yourself in saying you want to stick with XP as nothing new will come with XP now and you can't assume you can simply buy a copy of XP and put it on a new computer, to start with retail versions of XP do not support the newer hard drive controllers (SATA) out the box so at best you've got some faffing about to do to solve that issue.... and at worst you'll get something with an entire chipset that XP doesn't support and you'll just get a blue screen of death before the XP installer starts to load... Move with the times and get windows7, it really is rather good for a MS operating system.. If you can bring yourself to go with windows7 (please do) then network neds suggestion is good, although I'd say HP business class machines have far better after sales support than Dell from personal (work) experience. if you really want to stick with XP then refurb is going to be your best (only?) option really... HP DC7900 Intel Core 2 Duo Refurb PC - Misco.co.uk Quote
Spock Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 my old acer from pcworld ran for about 10 years, it was on windows 98 (and se) which i loved. in all the time i had it, i put in a better graphics card, a bit more ram and windows xp. the thing that killed it was that i needed to update the os with new service packs and net framework, but it wouldn't go in without me upgrading the bios, otherwise it caused the system to crash, and for some reason the bios wouldn't flash. It still works, but it is just too vulnerable and always ends up with pop ups that you can't kill or some other crap like spyaxe on it, and got tired of rebuilding it every week or so. so from personal experience, i would say sooner or later you have to change to a new os, it just becomes too awkward to make the old stuff run with new, even just the internet, the key is sitting it out long enough while they make something worth changing to, ie avoiding windows 2000, millenium and the first incarnations of xp. as for the box itself, you will get something that will do what you want for 300 quid or even a bit less, imo, but that dell what ned linked looks pretty good for a little bit more, and that's the problem, hehe. it's alldown to what you want to spend. Quote
The Geoff Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Try Damn Small Linux for the old acer - the whole OS comes in at 50Mb (yes, Mb), it'll damn near run on a toaster. (Well, a 486 toaster with 16Mb RAM, but you get the idea.) Quote
ChuckFickens Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Well, a 486 toaster with 16Mb RAM Where do I get me one of these 486 toasters, and if I upgrade the RAM will it make my toast faster? Quote
vibro100 Posted July 21, 2011 Author Report Posted July 21, 2011 Thanks guy;s, some good comments. I assume that everything that is on my old pc will still run on the new windows 7 So to summarise - you think i should get somthing with i5 and around 4GB and 1TB Comes out at £618.00 with Dell including Office. Quote
The Geoff Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 I reckon that's overkill. If you can afford it then go for it, but you'd get away with less. Whether Windows 7 will run all your XP stuff - difficult to tell. Windows does have "compatibility modes" to run old stuff, but it can be fairly iffy. My flatmate ended up having to buy a copy of XP because his shiny new Vista machine wouldn't run any of his old games. If it's bog standard stuff like .doc and .jpg files it'll be fine, but full applications you might have problems with. Maybe not, but no guarantees. Quote
vibro100 Posted July 21, 2011 Author Report Posted July 21, 2011 Dell Inspirion 620/620s Without office, i5, 4GB, 1TB = £558.00 without office, i3, 4GB, 1TB = £429.99 without office, i3,3GB, 500GB = £399.99 Quote
Spock Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 Try Damn Small Linux for the old acer - the whole OS comes in at 50Mb (yes, Mb), it'll damn near run on a toaster. (Well, a 486 toaster with 16Mb RAM, but you get the idea.) cheers. i did intend to put linux on it at some stage and use it as a firewall or something to just mess about with, although linux always looked a bit daunting to me. Quote
Jim O'Hara Posted July 21, 2011 Report Posted July 21, 2011 I assume that everything that is on my old pc will still run on the new windows 7 You might find a lot of things won't work, especially devices. My Scanner doesn't work and I couldn't find amy dirvers. Windows 7 also draws stuff on the screen in a different way than XP, so stuff like TV cards may not work either. Quote
Dragnfly Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 Have a look at Essex Laptops on EBay. He supplies Dell refurbs (due to scratches and stuff, not hardware prob). The benefit is that the system is wiped and has new windows installed without all the usually spammyshit you get on them that slows them down from the day they leave the factory. His prices are negotiable, and it seems he will preinstall whatever software you want , such as office. I'm really chuffed with mine. Quote
The Geoff Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 Dragnfly's idea sounds good to me - I like people that do that kind of thing, and they tend to know what they're doing. Quote
Simpster Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 this is what you want http://www.scan.co.uk/shops/dreampc/jellyfish Quote
Dragnfly Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 If I were buying a pc now tho' I'd probably just get an iPad and wifi printer & keyboard. /drool. Quote
The Geoff Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 Have you used an iPad for any length of time? Very useful bit of kit, but I wouldn't really class it as a "proper computer", it gets infuriating pretty quickly if you want to do anything more than basic web browsing and the like. Quote
harry_a Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 check out novatech, they're considerably cheaper than boxes from dell, hp etc. of the same spec and come with no extra shit installed you dont want. you can also custom build with the parts you want and they'll post it to you. my laptop i got from there is a dream Quote
Dragnfly Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 Have you used an iPad for any length of time? Very useful bit of kit, but I wouldn't really class it as a "proper computer", it gets infuriating pretty quickly if you want to do anything more than basic web browsing and the like. Nope, I confess, I've not. Don't they have a decent equivalent of office or anything? Quote
davo23 Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 I don't think you'll need more than an i3. The i5 is more futureproof. Up to you make a balancing act decision Quote
The Geoff Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 Nope, I confess, I've not. Don't they have a decent equivalent of office or anything? Probably - it's just the interface, it's fine for browsing but as soon as you want to accurately highlight blocks of text, work with forms, copy and paste stuff...it's all a bit more tedious than it needs to be. And as far as I'm aware (I'll probably now be corrected!) you can't run your own programs on it, you need to write them, submit them to Apple and download them from the App store if they're accepted. Like I said, very handy gadget, but I don't like it as a "computer" as it's just too restricted. Quote
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