New Computer Advice

[Junkie_ball]

Hi,

Looking at getting a new PC desktop this will be used by my dad for general account details and surfing the web nothing special. Looking to spend somewhere in the region of 400-500 pounds. Does anyone know of any good deals available in the uk for such a computer. Only need the desktop no monitor etc.

[Wombler]

Depends on what you're after.

That sort of money would get you a core i3 system which is the latest technology and has a greater degree of future proofing (not that there ever is such a thing in the IT world).

For all your dad needs it for though you could get away with a lesser machine.

Here's an example of some of the machines at Mesh that I think would fit the bill but check out other suppliers as well.

Core i3 machine.

Cheaper machine.


Wombler

[Junkie_ball]

Yeah i have looked at the i3 core actually. I here what your saying about the lesser machine and have tried explaining this but to no avail he wants to spend this type of money not sure why but hey.

Thanks for the links will check them out.

[MilesAhead]

I don't know the UK market but I've recently added a USB 3.0 card to my machine(I've been buying HP desktops for my last 5 or 6 PCs.) I noticed a news article that HP has started putting them in laptop computers. I would check out how far away it is for desktop machines. I don't know your situation afa working on your dad's PC afterward, but if you are trying to get everything he's likely to need built in I'd watch the USB 3.0 thing.

Sata drives comparable to my internal 750 GB HD run just as fast with this SIIG aftermarket card. The built in ports are likely to be as good or at least close. No opening the box to add fast storage. My other thought is more than processing power you may want to try to get built in 1000 Mb/sec wired network chip(unless you are into wireless.. I haven't experimented with that.) But again if he networks another PC it's a world of differece copying at 40 or 50 MB/sec or better as opposed to 10.

Other than that afa included peripherals the one they seem to hold out on is the BluRay reader optical drive. Your price range may reach to where the burner also reads BluRay.. but I'm sure the pricing is a bit different in the UK. I go mainly by what I see in Best Buy online.

[Junkie_ball]

Thanks for the info MilesAhead. USB 3.0 is definately something to look into. But having said that i'm more than happy to add an after market board if it becomes needed. Thought about building the system from scratch but for his needs i just don't see the point as from expierence i have found companies like Novatech in the UK which i use can very often built the spec required for cheaper than i can pick all the bits up for and then still have to mash them together.

[doctorhardware]

I would say that the cheaper computer would be good for pops. Since he probably won't be playing any heavy duty games. It would serve no purpose to get the more expensive computer for him. My pops still has the computer that I built for him with an way old AMD CPU and standard DDR memory. It also has WIN98 as the OS, or might be Millennium. Don't really remember. It is still running today. I bought a Asus motherboard. So going cheaper on some things is a good thing sometimes.

[MilesAhead]

Esp. for "off the shelf" stuff there seems to be a price curve. I try to hit the "bang per buck" sweet spot, which is different for everyone depending on needs. On my quad core it came with a BluRay reader/DVD Writer even though it's only Phenom I. When it came out the Phenoms had just gotten rid of the bugs that slowed them down and it was seen as somewhat of a performance machine.. so they threw in gigabit wired network and BluRay reader. But to get into the top 25%(number made up just now I haven't done any statistical studies) they seem to want to double and triple the price of the machine. So I guess that's the long-winded way of saying I try to go with mid-priced tower that has a bit of horsepower or at least comes with twice or more ram than I had on the last PC. If you try to buy something off the shelf that won't be obsoleted then you pay heavy dollars when that type of performance machine when it is available off the shelf will probably cost about what you paid for the mid-range performer.

The stuff keeps getting cheaper later. Guess it depends if there's an item you need that may be a pain to add yourself.. again that varies with how much you like to open boxes.