Desktop Computers?

[GhostWKD]

Hi All

Hope you are all having a good christmas

Well my present from rents this year was £250 towards a new computer to finally replace this old knackered thing, whilst im tempted to spend it on the car or on a xbox 360 this would mean me being up for adoption so that wont happen

And i know we have a few people here who are very keen on spotting good deals out there... so main question would be is how much am i looking at spending for a half decent desktop system (i say half decent but entry level is over 4 times the spec of current laptop... so i'd probably even go down to entry level besides, i play all my games on consoles anyway )

Had a quick look around but still not quite sure what i should be expecting to get for what, not expecting anything for £250ish tbh so am willing to put more in although hopefully not too much more...

One i found was this one on ebuyer; http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=95743

I am competant enough to knock a system together myself (on the plus side this way i could get a clear case and some cathodes etc) but will i really be able to build my own for anywhere near the price of some of the pre-built ones around?

Wont be rushing into anything mind, want to see what comes up in christmas sales time

Also liking the look of a nice flatscreen monitor, eyeing up this one as recommended by one of the reviews on the last link http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=92162

Cheers all for any help :slayer:

 

[The Negotiator]

I will keep an eye out for you.

 

[custard]

see this is what i found when i bought my system. was just under 1k but to buy its parts would have cost me more plus i got a 3 year on site warrenty with that.

really depends whats about at your price range. ive got a decent 17" flat panel,speakers dvd burner etc so had thought i could just upgrade my components or buy a base unit only.
no cash just now though

 

[beau]

my sister got a dell one for £299 last month, specs-


Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
Base Intel® Celeron® D Processor (2.80GHz, 533fsb, 256K cache)
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2
Memory 512MB Dual Channel DDR400
Hard Drive 80GB (7,200rpm) Hard Drive
Monitor Dell 15" flat panel monitor

 

[GhostWKD]

Cheers paul

I'll be looking more actively when the sales start (at places like dell etc - Cheers beau forgot about them lol is where my laptop came from and has given me a good 5 years service, although touchpad dead now ditto the battery heh) also be looking in sales for pricing up parts individually although as custard said, from looks of it i'll be paying the same for components just minus a warranty and a few hours of my time to knock it together

 

[custard]

couple on here in your range

http://www.misco.co.uk/categories/~1263~/Desktop PCs.htm?affiliate=6464

ps it says affiliate but it must be as i clicked an email link,no cash for custard

 

[Stu DemonD]

One i found was this one on ebuyer; http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=95743

I am competant enough to knock a system together myself (on the plus side this way i could get a clear case and some cathodes etc) but will i really be able to build my own for anywhere near the price of some of the pre-built ones around?

Also liking the look of a nice flatscreen monitor, eyeing up this one as recommended by one of the reviews on the last link

I have a few of those Acers at work [but in AMD guise] - good machines, but would drive me crazy for home use.

For low to mid range spec, building it yourself may work out more expensive - it does all depend what you want out of the machine, and whether memory and processor hungry games are the order of the day.

As for that monitor - it is 15" for starters, and the res would drive me insane - 17" is bare minimum imo; at work we use these http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=100813

 

[AppleSei]

I got my pc for 500 quid

Brand new at the time (2003) AMD athlon 256mb XP fitted (which has been upgraded from 256 mb) 17'' flatscreen monitor (not TFT) keyboard, mouse, speakers loads of programmes on it (for example nero, powerDVD) There was also lods of slots inside so you can upgrade.

Im not a hotshot on computers but i went with a friend who knows his stuff and said it was a good deal.

i recommend you visit a computer fair, even if its just for a look round thats where i bought mine, received a wonderful service from this little private company.

 

[GhostWKD]

I quite like 1024x800, probably because its all i've ever had mind
Laptops got a 14" tft screen so 15" an improvement anyway

Got a 17" CRT screen here but its heauge and weighs a ton so not sure i really want it at my computer either

At the min im on a 750mhz p3 laptop with 256 mb ram and a 20gig hdd, just need something to replace the laptop because its just reached the end of its life tbh, its got practically nothing on it and hdd is full, touchpad has a mind of its own and battery is dead so must be in mains 24/7 anyway

Just want something bit more fresh (eg entry level now'days lol) which can play CS and flicks etc etc

if i had my way i'd put up with the laptops problems and get a xbox 360, but its strictly for new computer only and i'll be disowned if i spend it on car or anywhere else

 

[beau]

touchpad has a mind of its own

mine does too, does yours kind of dance all over the screen? :bang:

 

[Stu DemonD]

I run 1600x1200 here, so no wonder I hate 'small' res screens...

How do you cope with a 20Gb HDD, lol. No wonder you need a replacement

If you buy a ready built one, don't be swayed by 'free' software coz most of it can be purchased cheap anyway.

 

[chaos]

:chin:

My PC is based on a 30 quid mobo in a second hand gaming case

You'll probably save money 9 times out of 10 building your own It would be worth pricing up the different components, and then looking to see how much a fully built system would cost to buy and go from there

 

[GhostWKD]

mine does too, does yours kind of dance all over the screen? :bang:

Yep and its fine but then you knock it and it'll go mad again, need to turn off and shake it and reset it till it stops moving

I run 1600x1200 here, so no wonder I hate 'small' res screens...

How do you cope with a 20Gb HDD, lol. No wonder you need a replacement

If you buy a ready built one, don't be swayed by 'free' software coz most of it can be purchased cheap anyway.

I dont cope with 20gb hdd, hence the need for replacement

Not after free software because i have most of it already if you catch my drift

:chin:

My PC is based on a 30 quid mobo in a second hand gaming case

You'll probably save money 9 times out of 10 building your own It would be worth pricing up the different components, and then looking to see how much a fully built system would cost to buy and go from there

Had a rough price up of an entry level one and its looking alot more than the entry level pre built would cost must be when going top of range its cheaper to build yourself

 

[arc]

before i got my car, i used to waste money on my pc (and bike), the problem i always had with prebuilt machines was that they used the cheapest possible parts inside them. And they'd do silly things like glue the hard drive connectors in.
I've not built a new system since i replaced my last one leaked, frying the motherboard. My current machine is all decent branded stuff and works fine. I've lost count of the amonut of times ive fixed 'silly' problems on clients machines - stuff i'd put down to cheap compoentns or just shoddy driver support

 

[Hellcat]

Providing you have a screen (17" CRT's are fine - anything more is just willy waving!), and can use your laptops operating system (or wherever you can get it from cheap) I could build the following comp for £260.00

• AMD Sempron 2600+ 64 bit version
• 160GB SATA HDD
• 512MB DDR Memory
• 48x/16x DVD Rom
• 48x/16x DVD+-RW
• Microsoft optical mouse
• Microsoft multimedia keyboard
• Midi tower with window

I'd suggest you build your own - then you can always upgrade it where as factory build systems often are already at maximum spec without any space for upgrade.

 

[GhostWKD]

Providing you have a screen (17" CRT's are fine - anything more is just willy waving!), and can use your laptops operating system (or wherever you can get it from cheap) I could build the following comp for £260.00

• AMD Sempron 2600+ 64 bit version
• 160GB SATA HDD
• 512MB DDR Memory
• 48x/16x DVD Rom
• 48x/16x DVD+-RW
• Microsoft optical mouse
• Microsoft multimedia keyboard
• Midi tower with window

I'd suggest you build your own - then you can always upgrade it where as factory build systems often are already at maximum spec without any space for upgrade.

Made me start looking and realising that if i look hard enough can get bits very cheap, although missing a gfx card in that list i think? really out of touch with this PC building malarky too

Had a quick play around and i've really lost touch i cant seem to pair motherboards to processors anymore alot changed in last few years

 

[Hellcat]

Graphics onboard - I took into account that you play your games on your console. Has an AGP 8x if you want to add your own GFX card. For an extra tenner you can have a motherboard with onboard Nvidia 6100 and a PCI-Express slot for when you're feeling flush

 

[GhostWKD]

Ah right, well i'd prob want to be flash and go for a independant gfx card with tv out but i know can pick those up for £30ish or something stupid now 'days... where you pricing up your bits from just out of interest? :chin:

 

[chaos]

I built my PC for less than £300, which included buying the OS, but I already had a monitor a DVD/CDRW drive and keyboard/mouse

Spec:

AMD Sempron 2600+ (1.833 GHz)
ASRock mobo
512 MB DDR RAM
80 GB IDE HDD
ATi Radeon 9200 128MB GFX card (with TV out)
350W PSU
Gaming case

The mobo is brilliant for the money. 5.1 sound card built in, 6 USBs, SATA, max 2 GB RAM, 333MHz FSB, overclockable