It's time to update my office - advice appreciated on buying 9 new workstations.

[mycarsavw]

The time has finally come to update my 7 Win95 and 2 Win98 machines!

You may laugh but they have been completely solid for the past 10 or so years and the only reason they're being replaced is because an update to a program we use has been issued and there is no way at all to get it to work on the 95 machines (I spent all day Monday and Tuesday trying! )

Ideally I'd like to go the HP route as the newer workstations are HP already and I have a fairly good relationship with HP Support. If I can build them for less than I can buy then I will do that, but I have a feeling at this price, pre-built is best.

So, I need 9 base units, 9 basic keyboards, 9 basic mice and 9 TFT monitors (17" is fine)

They will HAVE to run XP Pro, OpenOffice and FoxitReader and they need to be networked. There is no need for them to dance and sing. They are only used for word processing and form filling.

Budget is say £4000 to £4500 (exc) for everything because I'm tight, but I may go higher if there's something I just have to have.

Thanks in advance.

[0iD]

Stick with HP imo, all our new CAD workstaions and lappy's are HP & prettymuch faultless.

[dave87]

Dell's new Vostro range is mightily tempting, but you'd have to phone them up to get XP Pro put on them, its not offered on the website...

[mycarsavw]

Stick with HP imo, all our new CAD workstaions and lappy's are HP & prettymuch faultless.

I agree, 6+ years of HP stuff and only one warranty issue.

Dell's new Vostro range is mightily tempting, but you'd have to phone them up to get XP Pro put on them, its not offered on the website...

Very tempting, and pretty decent specs too. XP Pro is offered on the Business site which is what I'd use.

I'm working my way through their options lists at the moment - thanks for the tip.

[Lucio]

I'd second the Vostro range as some really silly deals, but don't ignore the Dimension 9200 as well (via the Small Business section) specced out a Q6600, 2GB RAM and the X1300 gfx card, tower only, for £314+VAT.

As much as I'd love to recomend using a company like Scan for your systems, you'll never come close to Dell on pricing for a similar specification on paper and whilst, yes, Dell do skimp on component quality, their systems work fine for the office, only benchmarking software can really tell the difference.

[Dareos]

Does it have to be new, or will refurbished be any use to you?

www.europc.co.uk may well be able to help you out mate, they deal in refurbished Dells and HP stuff.

Disclaimer My company shares the same offices but i do not work for them, nor would i see any benefit of you purchasing from them)

[Biscuit]

Does it have to be new, or will refurbished be any use to you?

www.europc.co.uk may well be able to help you out mate, they deal in refurbished Dells and HP stuff.

Disclaimer My company shares the same offices but i do not work for them, nor would i see any benefit of you purchasing from them)

am i the only one who finds this bit of advice conflicting?

[Steve B]

how so biscuit?

[babblin5]

Dell has made great progress... check them out.

[mycarsavw]

Biscuit - I think so, what have I missed? He gave me a good link to a nearby (to him) retailer and distanced himself from them in case it all went wrong

babblin5 - They offer the easiest solution and their config tool is excellent. If HP had something similar I'd be laughing...

[malfunction]

f I can build them for less than I can buy then I will do that, but I have a feeling at this price, pre-built is best.

IMHO (from experience) even if you could build for less don't do it. It's *much* more hassle if / when something goes wrong.

Possible exception:

The money is coming out of your pocket (and it makes an appreciable difference to you!). If so:

1) Buy 100% identical components *and* either keep a fully built spare machine lying around or 1 or 2 identical components... Will make swapping things over much less painful.

2) Don't go cheap on cooling fans. I've done so in the past and have found they start to slow down and / or stop within 12 months due to much higher traffic and hence dust + dirt in the office environment. I'm not saying you need to t buy the best but don't go for the bargain basement stuff. Also avoid cases with low intakes if the machines are going to sit on the floor.

3) Don't go cheap on PSUs and make sure you do your research - e.g. no Antec Smartpowers! I've had a few PSUs go pop in the past (thankfully they didn't take anything else with them but if you build them yourself and you don't have a spare to hand you'll have to trudge to the local shop and pay inflated prices for something and then spend half a day taking the old one out and putting a new one in... Waste of your day and a waste of a day for the person working on the PC that died

[Re-Invented]

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...4211&CatId=911
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...281989&CatId=0

We bought these and have been flawless, misco are quite good on price if you ask nicely
Quite close to your budget thou.

Lee

[Steve B]

what about 9 base units made of asus pundits, with a tenth unit serving storage space and having a DVD-ROM drive.
Its a DIY project, but it might work out cheaper, as you'd only need small HDD's in each of the PC's

[Agent]

Dont discount Ebuyer. They have some cracking deals for pre-build sometimes

Just had a quick look:
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127475
and for a bit more power
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127474

Seem good - They have rebates on them too

If its just going to be DTP stuff, a Sempron is fine, but the A64 will have a bit more grunt. Doubtful you would notice the difference in the office though. They both come with XP.

Sempron system for 7 = £1694 (minus rebate of £20 per machine) = £1554

You then just need to choose the TFT's you want (Dell would probably be a good idea due to next business day warranty's that can be taken out) and kb/mouse.
That brings you well under budget
The above also comes with free shipping - Ive just had alook at the Dell's and they want £60 for one system (didn't check multiple systems though)

The Dells do have the advantage of next day warranty's though, you'd have to check the Hp's to see what they come with

[malfunction]

For £199 (ex VAT and shipping) you can get a Dell Vostro 200 with:

E2140 (dual core, 1.6GHz / 512K L2 cache per core)
XP installed (selected on the website, no need to call)
1 year support
19" wide screen monitor
1GB DDR2 (PC5300)
250GB HDD
Integrated GFX (unfortunately)
DVD burner
Keyboard
Mouse

Or you can upgrade the CPU to an E4400 (2Ghz, 1MB L2 per core), 2GB RAM and X1300 Pro GFX for £314 ex VAT and shipping

Call them up and tell them you want 9 and see if they can give you a decent discount. Margins can't be great even for Dell on those prices but I'd go for free delivery + 10% off

[mycarsavw]

Cheers guys, lots of ideas.

major, SIR! - I agree with the DIY approach - I had just priced a build based on barebones systems and got the following - these may or may not be compatible, I was just slinging components in my basket.



which brings me to Steve B's idea ^ almost what I had done above using the ASUS barebones systems. We have a central server already, so the shared storage idea is a good one. The extra machine could serve that purpose or just be there in case.

Agent - Those HPs look good and unlike the Dells come just as I want them, Dell seem intent on giving me software I really don't want. I don't know if they're different over the phone but there's no option to unselect MS Works.

HPs usually come with a 1 year RTB warranty.

So;

DIY (to include one extra "parts" machine) - £3264 ish (exc) (less £120 for the extra monitor I added!) and I think free carriage from Scan (not sure if it applies to large orders though) - I wonder if they'd give me a break on the price too, I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask.

9 Pre-built HP Athlons and 9 iiyama 17" TFTs from Ebuyer - £3,205 (exc) and free shipping less 9 x £30 rebates

9 Pre-built Dell Vostro 200s (19" WS TFT) - £2,897.55 + £539.96 shipping (exc)

If I went the DIY route could I buy one OEM version and a multi-user license, is it worth it? I know HP ship with restore plus CDs which I hate.

It looks like going for the HPs is the easy option, and the DIY option is a close second with Dell out of it until I speak to someone about their crazy shipping costs.

I'm sure there are more options so feel free to chip in, I have a while before I'm ready to purchase.