Which Computer?

[Fox]

Hi guys,

Friend of mine would like a new PC for her final year at Uni. She has £450 to £500 to spend and was all poised to go down to PC World before I said 'stop!'

So, with such a budget, who is best to buy from?

Needs an entire system - I'd build one but suspect it'll come out loads more expensive.

Cheers!

[shaithis]

Building one yourself is always the cheapest option.

[Fraz]

Have a look at the Mesh website, I'd say. Or Evesham (although not quite sure what's happening with them these days, what with them going into administration and all).

You'll get a reasonable system, although I'd be surprised if you get better than on-board graphics.

[Fox]

Building one yourself is always the cheapest option.

Are you sure? Could I really build her a machine for less than someone like Dell could supply one for?

She'll use it for installing spyware, contracting viruses, running 5 different google style toolbars and writing crap on Facebook. Oh, and some coursework.

[shaithis]

Well, if the components are all identical (which with a Dell, they never will be), yes.

The thing with Dell (who are cheap) is that you get a small PSU, a non-standard case, limited expandability, all OEM parts etc etc......but for some people a Dell is perfect.

[TMD]

It used to be cheaper to buy stuff yourself...but there are some very good deals on prebuilt machines at the moment...plus you get at least a years warranty which is good if you are going to uni and dont have the person who built your machine to help sort problems etc...

[Fraz]

She'll use it for installing spyware, contracting viruses, running 5 different google style toolbars and writing crap on Facebook. Oh, and some coursework.

Maybe a mac is the way forward then

Although even the lowliest macbook is £700...

[TMD]

Maybe a mac is the way forward then

Although even the lowliest macbook is £700...

she can get student discount though...so i think the cheapest becomes 600

[Pob255]

She'll use it for installing spyware, contracting viruses, running 5 different google style toolbars and writing crap on Facebook. Oh, and some coursework.

QFT


I've been looking at cheap dell systems recently for a friend, who want's to play some MMOs as well.
One thing is dig around in all the differnt options don't upgrade/customise.

One thing to note is that the New insperons 531 & 530 are standard mAXT mother boards & cases.

Insperon 530
Intel E6550 2.33Ghz Dual core chip,
2GB 667Mhz RAM,
320GB sata HDD
256MB Gforce 8600GT
plus the usals bits.
No monitor.
£392 inc vat & Del

Reason for no monitor is that they want £176 for there 19" tft (the basic one not the ultra sharp one)
A cheapo 19" tft will cost £110, and you can get a decent high quality LG 19" tft for £125 from Scan.

[DanceswithUnix]

As someone on here once said: Chicks dig Shuttles.

Start with acheap AM2 shuttle and then you need to add a hard drive, DVD writer, ram, copy of Windows and keyboard/mouse.

Sounds like the integrated graphics will be more than enough for her.

Easy to transport back & forth to Uni, takes up very little space and looks superb.

Dell will be cheaper, but not a pleasure to own.

[joshwa]

Dell Vostro - from the small business section - I got a dual core 2ghz, 2gb ram, X1300, 300gb HD, DVDRW, 22" TFT widescreen, Vista, keyb, mouse, etc for £417 inc vat and postage. There is no way I could have built a pc as cheap as this.

edit - see: http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=120080

[excalibur2]

It used to be cheaper to buy stuff yourself...but there are some very good deals on prebuilt machines at the moment...plus you get at least a years warranty which is good if you are going to uni and dont have the person who built your machine to help sort problems etc...

Well I was toying around whether to upgrade my 2nd computer and the cheapest way.......used for P2P, letters, etc no gaming:-

ECS C51GM-M Am2 with on board graphics M/B...............£34
Sempron 3200......£19
Igig mem..............£19 or less
sub total =£72

WoW that's a good start for building a reasonable computer from scratch.

[staffsMike]

The vostro's offer amazing value for money. It's what i'd have if i wasn't gaming on it.

[usxhe190]

I have a generalisation that girls like desktops that look like SFF/Shuttles or laptops...they are more into looks of the computer and the looks of the OS (i.e. easy to read, etc) than resolution/graphic cards etc

so just go with either one of those and a girl should be fine...

obviously this is a generalisation, so this particular girl might be different

[Fox]

Vostro is tempting indeed. It's well in budget, would suit her needs, and I'm not sure she even gives a stuff what it looks like. Final year as well, and she's already down here, so it needs to be transported just once - when she finishes.

[CrazyMonkey]

Dell do some decent prices systems.

My sister just got a Vostro and its pretty good for the price. You could probly knock a few quid off by custom building and also have a more tweakable system which leads to a more power pc.

However if she is someone who isnt so PC minded the Dell Customer support will help alot.