need help buying a pc

H

haydan

Joined
Aug 11, 2006
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
hi
i need to buy a pc for typing up essays and access to the internet
i dont know where to begin but i suppose my budget is 500 pounds
i went to pc world and they recommended the compaw 1909 or pacakard bell 2559 (i think)

where else can i buy a computer or get advice
 
Welcome

Hi Haydan & welcome to PC Review.
Well you could try www.novatech.co.uk or www.dell.co.uk
You could look at Packard Bell via PC World, but i suggest you dont buy a Compaq!

If all you want to do is write essays & connect to the internet you could buy a laptop.
Dell are doing some good offers on them at the moment.
Hope the 2 links above help.:thumb:
 
feckit
thansk very much
but why not the compaq they were trying to sell me.i am never going to take the computer out of my room
so was advised i could get more computer for my money if i get a desktop
i went on novatech and it looked useful but i have never heard of isys
if i buy a computer do i need
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home pre-installed or Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional pre-installed
it costs extra but i suppose one of them .do you know what the differance is
i am sorry but i am a novice in such matters
 
i would not buy a compaq they are made from cheap components and are overpriced. I qould either build the system yourself (we can help yo) and then you will have a very good system that meets your budget or you could buy a custom one off of the net or use novatech like feckit said. I would also not buy a pc from pcworld where they have reccomended it to you. The staff at pcworld are quite clueless when it comes to computers so they are reccomending the system to you to sell that unit, not if its good.
 
thanks very much for yuor reply chelseafc2005

i do understand what you are saying and it makes sense
but as i said before i am not the most technical person.

if say you wanted to spend 500 pound s all in on a computer including monitors and any relevant set up progrmans.i can get word and excel off a friend.
what specifications would you look for or which computer would you recommend?
i am on an internet where there are many things blocked and have just noticed that you might have mentioned certain specifications before i will go on an unblocked computer later

as i said all i want it for is to go in my room for studying as i am doing a long distance learning course and basic internet.
sorry to be a pain
 
Last edited:
I would probably go for a socket 939 system with a
64 bit amd 3200+ processor
a good asus motherboard
512-1gb of ram
fx5700 128mb graphics card
A GOOD PSU not a generic pile of crap
probably a 17" tft monitor but maybe push it to a 19" widescreen monitor
windows xp home oem
cheap case excluding psu

that should be within your budget but i have not checked prices but if you can afford a system like that it would run most programs these days not the latest games but some older games and handle any office program ou shove at it
 
ok i have just checked prices for you

for an excellent system.

it would require you building it yourself but we can difinately help you.

i have budgeted 120 for cheapo case and monitor or you can take less ram and get more cash for the monitor and case


amd 64 3500+ 64.57
asus a8n5x motherboard 52.82
corsair value select 1gb 2x512 mb ram dual channel kit 75.14
80gb samsung spinpoint hard drive 29.32
nvidia fx 5200 pci-e graphics card 49.29
tagan 380w psu 46.98
lg dvd r-w drive 24.09


as i said i ahve budgeted 120 for a screen and case

that all adds up to 342.17 so including 120 for case and monitor you have a great system for 502pounds plus postage which shoudl be no more than 10 pounds
 
o woops i just realised that i forgot to add xp home hmmmmm ok if you got 512 mb of corsair value select for 41.07 instead of 75.14it frees up another 34 pouns but xp costs 60 now without cutting corners alot here i cant find away to do this within your budget. ill keep thinking


sorry,
chelseafc2005


but if you could just stretch the extra 30 quid you would have a system twice as good as any of the prebuilt systems in pcworld with no cheap generic parts in it.
 
thanks chelsea but dont drive yourself mad about it

i dont really want to overcomplicate things
is there a ready made computer you could recommend for 500 pounds
or is the only way to do it properly is to build it yourself
thanks again
 
you can get ready made computers from comanies such as compaq hp dell etc but the problem is that they cutr corners with parts so you dont get a very high quality system. what i will look at is a system custom built for 500 or under so you get to choose the parts that are in the system,

will get back to you shortly:thumb:
 
ok

i havnt used this site bu another forum member just bought a system from there
www.pcspecialist.co.uk


for 530 you can get this. Im sorry that it is over your budget by 30 quid but it includes monitor and xp that is the best pricwe i could get for a system like that also comes including delivery and vat :thumb:


CPUAMD® ATHLON® 64BIT 3000 (Winchester) 512kb (Special Offer)
 Memory512 MB CORSAIR DDR400 PC3200 - LIFETIME WARRANTY!
MotherboardASUS A8N-VM: DUAL DDR, SATA II, x16 slot, 2 PCI ETC USB OptionsSIX USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT)
Hard DriveSATA 80 GB HARD DISK @ 7200rpm 8mb cache
Second Hard DriveNONE
 RAIDNONE
DVD ROM/Combi Drive16x +/- DVD WRITER (8x +/- Dual Lyr) (5x DVD-RAM) (40x CD-RW) (£23)
CD/DVD WriterNONE
Graphics Card 1256MB RADEON X550 PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT Graphics Card 2NONE
Sound CardHIGH END ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL SOUND (RECOMMENDED)
ModemNONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Network Facilities10/100 NETWORK CARD FOR BROADBAND - AS STANDARD
 Floppy Drive/Card Reader1.44MB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE
 CaseStylish Silver/Black Sigma case + 2 front USB
Power Supply & Cooling500W (Peak) Super Quiet Dual Rail PSU with 120mm fan (£25) Operating System requiredMICROSOFT® WINDOWS® XP HOME (inc. Genuine CD & licence) (£59)
Firewire & Video EditingNONE
Monitor17 INCH TFT SILVER/BLACK 1280 X 1024 RES: 8MS (£98)
KeyboardNONE
MouseNONE
SpeakersNONE
PrinterNONE
Anti-VirusNONE
 Office SoftwareNONE
TV CardNONE
Warranty1 Year Return-to-Base Warranty + 1 Month Free Collect & Return
 
Last edited:
wow thank you so much chelsea

this is incredibly helpful.and i can easily affor the extra 30 pounds in fact i could happily pay up to 600 pounds

however a friend of mine said dell have a doulble memory sale whic expires in 2 days

one in particular he recomended

DimensionTM 5150

Now Includes: Pentium D 915


Processor
​


NOW WITH: Intel® Pentium® D Processor 915 (2.8GHz, 800MHz, 2x2MB Cache)


Operating system
​



Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005


Memory
​
1024MB DDR2 RAM



Harddrive
​
160GB SATA Hard Drive (7,200rpm)Monitor
​
17" Analogue Flat Panel Monitor (17.0" v.i.s)



Network Card
​
Integrated 10/100 NIC



Graphic Card
​
128MB PCI-ExpressT ATI RadeonT X300 Hypermemory



Sound Card
​
Integrated Audio

Optical Drive16x DVD+/-RW Drive#


Service
​
1 Year Collect and Return (CAR) service

£599
Includes VAT & Shipping

is the one you built up for me bettetr than this
i apologise for asking so many questions but i am clueless
 
Last edited:
the two systems that are there are different the dell one has a cheap power supply mother board some cheapo ram and a crappy graphics card. But the numbers are good the processor is good and the amount of ram is good. But to have a very good system you need all the parts to compliemnt another and as many of the other members on this site will agree with me the motherboard and the power supply are two of the most important parts of the system. if you have a **** power supply the system may catch on fire, if you have a **** motherboard it bottlenecks the performance of other good parts. Also the graphics card that yo u have in there takes memory from your ram so the actual amount of ram that you have in the system is less because the graphics card uses some. Now if you can spend 600 on a custom computer like one of the ones that i put together for you yu can get 1gb of ram and a much more powerfull processor so it would be a very good computer indeed. Also the benefits on not buying a system like a dell is that you can upgrade them, in a years time if you think that you need a new processor it is possible, with a dell it is very difficult and can be a right pain in the arse. So if i were you i would probably go with a custom pc but i would upgrade the processor and the ram to a amd x2 3800+ and 1 gb of ram and then you ahve a great system:thumb: i will customise it now and check the price
 
AMD® ATHLON® 64BIT X2 4200 2 x 512K L2 Cache (939 pin)

Memory

1024 MB CORSAIR DDR400 PC3200 - LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Motherboard

ASUS A8N-VM: DUAL DDR, SATA II, x16 slot, 2 PCI ETC

USB Options

SIX USB 2.0 PORTS (4 REAR + 2 FRONT)

Hard Drive

SATA 80 GB HARD DISK @ 7200rpm 8mb cache

Second Hard Drive

NONE

RAID

NONE

DVD ROM/Combi Drive

16X DVD ROM WITH 48X CD ROM

CD/DVD Writer

16x +/- DVD WRITER (8x +/- Dual Lyr) (5x DVD-RAM) (40x CD-RW) (£23)

Graphics Card 1

INTEGRATED 128MB GEFORCE 6100 PCI Express (SMA)

Graphics Card 2

NONE

Sound Card

HIGH END ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL SOUND (RECOMMENDED)

Modem

56K MODEM

Network Facilities

10/100 NETWORK CARD FOR BROADBAND - AS STANDARD

Floppy Drive/Card Reader

1.44MB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE

Case

Stylish Silver/Black Sigma case + 2 front USB

Power Supply & Cooling

500W (Peak) Super Quiet Dual Rail PSU with 120mm fan (£25)

Operating System required

MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® XP HOME (inc. Genuine CD & licence) (£59)

Firewire & Video Editing

NONE

Monitor

17 INCH SILVER/BLACK CRT (not flat) monitor: (Special Offer) (£74)

Keyboard

NONE

Mouse

NONE

Speakers

NONE

Printer

NONE

Anti-Virus

NONE

Office Software

NONE

TV Card

NONE

Warranty

1 Year Return-to-Base Warranty + 1 Month Free Collect & Return









That is a fantastic system and for just under your top budget built and delivered i would definately get that:thumb: that processor will be more powerfull that the intel on in that dell system there is 1 gig of ram an o..k graphics card bu since your not gaming it is fine.
 
chelsea you legend

once again thank you very much
i have binned the idea of getting a dell and will
look on pcspecialist and see if i can reproduce the computer
you have built for me.i am not buying it for gaming but think i might want to play a few
will i be able to play some games with the computers you have built for me ie the one for 530 and 600
thanks again
 
haydan said:
chelsea you legend

once again thank you very much
i have binned the idea of getting a dell and will
look on pcspecialist and see if i can reproduce the computer
you have built for me.i am not buying it for gaming but think i might want to play a few
will i be able to play some games with the computers you have built for me ie the one for 530 and 600
thanks again
Click to expand...


you will not be able to play the latest games with the system. But you would be able to play some older less demanding graphical games. But if in six months time you think that you do want to be able to play some more recent games you can always upgrade easily
 
Back
Top