PC Purchase, but which OS?

[Abarbarian]

I see you've made some pretty good choices and the one fatal classic blunder ! Why will folk spend thousands of quids on a pc and not spend a few measly quid on a surge protector ! Guess its the exitement of a new toy sends em all silly like .

I have a legal unused copy of Works 8 going cheap if its of any use to you .

 

[muckshifter]

A surge protector is worth mentioning, but buying from the likes of Maplins will be cheaper. I think TC has one, or is that peahouse I'm thinking of ?

 

[Taffycat]

It's ok AB, rest assured that we already have a couple of surge protectors in use here, (and we're fortunate enough to live quite close to several stores which sell a wide choice of surge protection equipment ) Thank you for the thought though.

Just in case there are any doubts, I always use Anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware/malware programmes too. Belts and braces at all times

Mucks - regarding the monitor, I wondered whether I should look at some locally - to be able to see the quality of them? Or do you suppose it would be pretty safe to go for one of the PCS monitors - which they claim to be of good spec?

Price wise - sorry, I realized that I had failed to mention it just after I had posted, it comes to £726 including VAT and Delivery (but that price also includes a 2 Year Return to Base including 2 year' free collection & return Warranty @ £69 extra) Please feel free to comment if you have views regarding warranties (what am I saying... of course you will ) with certain items, we never bother taking-up the paid-for warranties as they are often not worth it - however, not quite so sure when it's a PC...??

Yes, I am excited, but in a slightly laid-back way, because I'm more concerned about getting it "right" than being in too much of a hurry - if you see what I mean? However, we're greatly looking forward to it. I haven't clicked on any "send-order" buttons yet though, as I wanted to run it past you first - and once again, thank you sooo much for your patience

 

[muckshifter]

No, I would also go and "see" any monitor first before buying ... I have said so in the past ... everybody's eyes perceive differently, especially mine.





Sorry to say though, I would drop the "paid for" warranty ... while things can go wrong after the first year, and do, I would take a look at my household insurance and if not covered, get cover for my PC equipment. It WILL work out cheaper. Things are likely to go wrong in the first few weeks if at all. Save the £69 and put it towards a monitor, or, check the memory alternatives for DDR2 800 ram, your MB can use it.

While on that subject of monitors ... a 19" is a min these days ... watch out for the latest craze in wide-screen jobbies. They still measure screens diagonally ... my 19" will actually be bigger than your 20" wide-screen.

Wide-screen do have a place, gamers have some problems, but watching DVD films is great, and, Desk Top Publishing is brilliant. The extra screen real-estate can be an asset depending on what you do.

DVI is another consideration ... no TFT/LCD should be without this these days ... I'm not interested, yet, in HD (high definition) gobbledygook either. It's a PC, not a TV.

Not a bad price.

 

[Taffycat]

Thank you Mucks you have confirmed what we were thinking here, re the warranty, but it's nice to have it confirmed by someone who knows what they're talking about.

I will check out your advice re the memory alternatives for DDR2 800 RAM too, because as I've already said, nothing is set in concrete just yet, so still time for tweaks.

Regarding the monitor, yes, you're absolutely right about the sizes. Our Rock laptop has a 15" TFT screen - conventional type whilst the Fujitsu has a 12.4" "wide screen" so I've been seeing some of the differences they present. It's just as you say, the widescreen is good for certain tasks, but I'm not always too keen on the "stretched" appearance of open windows, so I frequently re-size them.... think I prefer the conventional one And no, we're not bothered about HD either. I've been reading a few good things about LG... but will see what's around

 

[Taffycat]

Originally Posted by Muckshifter:...or, check the memory alternatives for DDR2 800 ram, your MB can use it.

I've just checked, and the next memory alternative up from my original spec is this one:
4096 MB CORSAIR DDR2 667 MHz ... would that be better?

 

[muckshifter]

No ... stick to the original of 2mb ... I was looking for Dual channel DDR2 800

... with the highest speed up to 800MHz, DDR2 memory provides great performance for 3D graphics and other memory demanding applications

... from Asus site not a problem as it will cost more, I thought they did 800 mem as well.

Remember, it's a numbers game ...

 

[Taffycat]

Oops! Sorry Mucks, got myself muddled I looked again and found this
Extreme DDR2 Memory 2048 MB CORSAIR XMS2 800MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY (2x1GB) (okay?) this would still only come to £707 inc VAT/Del without the 2yr Warranty. (They do a 1 Year Return-to-Base anyway, and for only £5, they will include Free Collect & Return for that year.)

Ooh just think of the crunching!

 

[Taffycat]

How long have you had that System Spec sig Mucks? I've only just noticed that - it's GREAT!

 

[muckshifter]

Oops! Sorry Mucks, got myself muddled I looked again and found this
Extreme DDR2 Memory 2048 MB CORSAIR XMS2 800MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY (2x1GB) (okay?) this would still only come to £707 inc VAT/Del without the 2yr Warranty. (They do a 1 Year Return-to-Base anyway, and for only £5, they will include Free Collect & Return for that year.)

Ooh just think of the crunching!

... yep, two crunchie units in one.

That's the ram you want ...

I still wouldn't "pay" for return, if it's faulty and you need to return it, THEY should pay, NOT you. However, I leave that up to you, I would look for the small print on that.



Sig ? what sig ?

oh, that one, only a few days ... it is in your honor dear Lady.




* mucks runs off to hide *

 

[Taffycat]

YAY! Now I am getting excited in that pleasant-but- nervous-with-a-hint-of-manic-cackling, kind of way.
I'll seek final approval from Head of Department - Terry then get the order off.

There is a lead time of approx 3 weeks, so a bit of time to rearrange things before it arrives.

Sig ? what sig ?
oh, that one, only a few days ... it is in your honor dear Lady.

Most honoured

 

[Taffycat]

Oh Botheration

When I submitted our order for the previously mentioned spec, I was told that the CPU, namely:

AMD ATHLON 64 4000+ (2.4GHz) 1MB 1.2 Cache (Socket AM2) has been discontinued.

So, would this one still "work" okay with the other components do you think?

AMD ATHLON™ 64 X2 5200+ (2.6GHz) 2 x 1MB L2 Cache (Socket AM2) It would still be within budget, so no problems there, just wondered about "the numbers" though?

Thank you for reading again and apologies for being a nuisance.

 

[Me__2001]

the new CPU is a dual core which is a big plus it runs at a higher clock speed which again is prob overkill for what you want (i haven't read all of the thread) but its not gonna hurt if you can afford it

 

[Taffycat]

Thank you ME, I suspected it might be getting into "overkill" territory, but so long as nothing is going to self-destruct

 

[muckshifter]

Still in budget ... good and yes, more than you will need, but what the heck, should crunch very nicely indeed.





Oh, and you should be able to use it for "work" too ...

 

[Taffycat]

Way-hay! Looking forward to better crunching facilities I just hope they're not going to tell me that this one is unavailable Onward and upward....

 

[Taffycat]

Done! Methinks 'tis going to be a lonnggg 12-15 working days, but all part of the excitement build-up

Thank you for providing me with so much advice Mucks and Co., it has been a tremendous help to me (and it put husband Terry's mind at rest too, knowing that I wasn't just "winging" it on my ownsome

)


THANK YOU

 

[muckshifter]

only to pleased to help ...

up to two weeks ... ??


Excruciating waiting time.