PC Desperation

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Dramaqueen

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Please help. I need to buy a home computer and am totally bamboozled as to what to get.
I'd like to just order something and everything I need will be there. Can anyone advise me on what to buy. I don't want to spend a fortune and everytime i go in a shop the price seems to escalate. I thought i could get a decent package for around £600. Tell me if i'm wrong!

I would like:
a 15" TFT screen.
I would need to have access to internet/email.
Basic office packages
Be able to download from digital camera and also video camera.
Have some kind of photo package
Not be slow
If it comes with a printer, fine
have a DVD rewriter and CD rewriter

Also - is it better to buy PC than laptop.

Any advice as to how much this little lot should cost, please let me know.
Any advice on other things to ask for, again, please let me know

MAny thanks - i'm finding this very stressful as i don't want to be ripped off!
 
Well i highly recommend Dell, and i know Ian will aswell ;).

There very well built machines, good customer service, great warranty and all the machines look nice too.

For £600 you should get somthing on the lines of:

2.8Ghz
512mb memory
15" TFT
40gig-80gig HD
Geforce FX5200 (maybe higher)
And plenty of good software

Which will handle day to day stuff very well. You probably would wanna upgrade the graphics card though if your thinking of playing the latest games.

As for laptop or PC, its a simple choice, you would never get a new laptop for £600 that would be as fast as a £600 PC. There are excllent laptops, but you would need to spend more near the £800 mark.
 
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http://www.meshplc.co.uk/updated/spec_matm2800cr.htm

Calm down! Buying a computer is supposed to be fun! £600 isn't a lot to spend on a computer, but you should be able to get a reasonable spec. But buying by mail-order does entail a small risk, because the suppliers are working on tight margins, so their service isn't always what it should be.This even applies to big names like Dell, Mesh, Evesham and Carrrera. Protect yourself by paying by credit card, ordering by a traceable medium like email or fax and meticulously documenting any contacts you have with your supplier in case it all goes pear-shaped. Having said that, the risk of being ripped off is slight if you deal with a well-known firm. My advice is stay well away from PCWorld, Curry's, Time and Tiny. Their specs may appear to be good but their press is bad.

Reefsmoka's recommendation is to go with Dell. They are OK, but their specs. tend to be low for a given price. You get more bang for your buck with Mesh, (see link above)who offer a 160Gb HDD machine for £600, but their after-sales service has come under criticism in some forums. You have to bite the bullet and decide who's right for you. I would broadly agree with Reefsmoka's assessment of the spec. you can expect for your budget and his recommendation to go with a desktop. But for pity's sake, don't neglect to allow money for antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall programs for your new kit. They are absolutely essential in this wicked Internet world we inhabit. Good Luck!
 
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MAny thanks for taking the time to respond. I will bear all in mind and have viewed the MESH site - which looks pretty good. Can you simply order anti virus etc through them?

What is firewall?

I'm a technophobe even though i use computer everyday at work!
 
dramaqueen (typical women ;))

Anti Virus software you can order from anyware, i would recommend McAfee or Norton (that'll prob cause an argument) although there's free anti virus solutions available like AVG, the free anti virus software is arguably just as good and catching those pesky virus'.

A firewall, basically controls access to and from your computer from the internet or network. it will block attempted attacks on your system from spotty teenage hackers and the rest. with firewalls again you have choices, again there's norton and mcafee firewall and again again again you have the free options, zonealarm and kerio to name a couple, i would personally recommend kerio as a free solution.

hope that makes sense, my posts usually don't, but hey there's always a first.

any other questions don't hestitate and all that.

regards

james

ps, tip when buying a pc from a manufacturer, before buying do your research, get the model number and search on google, for most systems you'll find several reviews. have a read and see what you think. if you find a system you like then post it here and i'm sure the opinions and advice will flow in.

Oh and welcome to PC Review! nice to have you here!
 
You would be much better off building your own or finding a mate to do it for you.

am currently waiting to put together a friends machine myself. It came to about £450 and it was the following spec...

AMD 2500+ Barton 333MHz
Abit NF7-S 2.0 Motherboard
512Mb Crucial PC3200 Memory
S-ATA 80Gb 7200rpm 8mb Cache Hard Drive
420w PSU in a Windowed Case
DVD Writer in Black
Gainward GeForce MX440 Pro 660 128mb AGP 8x
Wireless keyboard in black
black optical mouse
Black creative Speakers
Yellow light up wires....
Windows XP Home Edition

so you can pick up a black 15" TFT monitor for about £200 thats inc VAT. Should perform beter than a fair amount of bought PC's and that is for £650/660 inc VAT AND Delivery.

Just my opinion

Chris
 
Firewall: Kerio
AntiVirus: AVG
Spyware clean: AdAware
Spyware clean: Spybot Search and Destrpy
Spyware prevention: SpywareBlaster

They're all free and they all do their job well.

I'd recommend using both AdAware & Spybot as one will usually catch what the other misses.

They're all free to download. If you want links, just ask :)

I'd always recommend build your own but some folks are really more comfortable buying an off the shelf system, it's not neccesarily a bad thing, it'll just be that it costs more and there will always be a compromise somewhere if you're buying to a budget.
 
i wouldn't recommend building your own if you've haven't got a clue when it comes to troubleshooting.

i've said it before and i'll say it again, if you build your own and it all goes wrong (which it can easily do) who you gonna call???

and no the ghostbusters won't help with this one!

only build your own if you have the time and skills to fix it when it goes wrong.
 
Dear Dramaqueen

The guys around here know their stuff and manage to present it in an easily understood way, you won't go far wrong. Whatever you do, take the advice about 'googling' some of the internet/mail order providers b4 you part with your carefully earned dosh. AND under no circumstances should you go with Microland Technology of Stockport. They do get rave reviews in many of the big mags but he whole buying expereince and customer care side is a nightmare. This form and others are good at reviewing companies and their machines and giving honest, no nonsense advice.

I know what you mean, it is a confusing world out there - I would have built my own if I could, but like one of our freinds said above - who you gonna call if the thing goes a bit wonky.........

I think our knowledgable friends could freelance for us technophobes/technology chalenged folks!!!!

Good luck and let us know what you end up buying!

Kind regards

Gabriella x
 
thats nice gabs, thanks for that.

i live in stockport and never had any dealings with microland, what did they do that was wrong?
 
I think our knowledgeable friends could freelance for us technophobes/technology challenged folks!!!!
Click to expand...
Now there is a nice idea ... 029 2025 6111 ask for D-D (that's me ) It's my Company and yes you can call it advertising, but for the price of a phone call, I'll give you FREE advice.

08.30 - 16.30 Mon - Friday

Anybody wants my mobile number, phone on the above number first. :D
 
and the same for me,

ask for james on 07780 670 640 or e-mail (e-mail address removed) (free advice)

if your pluggin' mucks so am i

;)

J
 
ok i'll be a sheep...

(e-mail address removed) or text 07903 842921

Chris :)

edit:

for any one thats around my area also, i would happily build them a system matched to any pre arranged budget/spec/colour/wateva for price of components plus i dunno, £20 for labour ready for collection.

had it done in under 2 days before 2 - tech teacher asked me to build her new home PC so she gave me the budget and what it included, ordered it, arrived next day i built it, installed XP and put latest security patches on and she was round at 8:30pm to pick it up!

she is happy :)

oh yeah...forgot to mention...i live in hampshire not too far from Guildford. Am near Alton, Farnham and Aldershot.
 
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And if anybody phones me I shall tell them in no uncertain terms to bugger off :D

Get enough idiots phoning me up to rack me brains as it is - hurrumph!:mad:

And no, not about computers, I now tend to keep quiet about them, had too many 'friends' phoning me up wanting instant cures for their maladies. Leave me alone :p

But I'm really a nice geezer, honest guv ;)
 
Nice one Flops. :D :D

Oh, and I live in Cardiff and could "deliver" to the South Wales area. ;)

If we all get "nuisance calls", we can only blame ... ourselves.
 
CRIKEY!! - i didn't expect so much response - THANK YOU

I think i have decided which package to go for Cogent1 suggested the MESH site and a particular computer - Matrix M2800+CR. I have looked at this but it doesn't have a DVD writer so i found Matrix 2800+NX, which does (it also comes with a 17" TFT so i want to check that i can get a 15" instead - it's £699 - let me know what you think.

I will also take advice and look at the reviews through google

Thanks also for all the info about free antivirus stuff - i'll be asking for the links as soon as i'm up and running.

Sunflower Queen - pleased to know there's at least one other female technophobe on this extremely knowledgable site

Thanks, Andrea
 
Matrix 2800+ NX
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Processor[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]512MB DDR333 RAM (PC2700) Memory[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]200GB 7200rpm Ultra DMA-133 HDD with 8MB Buffer[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]128MB Integrated nVIDIA GeForce 4 Graphics (SMA)[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]17" TFT Flat Panel Monitor[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]SONY DWU-18A - 8x DVD-RW (R/W all standard formats)*[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5.1 Surround Sound 6 Channel Audio[/font]<LI class=smallblack>[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Creative SoundBlaster SBS250 Stereo Speakers[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Internet Ready V.92 56Kbps data/fax/voice modem[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Network Ready integrated 10/100 Ethernet Adapter[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]FREE Microsoft Works 7.0[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]FREE Pinnacle Studio 9 SE Video Editing Software[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Logitech Internet Keyboard & Optical Mouse[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]FREE 3 Year Warranty (Back to Base)[/font]
  • [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Black Mini Tower Case/4 USBs + Additional Features[/font]
They never, NEVER say what motherboard they are using ... and that annoys me, Ask before ordering.

Also I notice ... 128MB Integrated nVIDIA GeForce 4 Graphics (SMA) ... this is an "onboard" graphics, does it have its own memory or does it use system ram? ... using their "configure" table you could "upgrade to a better card. Just to make sure ASK if the MB they are using HAS an AGP slot AND how many spare PCI slots. ;)

Oh, and if you really, really NEED an LCD screen, keep the 17" in the spec' ... give me a normal CRT 17/19" any day. :p


Always use a Credit Card when ordering goods off the Internet
Check YOUR rights under "The Distance Selling Act" :D
 
I'd agree wholeheartedly with Mucks' advice.If you're not sure what to enquire about, ask away here, don't be shy ;)

Only other thing I noticed is the DVDRW, it's not dual layer, which is the latest technology. Only a small thing, really, but it would be worth finding out how much extra to have a dual layer DVDRW fitted instead of the Sony 8 x drive.
 
never go for onboard graphics they are rubbish. Share your system memory which is not a good thing at all! 128mb out of the 512mb total you have is a fair amount!!

looked on Novatech...

2.8GHz 2.8GHz Intel Pentium 4 800MHz FSB
512MB PC3200 400MHz DDR RAM
80GB 7200rpm
128MB DDR GeForce FX5200 AGP Card
CDRW/DVD Combo Drive
5.1 6-Channel Capable Sound
1 x RJ45 Network Port (10/100)
56K Modem
Windows XP home edition
15" TFT monitor

£748.47 including VAT
 
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