Desktop purchase advice please.....

Dr. Nick

My current 5-y-old pc is starting to creak, i'm thinking of an upgrade.

I mostly use it for surfing, one or two minor speadsheets etc. The kids do a little gaming, but that will increase as they get older. I'll get broadband when it gets cheaper.

I'm thinking a 4600 Dell with 512 memory. Any opinions?

Fanks.

Redrocket

how much cheaper can you get with braodband????
i think its great value, from 200 a month to 55!

any machine you buy today should blow away your 5 year old machine. and if those are your only requirements for a machine you should be fine buying a dell

Dr. Nick

Fanks monkeyface

I'm waiting 'til bb gets as cheap as the rest of europe......

Azza

I'm sorry its my goal in life to warn people away from the foul demon that is dell.

I normally recommend building a pc as its fun and cheaper but you might not have the time to do so or the knowledge (but believe me its not hard to learn).

Any computer with a cpu with a spec of say a Pentium 4 2.0ghz or Athlon XP 2500 will do for any of your needs stated below. 512 of pc 3200 ram should do you fine along with a ATI 9200 should do your kids fine for gaming.

Even if your not building one yourself I would recommend avoiding dell.

Creamy Goodness

if building your own is daunting, (it was when i first built mine) but i bit the bullet and said to myself

"i've spent over 1000 euros on parts i ain't going to **** this up, so i didn't because i read the manual over and over to make sure i was doing the right thing, and come to think of it pci cards and cpus and harddrives only fit in one way.

if building your own pc still seems daunting i recommend www.elara.ie who build custom to your needs.

Azza

Elara have a good choice for an irish company but I found them highly expensive with some components.

Creamy Goodness

Originally posted by Azza
Elara have a good choice for an irish company but I found them highly expensive with some components.

i know they are expensive in most areas but i'd rather reccommend them than dell at least with elara you'll get quality brand products.

for example dell use no-brand name graphics cards where as with elara in their machines they use brand names such as ASUS, connect3d etc etc.

duridian

Originally posted by Azza
I'm sorry its my goal in life to warn people away from the foul demon that is dell.

I agree with Azza on this one. Packard Bell are another one to steer well clear of, in fact any of the brands sold by the likes of Compustore, PC World et al are best avoided.
I'd advise anyone to read about the hardware and consider building their own pc as it is the only way you will get the pc you want. The likes of Dell with their condescending 'just for you' crap will ensure that you get the pc they want you to buy not what is really best for you.

Tom Dunne

Originally posted by Azza
I'm sorry its my goal in life to warn people away from the foul demon that is dell.

I think it is more to do with people's experiences - Azza, I take it you have had bad experiences with Dell?

I, on the other hand, have recommended Dell to 5 people over the last two years and not one PC had a single problem. Ok, these people don't tax their PC's too much, but I would have no problem in recommending Dell.

Turner

I too was going to buy the usual mundane system dell offers until somebody showed me the pc's that komplett have put together...

Check out the mid range system

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=122435&cks=PRL


Excellent value and the system specs are amazing.

duridian

Originally posted by tom dunne
I think it is more to do with people's experiences - Azza, I take it you have had bad experiences with Dell?

I, on the other hand, have recommended Dell to 5 people over the last two years and not one PC had a single problem. Ok, these people don't tax their PC's too much, but I would have no problem in recommending Dell.

Can't speak for Azza, but I've never had a bad experience with Dell. Never had a good experience either because I do not, never have and never would own a Dell. I would never want to support such a company.

BloodBath

www.jes-computer.de sell some pretty good ready made systems at low prices. All of which come with 2 year service guarentees.

What is your budget?

budget system

You should get another 256mb of ram with that but that won't cost much extra.

Slightly better

Costs a little more than the first but comes with windows xp home and a dvd burner.

Better again

This comes with 512mb of ram and windows xp home and ms works + a dvd burner and a 160gb hd compared to the other two's 80gb ones.

Everything else in the machines is pretty much the same and should be more than enough for your needs. The 9200 is a dated graphics card but it will still play any of the new games although on lower detail with the latest releases.


BloodBath

maxheadroom

BB - whats with the hotmail links?

BloodBath

aye sorry fixing them now.

BloodBath

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Tom Dunne

Originally posted by daveirl
At least with Dell you get some semblance of value for money. Buying from a high street computer store though, madness!

Exactly. I haven't been in Compustore for a long time, but I have seen the crap they offer in the likes of Dixon's, which is why I am intrigued people are so anti-Dell.

Creamy Goodness

i'm not anti dell myself having owned (still do but not used 800mhz PIII) it done me well and never had any problems with it at all.

i'd recommend dell before the links of pcworld, dixons, currys (all same company really) and compustore.

after looking at the jes and komplett links they are great value for money

duridian

Well lads I'll give a few reasons I dislike Dell.

1. Their history of supplying pcs with proprietary non-AT or ATX compatible parts.

2. Their OEM Windows discs will only work with a Dell, making another problem if you want to upgrade and transfer your system disc(hard drive) out of the Dell and into a newer non-Dell. This can be a nightmare if you have important stuff like accounts on the pc.

3. Technical support which you pay for when buying the pc is based in India rather than having support for individual countries.(I've nothing against Indians but combining different accents, people who have different first languages and long distance lines doesn't sound like a recipe for the best service to me)

4. If you want to buy parts for your Dell, they will cost an arm and a leg eg. floppy drive for Dimension 2400 costs around €42, normal pc floppy drive is more like €15

5. They supply Lexmark printers disguised under the Dell brand logo. While Lexmark printers are one of the cheapest on the market, Lexmark ink cartridges are one of the dearest.

6. The computer comes loaded up with too much bloatware much of which expires in a few months and starts asking you to upgrade for a fee.

7. Their whole advertising campaign is smug and suggests you stop thinking. To me it sounds like they are saying "Ah sure why would ye be bothered learning all that auld stuff, sure give us yer money and we'll think for ye".

Redrocket

theres another thread on this forum
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=175999
if you want a high end, low cost machine, and have no worries about ordering the machine from gerrmany, there you go. this machine will knock the socks off a dell machine for the same price and is plenty upgradeable.

vishal

http://www.microlandtechnology.com/products.asp?partno=adb200
they will configure a desktop to your liking. they are cheap. i am sure people here will help you configure it. don't know about postage though.

Tom Dunne

Originally posted by duridian
Well lads I'll give a few reasons I dislike Dell.

1. Their history of supplying pcs with proprietary non-AT or ATX compatible parts.

Yes, I'm sure if I said that to my Granny, she wouldn't buy Dell.

2. Their OEM Windows discs will only work with a Dell, making another problem if you want to upgrade and transfer your system disc(hard drive) out of the Dell and into a newer non-Dell. This can be a nightmare if you have important stuff like accounts on the pc.

This is common practise in the computer industry, it's not only Dell who do it. Besides, I have transferred accounts packages from one PC to a newer model without problem (File->Save As...)

3. Technical support ... doesn't sound like a recipe for the best service to me

It also doesn't sound like you have tried it.

4. If you want to buy parts for your Dell, they will cost an arm and a leg eg. floppy drive for Dimension 2400 costs around €42, normal pc floppy drive is more like €15

I won't get into a flame war about the merits of a floppy drive, but don't Dells come with at least 6 usb ports? How much is a USB floppy drive these days?

5. They supply Lexmark printers disguised under the Dell brand logo. While Lexmark printers are one of the cheapest on the market, Lexmark ink cartridges are one of the dearest.

Re-branding is nothing new in the industry. A consumer has the choice to buy a printer seperately.

6. The computer comes loaded up with too much bloatware much of which expires in a few months and starts asking you to upgrade for a fee.

Ok, I'll give you this one. There is too much crap on Dell PC's.

7. Their whole advertising campaign is smug and suggests you stop thinking

Isn't that advertising in general? Dell are looking for the mass-market (which they have arguably achieved already). They want you to click on a website and order a PC with minimal fuss. They are not looking for the niche market for a highly customised PC. In short, they are not looking for the average Boards.ie user, they are looking for Aunty Ethel to buy a cheap 'puter that will get them on the Interweb.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Dell, nor do I have any reason to promote them. I am just baffled as to why people are so anti-Dell.

Redrocket

one thing dell dont give you is the option for an amd processor.

their new adverts remind of the McDonalds adverts. im lovin it!