LIDL computer goodness 31/03/05

parasite

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050331.index

including a €600 pc and 250 gig hd's etc..

kazzer

Are those Targa drives any good, or should you stick with a more reputable name? Looks good, big cache.

XT_Dweezil

kazzer wrote:

Are those Targa drives any good, or should you stick with a more reputable name? Looks good, big cache.

It´s rebagged WD (Western Digital, or at least that what is was the last time), with a 16MB buffer. But the price is still really good.

Kazu

are they ide or sata hard drives

lomb

whats the warranty on the drives?

XT_Dweezil

Kazu wrote:

are they ide or sata hard drives

The picture on Lidl´s website shows a sata, but I think it´s IDE disks

Stephen

I got one of the "Targa" drives from Lidl before - they just say targa on the box - the drive itself is a Western Digital. In my case, it was a WD2500JB - 7200rpm/IDE.

Xcellor

That Targa PC is a heap of junk. Sempron Processor? Unichrome Pro Graphic Chip? What a load of poo. Not worth 600 at all.

X

Raskolnikov

Xcellor wrote:

That Targa PC is a heap of junk. Sempron Processor? Unichrome Pro Graphic Chip? What a load of poo. Not worth 600 at all.

X

komplett wrote:

Qty Your Price Total
Western Digital Caviar 160GB IDE ATA/100 8MB cache 7200RPM

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 116430
Stock status: 42 stocked 81 81

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AMD Sempron 2600+ 1.83GHz Socket A 333MHz, 256KB, BOXED w/fan

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 301831
Stock status: 17 stocked 75 75

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TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2.5 Memory184-P (for DDR-PC400MHz)

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 113518
Stock status: 100+ stocked 55.01 55.01

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MSI KM4M-V, KM400, Socket-A, m-ATX, LAN ATA/SATA, Sound, LAN, VGA, AGP8X

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 307876
Stock status: 50-99 stocked 49.01 49.01

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Pioneer DVDRW Dual Layer DVR-109 White OEM

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 307779
Stock status: 30 stocked 79 79

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Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2 English OEM

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 303203
Stock status: 50-99 stocked 85.99 85.99

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Q-Tec Midi tower ATX 6022MD Case w/350W

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 300269
Stock status: 20 stocked 44 44

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Trust Ami Mouse 250S Optical 3 button mouse, scroll, PS/2

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 301791
Stock status: 18 stocked 9.9 9.9

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Trust Power Plus Keyboard English, UK, PS/2, Retail

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 120535
Stock status: 50-99 stocked 8 8

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Logitech X-530 Speakers 5.1, 70W RMS

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 305676
Stock status: 4 stocked 75 75

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eMagic USB2 Multi Card Reader ,for CF I/II,SM,MMC/SD,MS,xD

- Surcharges 0 per item will be added.Article number: 304738
Stock status: 44 stocked


Total: 575.91 + €30 delivery.

There's no pleasing some people.

XT_Dweezil

Well the disc only has a 2mb cache, not 8mb as standard so not recommended.

# 160 GB Western Digital hard drive
# Extrememly quiet 7,200rpm with 2mb cache

Xcellor

That PC is nothing more than a word processor and surf the internet rig. No game would run on it. At least if you are going to spend a few bob better to spend a little extra and get a machine that can play some games. That system is a joke and if the Sempron processor is a highlight... well ... that's just AMD's version of a celeron except even cheaper.

Not impressed at all.

The medion that was in Aldi the other week now that had a bit of kick to it. And for an extra 300-400 was well worth it.

X

seamus

For €600, are you expecting a high performance PC or an entry level offering? It's a good price. You don't go into McDonalds and complain that their burgers are nothing compared to sirloin steak.

duridian

Going by the leaflet I picked up instore today the internal 250gig hard disk this time is a Maxtor disk with 16MB cache for €129.99. The €199.00 external "Databox" disk drive possibly still uses the same 8MB cache Western Digital as the one offered previously by Lidl as the specs look the same as last time round.

MisterAnarchy

I agree with Xcellor that PC is ridiculously overpriced.
I built a machine for my uncle before Christmas for 350 Euro and it was comparable to the Lidl one.
They had good deals in the past but that PC is not a good deal.

Xcellor

That isn't entry level it's just crap. If it was a celeron I'd have more respect but a sempron?!?! I agree Lidl has had some fantastic offers in the past that were decent spec at a reasonable price.

This is something you would expect to be on special in ESB and a stupid sales person would be telling you that Sempron is actually the newest AMD processor available, and it's faster than pentiums and integrated graphics is the best!!!! because it frees up slots!!!! so you can upgrade!!!! wohoo

X

Xcellor

seamus wrote:

For €600, are you expecting a high performance PC or an entry level offering? It's a good price. You don't go into McDonalds and complain that their burgers are nothing compared to sirloin steak.

Quite frankly if you want to eat food you don't eat in Mc Donalds.

If you want a PC that is well rounded and up for gaming/office apps/graphics editing you wouldn't buy that PC unless you have a very poor grasp on hardware and value for money.

This comp = glorified calculator with windows.

X

RicardoSmith

I bought a much better spec'ed Dell from their outlet store. But the lidl price is ok for a off the shelf computer. 3yr warranty etc.

MisterAnarchy

This comp = glorified calculator with windows.

Thats bull m8
It is a decent machine for the average family .
Its not the best for gaming but it will do anything else you want.
Horses for courses.
Not everyone wants a super gaming rig or more inportanly not every needs a super gaming rig.

RicardoSmith

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Thats bull m8
It is a decent machine for the average family .
Its not the best for gaming but it will do anything else you want.
Horses for courses.
Not everyone wants a super gaming rig or more inportanly not every needs a super gaming rig.

...or wants to build one from parts...

Drag00n79

Is the external hard drive worth buying? 250Gb for €199. I see Komplett have a 300Gb for €218. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=307392&cks=SPK

Xcellor

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Thats bull m8
It is a decent machine for the average family .
Its not the best for gaming but it will do anything else you want.
Horses for courses.
Not everyone wants a super gaming rig or more inportanly not every needs a super gaming rig.

Most people will expect a new computer to run the games that are currently on the market. Sure for 600€ they won't expect a lightening fast PC however try playing just one modern game on that. It will work but barely.

Sims 2
Half Life 2
Doom 3
Unreal Tournament

If that computer cant even run those games well, which have been out for a few months now, what hope for future developments?

OK the glorified calculator was a bit exagerated but I don't think that machine provides the average family with what it needs because the average family will play an odd game,,, and unless that game came out a year or two ago running it on that rig will be next to impossible.

I know coming from a customer service line of work sometimes people don't know what they are buying. They will see a new computer and believe if it's new it will play games that are currently on the market. They will buy the PC bring it home, next week Jimmy will buy a game install it and well then I get a phone call saying "My new comp wont play this game what's wrong?"

They could have built a much better system for the same price or a little more expensive with a decent AMD 64 proc and a mid range ATI card which would have run all the games above.

X

seamus

Xcellor wrote:

Most people will expect a new computer to run the games that are currently on the market. Sure for 600€ they won't expect a lightening fast PC however try playing just one modern game on that. It will work but barely.

You know that for a fact? I reckon most people who buy a new computer want something that will surf the web, play videos, music and allow them to write and print documents. If they want something their kids can play games on, they'd buy a console for less money.

Xcellor

seamus wrote:

You know that for a fact? I reckon most people who buy a new computer want something that will surf the web, play videos, music and allow them to write and print documents. If they want something their kids can play games on, they'd buy a console for less money.

If that's true they can buy a second hand PC with better specs than that and probably a hell of a lot cheaper including a monitor.

Very few families I know who have a PC, have never purchased at least one game for it. So I believe that while gaming may not be no 1 priority, a normal family with kids will want a PC that at least gives them the option of playing games if they want. And actually in the modern family its the adults that play the games.

I don't think that PC is a good choice for a family unless they will never ever ever use it for games which is unlikely.

X

chump

it's a piece of fuppin poo

if it was a proper amd, with a half-decent gfx card, then maybe

Cucullan

Shamrok wrote:

Is the external hard drive worth buying? 250Gb for €199. I see Komplett have a 300Gb for €218. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=307392&cks=SPK

I was thinking of getting the 250 gig from lidl too, is it any good? Anyone buy one last time?

cdebru

http://www.elara.ie/products/Custom1.asp

if you customize a pc from here it will come in at about the same price

the AMD sempron is a rebadged athlon xp not a bad chip and better than the celeron

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040728/index.html

Superman

MisterAnarchy wrote:

Not everyone wants a super gaming rig or more inportanly not every needs a super gaming rig.

I agree man, but round here some think talk like that is heresy!

chump

jees didn't know that cdebru

presumed it was a cut down version in the same line as the celeron

cdebru

chump wrote:

jees didn't know that cdebru

presumed it was a cut down version in the same line as the celeron

yeah according to toms hardware the sempron 2600 is the athlon xp 2500 barton


also i think the lidl has pc3200 ram which i doubt the elara one has

put a half decent graphics card in it and it is not a bad system

RicardoSmith

I thought they are like the earlier XP's with 256 L2 cache whereas the bartons have 512kb l2 cache.

cdebru

RicardoSmith wrote:

I thought they are like the earlier XP's with 256 L2 cache whereas the bartons have 512kb l2 cache.

actually just looked at this it is the socket 754 sempron which is better again basically a cut down amd64

very overclockable according to this site

AMD’s new solution also looks preferable to the Celeron D family, the competing inexpensive processors from Intel. The Semprons are generally faster in a majority of applications than Celeron D models of the same price.

Another appealing aspect of junior Sempron for Socket 754 models is their excellent overclockability. Our tests show that Semprons on the new 90nm Palermo core can add up about half their frequency at overclocking, to clock rates about 2.5GHz. For example, we managed to give our Sempron 2600+ a 56% frequency boost and the performance of the system subsequently grew by 35% in average and became comparable to that of systems with Pentium 4 3.4E and Athlon 64 3500+ processors. In other words, overclocking helps to increase the speed of the platform with an inexpensive Sempron for Socket 754 processor to the level of midrange computer systems.

The last and probably the most important thing you can deduce from this review is that the lifecycle of the Socket A platform is approaching its end. This platform has lost almost all of its appealing features, and the new Semprons make it possible to build inexpensive systems on the Socket 754 platform. The manufacture of Socket A processors will soon be halted, too. So, if you’re intending to buy an inexpensive computer, you can strike out Socket A from your options list.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/sempron-2600.html


so not a bucket of poo

and better than what i was comparing it to from elara which is socket a

maidhc

In fairness though, it may be a reasonable enough computer but its hardly a bargain you would queue for. If you want a cheaper computer Dell have them for less than €400, pay €600 and you will get a fairly decent machine, probably even with a flat panel and a seperate graphics card. And, to be honest even a basic 'family' PC needs a decent enough gfx card these days unless all they will be playing is age of empires.

If you dont like Dell, and some people don't (If you dont like talking to indians buy a latitude/optiplex!), komplett will do a price like that one any day of the week, and you know exactly what you are getting. More people seem to buy from Jes.de, and prices there seem very good also.

The point isnt whether someone needs a gaming rig or not, but whether something is a bargain or not. I'd say the lidl machine isnt, and I think thats true of a lot of their stuff lately.

cdebru

i'm not saying i would queue for it or it is a fabolous bargain
but it is not a bad pc in fairness

RicardoSmith

Well I don't think every one want to game. In fact most PC's aren't used for games at all. But I agree with you that you can get better deals on the Dell outlet store. Not the main store though. But you'd doing well to get a TFT in a 600 bundle. It not the greatest of bargins though.

I got a P4/3gz (1mb) 512mb/250GB SATA, DVD burner from Dell for 500. Stuck my own 9600XT into it.

cormie

I'm considering buying The office optical/wireless mouse, the printer/scanner/copier, the speakers, the external HD and The 256 USB key

Are these really good deals or are they just average? I don't have the money to buy half of these, so are they actually deals I should jump at and get in debt over?

I'm most likely going to buy the optical mouse if anything. Is this worth it?
Thanks

Bah

cormie wrote:

I'm considering buying
the printer/scanner/copier

Avoid. It's a Lexmark all in one, which means the cost of replacing the cartidges will be astonomical, the printing will be relatively crappy quality and slow to boot. You're better off buying a decent Epson/HP for the same price, or even spending €20-30 more. You'll be better off in the long run.

the speakersthe external HD

They don't look too bad for the price, if you're stuck for a pair they should do the job.

The 256 USB key

It's a pretty basic memory stick, so you'll get cheaper online - although it's probably only going to be a few euro difference. So you miht be better off just going with this, less hassle with credit cards, shipping etc.

I don't think it's really worth going into debt over, you're practically guaranteed to see all of these (or something very similar) in Lidl/Aldi specials in the next few months. Or just buy them, for less, online.

RicardoSmith

cormie wrote:

...
Are these really good deals or are they just average? I don't have the money to buy half of these, so are they actually deals I should jump at and get in debt over?..

I would say no. Any bit of web browsing will get you better gear at the same price. The longer you wait (till you have the money) these things will all be cheaper again. Thus saving you more money.

amby666

Anyone know what the printer is?

cormie

RicardoSmith wrote:

I would say no. Any bit of web browsing will get you better gear at the same price. The longer you wait (till you have the money) these things will all be cheaper again. Thus saving you more money.

what about the mouse

RicardoSmith

cormie wrote:

what about the mouse

a few euro more gets you a creative or MS one. http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10266&sortBy=p&minprice=&maxPrice=

Placebo

is the mouse and keyboard usb wireless? or wha

Gone West

I bought the same hard drive off ebay (new, sealed etc.) for $90 after shipping. Of course they only had to post it to me.(arizona). still, better than komplett

Cucullan

FuzzyLogic wrote:

I bought the same hard drive off ebay (new, sealed etc.) for $90 after shipping. Of course they only had to post it to me.(arizona). still, better than komplett

As long as customs don't stop it, it'll cost you an extra €30 approx. Its been happening alot lately

RicardoSmith

Cucullan wrote:

As long as customs don't stop it, it'll cost you an extra €30 approx. Its been happening alot lately

They caught a game I bought from the US. Grrrr. Its not available here.

TheTick

No one has mentioned the TARGA 17" LCD Monitor (at least I missed any mention of it). Anyone know anything about them, reliability etc?

Response time: 13ms, seems good enough for the price. I think the leaflet said this had a 3 year warranty.

Finn Dub

TheTick wrote:

No one has mentioned the TARGA 17" LCD Monitor (at least I missed any mention of it). Anyone know anything about them, reliability etc?

Response time: 13ms, seems good enough for the price. I think the leaflet said this had a 3 year warranty.

Did anybody buy the LCD monitor? If so any good? I tried the Moore St branch but they were sold out.

Anybody know a branch that has them in stock?

jor el

I think the monitors seemed to vanish fairly rapidly, gone by 11 yeaterday in Limerick anyway.

@Placebo, the keyboard/mouse is wireless. Good value for €23 and a nice feel to the keyboard and mouse too. Mouse is also optical.