Desire Avenue

So I got a PC grant through from Uni, five hundred quid which must be spent on a computer. I know bugger all about computers, and have had my fair share of grief with them over the past few years. I have a nice little laptop already which was a present, I've used it a lot and it's still fine apart from the fact that the sound has gone on it. Not sure how I managed to break that. Anyway I'm thinking I should use this money toward a desktop PC rather than another laptop, but I don't know if the one I've settled on is a decent make/specs etc for the money. I'd have to put a hundred quid to it myself so I don't want to get something that isn't any good. If any of the board techies can give me the heads up I'd be most grateful.

This is the one I'm looking at:

*edit*

All I need really is to be able to word process, download stuff and burn things to cd. Will this do the job?


Sorry about the extra-wide post, I don't know how to shorten links. *

* removed link

Funnily enough I bought myself a new pc only the other week and that came to £616 after I upgraded the basic model and took out an extended two year guarantee.

I do think extended guarantees are important (see down below).
Its worth hestitating though and puttiong onm your best doubtful expression as in the shops the salespeople are quite likely to heavily discount the premium if they think you're about to say 'no thank you'.

I ordered a Dell this time as they're a pretty reliable make.........and got £60 knocked off the extended guarantee simply by if-ing and ah-ing on the phone for a few minutes.

Although my model has Windows XP installed ......I can upgrade to Vista when I like but have decided not too. The XP serves my needs and I have read of problems assocaited with Vista and AOL

Amongst the techno blurb.........

Dimension E520 Pentium D 915 Processor Dual Core
( 2.80Ghz, 800Mhz, 2x2MB cache )

Memory Dual Channel 1024MB (2x512) 533MHz DDR2

Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA 7200Rpm ULD

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 Intergrated

DVD+/ RW (read/write) 16x

Flat panel 17"

etc etc etc

My last PC was a Packard Bell and I had no end of problems with it over the six years I had it so I was glad I'd taken out an extended 4 year guarantee on that one.

I needed the engineers out on at least four possibly five occasions to keep it operating.I certainly had my moneys worth as the mother board was changed at least three times.

I'd certainly recommend having a look at the Dell website:

http://www.dell.co.uk

My mantra-get a Mac.No viruses (viri?) you see,much nicer GUI,etc etc.And there's virtually nothing that isn't cross-platform anymore,not that matters anyway.
Only problem is expense-but if they're giving you the money...

Looks like a decent enough computer; of course I would build my own; but i'm having a much older type than this one you're looking at, so it should easily run the programs you're looking for... Windows Vista is a copy of the Mac X operating system so you don't need to spend the extra money there...

Rob, interesting to hear of your problems with the Packard Bell machine - I spoke to a couple of people today and they both independently told me to steer well clear of Packard Bell, because they use cheap components that have a tendency to break down. Based on that and your comments here, I've decided not to go for the one I was looking at.

Dave, I'd love an Apple machine but I'd ruled it out due to the cost. The cheapest one I can find online is a laptop at 750 quid.
It does look great, but I'd have to find the extra 250 myself. Also I'm concerned about learning to work with a completely different operating system, I'm so used to Windows.

Wirbel, I'd actually prefer not to have the new Vista system because there always seems to be loads of kinks with new Windows systems, I'm quite happy with XP but all the new machines I've looked at seem to be pre-installed with Vista.

Beth,
I would check around the Dell website.....I'm sure they still sell Windows XP loaded PC's.
And even you can't find what your looking for,give them a ring,they're pretty obliging when it comes to providing a machine to suit your requirements.
I think you're wise to keep clear of Packard Bell,certainly from my experiences anyway.

At my work, we are using Dell computers since 2-3 years and I never had to fix one for now... And usually to fix computers once a week or two so I really advice you to buy a Dell PC.

Thanks for the advice, guys. [akiss]

My friend James is taking me down to PC World tomorrow morning to have a look round, he's quite knowledgeable - well, compared to me. [b)] He seems to know the sort of thing to ask about, anyway. If we don't see anything suitable there I'll have a look at the Dell website.

I got a Sony laptop, in the end. Not the latest model/processor by any means, which is why I got it for 500 quid, but it's got everything I need and more. I love it.

Well, don't drop it whatever you do.

Sonys a good make so hopefully it'll give you years of trouble free service.

This one is quite a bit larger in size than the one I already have, so hopefully, less easy to pull off a table onto the floor. *crosses self*

I'm not getting rid of the other one, only thing wrong with it is the sound. I'll use the new one for my studies, though, just in case the University Grant Police come round.

Don't talk to me about Sony...(Dave,on his third broken Sony Minidisc,grrr.
Customer support-what's that?)
Good luck,Beth

I do love Sony stuff, actually. We've had their hi-fi systems for years and I've never had any problem with them, including the mini-disc systems.

Minidisc in terms of professionnal use can be quite unreliable...
for the rest, I think it's ok.

Yep,indeed Franck.(Excuse me while I invoke the ghost of Esther Rantzen...).
My first MD-an old style SonyMD,not even a net MD,stopped recording a while back-approx 3 years after I bought it.At least it APPEARED to be recording,and then nothing was there on PB.You can imagine how maddening that is for a pro muso.
Next,I bought another one to record on,and that developed the exact same problem within FIVE DAYS (You can imagine how maddening that is for a pro muso). Currently in litigation with Sony on that one.Meanwhile I tried to do an innocent edit on MD number one-move a track or something,and it blanked the whole disc (You can imagine how maddening that is for a pro ...etc).Five hours of work/music down the drain without trace.
Sent number one off for repair-bottom line £72 to fix it,£30 odd just to look it over if they couldn't fix it.'We'll turn it round in 15 days',I was told breezily down the phone.Here I am,41 days later.They sent me a letter saying 'yes,it has been fixed,pay £72 please,no cheques',so I rang them next day,gave them my credit details,sat back to wait for it to plop onto my doormat.
Meanwhile it was my birthday,and my beloved,seeing my plight,forked out for a brand new one from the local Sony shop.And this is a HiMD!! Upload to computer! Download from computer!! record mp3s,HiMD MDLP etc etc wayhay! except....it doesn't work on a Mac.Which they hadn't told her,despite her asking. (You can imagine how maddening that is for ..etc).Incredibly Sony have only lately got around to making a model which is Mac compatible,despite 90% of MD users being pro musicians who are more than likely to use a Mac.
So I had to go back to the shop,give back the (otherwise useless) HiMD and fork out an extra £90 [what] for the Mac compatible one.Which IS great....at least,I've had it a couple of weeks now and it hasn't YET shown any signs of fucking up.
Meanwhile,where's number one? I rang them today
-'Er ,where is the MD you're supposed to have repaired which I paid £72 for about 4 weeks ago?'
'Oh Mr King,we're glad you phoned,your credit card wouldn't work'
(Turns out that the dork who answered the phone first time round got the numbers on my card wrong.)
'Oh,so why didn't you ring me and tell me?'
'Oh yes,I suppose we could have done that.Hmm,and we have your email too,we could have emailed you too couldn't we?'
'Yes,you could have.' [fire] [fire] [fire]
I await the plop on the doormat...