Going for a new Computer tommorow

Messages
1,619
Edit My Images
Yes
hi
decided i've had enough of the laptop shutting down on me, so i've opted for a new computer.
I was going to buy another Dell (desktop this time though) until i saw this in a local paper, and i think its better value.
Would like some opinion of what others think too. If you dont think its any good, please say so.
http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Product.aspx/TruHome/TruComputers/TruComputersDesktop/779415
many thanks
steve
 
Seems like a reasonable price... however... it all depends what you want it for.

Might be a bit 'overkill' if all you use it for is internet and e-mail.
 
Looks a very well spec'd machine at a good price to me. From a photographic point of view, the fast processor, multi card readers, and 2 big hard drives for storage are all good.
 
Unless you are at pro level I would suggest you should get eveything you need for about half that Stev ? The rest is not 'must have' as much as 'gotta have' ? Of course if money is no object ... why not ?!?
 
How about something cheap from Dell?

Looking here:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/Category28-All.phtml

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dell...uk&l=en&s=dhs&kc=UKDHSONL&oc=D01113&x=12&y=11



the cheapest offer at moment is £293 inc delivery, that includes a Dell 17 " TFT that sells for £172 here
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...um=1&category_id=210&page=productlisting.aspx

making the PC base unit only really costing you about £121

£293 inc VAT and delivery has got to be better than £899, and will be fast enough for emails etc !
(Take off the onsite warranty to get the price down)


The £603 saving compared to the toysrus site can be spent on another lens :)

Mark,
 
Mark Grant said:
How about something cheap from Dell?

Looking here:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/Category28-All.phtml

the cheapest offer at moment is £293 inc delivery, that includes a Dell 17 " TFT that sells for £172 here
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...um=1&category_id=210&page=productlisting.aspx

making the PC base unit only really costing you about £121

£293 inc VAT and delivery has got to be better than £899, and will be fast enough for emails etc !
(Take off the onsite warranty to get the price down)


The £603 saving compared to the toysrus site can be spent on another lens :)

Mark,

Agree with Mark - Dell is good Stev ! Glass is better !?!
 
hi guys
i have a dell laptop that i use at the moment, i want something that is not going to need upgrading for a few years, as i have started to use RAW files now, and will probably copy them as tiff (which is bigger, i think) and then probably need a copy in Jpg also, you can use a lot of memory like that, and i dont want the computer to slow to a crawl within a year.
i have toyed with the Dell 'build it ' and i got it to 799, but thats with a 17" TFT screen,and only 250gb HD.
i dont only use the computer for emails and internet so i really need speed and performance.
 
Dell's cheap systems often have everything included on the motherboard... making upgradability an issue. My brother in law brought me his Dell PC to upgrade... and it didn't even have an AGP slot.

Make sure you know exactly what you are getting, down to the brands of the components if you can.

Computers are like lenses... you get what you pay for :)

On paper that PC looks great, but I would still want to know exactly what make and model most of the components were.
 
hi Braeden
a friend at work has a b-in-law who builds computers, and he says Dell use cheap components, thats why the price is low, Having said that, my laptop has been great for 3 years, its just this overheating issue, and it keeps shutting down.
 
he's right :)

£900 is a good budget for a PC, shop around and get the best you can for your money. There are a few retailers around that still build systems to spec so you get to choose what you want (I know, I work for one of them).

Plus it means you are not landed with hardware and software you don't want/need.

However, if you need a PC fast then you are limited I suppose - but even then I would advise against buying in a rush.
 
stevannie said:
hi Braeden
a friend at work has a b-in-law who builds computers, and he says Dell use cheap components, thats why the price is low, Having said that, my laptop has been great for 3 years, its just this overheating issue, and it keeps shutting down.

Pretty much everyone that mas builds computers uses the cheapest components possible which would include whomever toy r us got to build that one. Its doesn't really matter who you buy from its going to be the same cheap as possible rubbish one of my friends lost the repair cd for his pc he had major problems when he installed windows on a new hard drive because he couldn't find out what drivers he needed for everything so no sound, network or display above 640 x480 until we worked out what the motherboard was.

If I didn't play games on my machine then I'd have a much cheaper and slower machine with a big hard disk and about the same amount of RAM (1GB)
but I'd be building it myself its not difficult and you know what you've got.Plus you could spent the money you saved on new glass or a huge monitor :)
 
No offence but I really wouldn't ever consider going into a toyshop to buy a computer.

And who has ever heard of Medion? A search of Google has not even bought back the companies website!!
stevannie said:
hi Braeden
a friend at work has a b-in-law who builds computers, and he says Dell use cheap components, thats why the price is low, Having said that, my laptop has been great for 3 years, its just this overheating issue, and it keeps shutting down.
You are aware that as the largest single computer manufacturer, Dell's bulk buying power enables them to obtain huge discounts on components, right?

As far as the laptop overheating issue - might I suggest that after 3 years of use the CPU fan is probably stuffed up with dust and various other cr*p - so may well just need a good service.

Back on topic - my advice would either be to seek a reputable manufacturer - who will undoubtably be able to respond to support issues or warranty claims a lot faster than Toys'R'Us, or as suggested above - to build your own.

Building your own PC really isnt difficult! For your budget you should be able to build something from components that would outperform off-the-shelf PCs costing 1.5x as much.

If you need any help with component selection then ask away!
 
evilowl said:
No offence but I really wouldn't ever consider going into a toyshop to buy a computer.

hi guys
would you ever of thought of going into a garage for bread and milk or video's at one time, who would have heard of lexmark a couple of years ago, although they have been building printers for years(for IBM) until they came for themselves.
I really appreciate all this concern about this computer, i have just looked at their warranty policy, and it says, covered for 12months, within 12 months if there is a problem, a technician will come to the house to repair, if he cant repair it, a new item will be given.
I am not sure what to do now, and my brother is calling for me in an hour to go, i'll go look at their website again.
cheers
 
I have to say I have heard only good things about Medion. They are the largest computer company in germany. Aldi supermarkets often have offers on medion PC's and have people queuing outside when the offers start.

When I built my last PC I costed all the parts (which were all named branded major components) in a Medion offer at Aldi and could not buy the parts for the same money, never mind an OS as well. I can't do the queuing thing so I bought the parts and built my own.

There are websites just for medion users. I looked on one at the time. The only moans were about the drivers for the TV card being poor. Might be worth a search to see if users are still happy.
 
How about this one:
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dell...uk&l=en&s=dhs&kc=UKDHSONL&oc=D01911&x=12&y=11

3.0 P4, X600 graphics etc,

I get that to £657 with 1024mb memory, taking off the onsite warranty ( you dont need to pay for on site warranty if you have a friend who can repair PC's :) )

you could add the built in card reader for £23.50.

Almost the same spec as Medion, but with faster CPU, but it is a Dell for less money than Medion :)

Cheaper to add more hard drives yourself (or your friend) later !

for example a maxtor SATA 160gb is only £45 + VAT at ebuyer,

Another big advantage of Dell machines is that they are almost silent.
when a shop builds a cheap PC they usually use a cheap CPU fan and cheap PSU, both are noisy, Dells are almost silent :)


Hardly worth building your own PC when you can buy them pre-built that cheap !

Mark.
 
i have just visited a site with reviews by users, the first few were moans amount the system not working at all, not getting any help, and generally things breaking, on the other hand there were lots of people who had good experience of them, but it has put me off now, so i am now going back to the Dell website and looking there, although Mesh do good computers.
cheers all

edit:
hi mark you must have posted while i was typing, just looked at the computer you put together, the one i built was the 9100, but i will now go back and 'play' about with it.
thank you
 
stevannie said:
hi Braeden
a friend at work has a b-in-law who builds computers, and he says Dell use cheap components, thats why the price is low

Dont agree :)

The bottom of the range Dells often have everything built on the motherboard as they are designed for the corporate customers, that will buy a few thousand, use them for a few years, then buy another few thousand.

Dells are in most of the big corporate companies, not because they are rubbish, but because they are the best price, silent and are reliable !

Dell are cheap because of the buying power of Dell.

Small shops cant compete, so try to criticise Dell at any opportunity.
(perfectly normal, happens in all industries)

Small shops usually use the cheapest parts possible unless someone wants a particular spec, which will then be expensive.


Getting back to your laptop, as evilowl says it will just need the CPU fan/heatsink cleaning out.
Either bunged up with dust and fluff or the fan has failed if it has one,

A can of compressed air with long nozzle might help here, if you can work out where air is sucked in :) Will be very dusty though so blast it outside or in the garage !


Good luck !


Mark.
 
evilowl said:
And who has ever heard of Medion? A search of Google has not even bought back the companies website!!

I Have.

You'll sometimes find Medion PC's in PC WORLD/Curry's and ALDI, they're not just confined to Toys'R'US.

They are a German based company who have won awards for some of their systems. Website:http://www.medion.de

If your happy with what Toys'R'US are offering go for it, you will not get a similar specked PC from anywhere else for the same price.
 
stevannie said:
edit:
hi mark you must have posted while i was typing, just looked at the computer you put together, the one i built was the 9100, but i will now go back and 'play' about with it.
thank you

I find the best way to get a bit of discount is to use an evalue code such as E-Value Code: UKDHSONL - D01911 from http://www.hotukdeals.com/Category28-All.phtml then add bits and take off the on site warranty if you dont need it :)

Using that code I get a 9150 to £803 with P4 3.0, X600 graphics, 19" ultrasharp monitor, card reader etc, so similar to Medion price really, although the Dell ultrasharp are great monitors ! (never seen a Medion monitor to compare though)


Mark,

edit: If you are not in a rush, just keep checking the hotukdeals site everyday, there have been some bargains, prices can only go down with PC stuff :)
 
Mark Grant said:
Almost the same spec as Medion, but with faster CPU, but it is a Dell for less money than Medion :)

The 3.0 CPU clock speed may be faster in the Dell, but the medion has a Dual core processor in the D820 2.8 which will probably out perform the single core in the Dell.
It will also come into its own when running software like Adobe's that take advantage of dual core processing.

To build a Dell to the same spec as the Medion will cost you around £1200

HTH
 
I overlooked that :D

Adding a dual core 2 x 1MB D830 3.0ghz (no D820 option on the one I am looking at) to the Dell makes it £961, so Medion is cheaper :)

Still a lot of money for a PC though !

Mark,
 
It sounds OK to me, but then when I decided I wanted a new stand-alone, I bit the bullet and built my own. Scariest two days ever spent in a dining room!

But after I discovered that it's just like an airfix kit - follow the instructions after reading a couple of home PC magazines - dead simple.
I upgraded harddrives, memory as I went along. Put extra fans in to keep it chilly in the summer etc.
It really annoyed me how simple it all was - how can they charge so much for so little.
My set-up cost me £500 all-in, compared to the nearly £3k that Dell would have rushed me for the same spec two years ago.
 
Arkady said:
It sounds OK to me, but then when I decided I wanted a new stand-alone, I bit the bullet and built my own. Scariest two days ever spent in a dining room!

But after I discovered that it's just like an airfix kit - follow the instructions after reading a couple of home PC magazines - dead simple.
I upgraded harddrives, memory as I went along. Put extra fans in to keep it chilly in the summer etc.
It really annoyed me how simple it all was - how can they charge so much for so little.
My set-up cost me £500 all-in, compared to the nearly £3k that Dell would have rushed me for the same spec two years ago.
I agree. Mine is homebuilt, as is the one I built for my Dad. Its farily simple as long as you have the time and inclination to read it up before hand.
 
For anyone wanting to read up on how to build your own this website seems pretty imformative and has forums so you can ask questions if you get confused.
 
I've built my own a few times now and my current desktop is nearly 4 years old, I've just upgraded bits as required. You can get all the bits you require from the Sunday morning computer fairs which are to be found around the country and there's usually plenty of advice on hand for combatibilty issues etc. Building your own PC wont make you an 'expert' but it does remove a lot of the mystery about what goes on inside that box and you'll have no qualms about maintaining your own PC once you've done it.

The only thing I'd say is that the price differential between buying ready built and building your own isn't as great as it used to be and building your own doesn't factor in the cost of any software, whereas the ready built one will usually include the price of legit software which is a consideration often forgotten.
 
I agree with CT ,
its the same way i have built & maintained my own machines..
however , when my sons went fuzzy on us the cheapest way was to buy one from staples at the time, was reduced to half price, with a 15" tft for £329,,

couldnt leave it on the shelf for that money , and that was 18 months ago and,
and as stated , legit software was included

something i will be doing next time

MyPix
 
Yes there is always the Software to consider - another few hundred quid on platform and editing software isn't something to be overlooked if you're buying off the shelf. Unless you're a very bad person...
 
Arkady said:
Yes there is always the Software to consider - another few hundred quid on platform and editing software isn't something to be overlooked if you're buying off the shelf. Unless you're a very bad person...

:innocent: :D :thumb:
 
In all honesty there are minimal numbers of people who use the full power of their PC's (hard gamers excluded). I run a dedicated HTPC to drive my Plasma with MCE, & also use as general PC for PS, Video Editing, surfing etc. It's only 1.4 Ghz CPU with 512MB RAM, but is more than up to the job for 99% of the time
 
Never ever ever ever bought a PC , built my own since starting with a 286 running at 12MHz:shock: . Back on topic , my father bought a desktop and a mate bought a laptop , both Medion , both from ToysRus and never a problem. Had the lid of a few times on my fathers PC to add/change stuff and it seemed a well put together machine :thumb:
 
You just beat me then. My first self build was a 386. Quite a perfomance jump from the Amstrad 8086 with 20Meg (yes meg) hard drive I was using.
 
I built my own PC too. I simply don't see the point in paying more than I have to when I can do it myself. Athlon XP3000+, 512mb RAM, 40Gb HD, Radeon 9600 128mb graphics card, LAN, 6xUSB2.0, winxp, 17" CRT, CD writer, cost me a shade over £400 about 18 months ago, and an hour or so to build/install it.

Since upgraded to a 17" TFT monitor (£170), 1.5Gb RAM (£50), DVD writer (£40), 80gb second HD (£50) and added a Firewire card (£15) for the DV camcorder. Plus my home network (desktop + laptop) is now wireless.

It whups ass. Really. :)
 
If it was myself I would build one - simple, quick, and nothing to really cause any problems - you just buy the pieces you need and from there its very difficult to go wrong - Like MrGrubby I've done this for a long time and to be honest its actually difficult to make a mistake, because most components will only go where they are supposed to and also alot of modern motherboards have alot of protection features built in to protect themselves from overheating, burning up, etc.

It will not be cheaper though - the main advantage I do it for is I put in what I pay for and I know what its capable of, so I dont get it home and discover the video needs upgrading, or the soundcard isnt very good - and therefore costing extra because of upgrades (which you have already paid for).

However as mentioned it would be cheaper in most cases - economies of scale that you cannot compete with are in force:). Also alot of people discount the cost of the O/S which is going to be £70 minimum for an OEM, probably closer to £150 if you buy retail from PC World (for Win XP). Another advantage of the ready made PC is you will atleast get cover - parts are guaranteed for a minimum period, and you will have access to tech support.

In general quality will not be an issue - what most people hear about poor quality PCs is like any product - there is always someone who has a bad experience, but the majority will have a good one. Also all manufacturers suffer from the quality issue. Dell are also so cheap mainly due to the business model rather than the fact their components are produced to a lower standard than others, Dell probably have one of the strictest QC standards of them all.

Basically if you want a decent PC that you dont have to worry about the technical side and is powerful enough to run desktop apps, buy one. If you want a very fast PC for games and you have knowledge of which components to buy to reach that performance - build it.
 
I got 12 months warranty on all the parts I bought for the original system.
 
True - but you will have a warranty with various manufacturers of each component, so if your HDD fails you will RMA and receive a factory refurbished replacement in most cases. With the ready built PC he deals only with the manufacturer - and all faults (if any) would be rectified by them also.
 
Warspite said:
True - but you will have a warranty with various manufacturers of each component, so if your HDD fails you will RMA and receive a factory refurbished replacement in most cases. With the ready built PC he deals only with the manufacturer - and all faults (if any) would be rectified by them also.
Nope, I just take it back and they replace it with a new one. Built a PC for a friend once and the PSU died after about 9 months. Took it back and they exchanged it there and then.
 
stevannie said:
hi
decided i've had enough of the laptop shutting down on me, so i've opted for a new computer.
I was going to buy another Dell (desktop this time though) until i saw this in a local paper, and i think its better value.
Would like some opinion of what others think too. If you dont think its any good, please say so.
http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Product.aspx/TruHome/TruComputers/TruComputersDesktop/779415
many thanks
steve

Well Stev - I guess we are all waiting with bated breath ... aren't we chaps ??? What did you go for in the end ... ;)
 
hi all
well i went and done it, toys r us can bog off as far as i am concerned, i went there, bought the Medion, and got to the checkout and was asked to fill in a form to say i HAD a tv license, damn cheek i thought, talk about Big Brother, so i told them to stuff it, and i walked out.

on my return home, my wife insisted i logged on and sorted out something else (bless her, i am spoilt to death) so i went to mesh computers, where all the components are sony or other well known brands, and i ordered one from them, and i will put the spec up when i find out how to copy/paste it from their site, it cost £825 but i also saved £75 to boot, and it includes 3 yr return to base parts/labour and delivery.

Edit:

AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ with HyperTransport Technology
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
Mini-Tower Micro ATX Case +550W PSU - Black/Silver
ASUS A8N-VM - Nforce 410 PCI-Express Mainboard - Micro ATX
2048MB DDR400 Memory - PC3200 (2x1024) [upg £ 75.00]
300GB Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB Buffer [upg £ 30.00]
SONY 16x Dual Layer DVD-Re-Writable +R/-R/RW
256MB nVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE - TV-Out + DVI - PCI-Express
19" TFT Flat Panel Monitor - DVI & Analogue
5.1 Channel Surround Sound Audio-SoundMAX (on-board)
Creative Labs SBS260 - Stereo Speakers
Logitech Desktop Keyboard & Optical Mouse
Free Microsoft® Works® 8.5 + 60 Days Microsoft Office Trial
Free Cyberlink Video Editing Suite - 7 titles (oem)
Network Ready integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Classic Warranty - 3 Years Back-to-Base - Parts & Labour
 
Back
Top