tesco
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more than what I could build it for, but then again I have free windows licenses and student adobe prices...
Not the most high spec pc, but pretty reasonable... though wait a couple of days and buy something with windows 7 installed instead
It's sooooo much better than vista 
Not the most high spec pc, but pretty reasonable... though wait a couple of days and buy something with windows 7 installed instead
It's sooooo much better than vista 
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look at these.. better spec and value in my opinion..
http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/hom...d=desktops_great_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&~ck=mn
http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/hom...d=desktops_great_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&~ck=mn
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i would avoid Packard Bell - purely because of their support being crap and their hardware being rubbish too.
saying that... Dell are pretty much the same... :|
saying that... Dell are pretty much the same... :|
Hacker
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I'd agree, we had one a while back and it was pants - they don't get the name Packaged Hell for nothing.
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I wouldn't touch HP.
It's cheap for a reason, that reason is not good.
Most cheap pre-builts are compiled of very budget kit. The HP's are pretty bad for memory and mobo failure as well as pretty ropey psu's.
You could easily build a better spec (maybe with slightly less storage) box for less than £300 and add a half decent 19" monitor for less than £100. In fact I have done several recently within that price range. You would have to add an o/s though.
It's cheap for a reason, that reason is not good.
Most cheap pre-builts are compiled of very budget kit. The HP's are pretty bad for memory and mobo failure as well as pretty ropey psu's.
You could easily build a better spec (maybe with slightly less storage) box for less than £300 and add a half decent 19" monitor for less than £100. In fact I have done several recently within that price range. You would have to add an o/s though.
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show me a support phone line (apart from mine) that is any good.
personally ive never had any issues with Dell business support.
HP can do several however.
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Dell support have always been pretty good with me too
However with the amount of phone calls they must get I'd expect them to be 
I am pretty sure I was on Xmas card terms with one of their tech guys a few years back
Dell machines are good when spec'd up (look at the Alienware and XPS systems) however this comes at a price which then makes self build a better option, financially.
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"purely because of their support being crap and their hardware being rubbish too"
Really..? My packard bell sitting next to me has been running fine for 5 years now, not a *single* problem with it (except a blown up PSU but thats my fault) and I play hardware intensive games on it, as well as using photoshop.
It also runs at the same speed as a mates 24" mac.
James
Really..? My packard bell sitting next to me has been running fine for 5 years now, not a *single* problem with it (except a blown up PSU but thats my fault) and I play hardware intensive games on it, as well as using photoshop.
It also runs at the same speed as a mates 24" mac.
James
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However with the amount of phone calls they must get I'd expect them to be
thats a little harsh to be honest
with the 250 odd boxes we've got here ive only ever logged insurance claims with them for laptops (latitudes - D600 through to D630 and D800 through to D830 and now the new E6500, various optiplex models and quite a few poweredge 19xx servers) and the odd blown PSU in the servers..
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thats a little harsh to be honest
with the 250 odd boxes we've got here ive only ever logged insurance claims with them for laptops (latitudes - D600 through to D630 and D800 through to D830 and now the new E6500, various optiplex models and quite a few poweredge 19xx servers) and the odd blown PSU in the servers..
It was slightly tongue in cheek
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ok, pretty much 90% of the Dell units i've had arrive at our offices are either incorrectly specced, incorrectly configured or faulty. i wont go into how many times we've had laptop motherboards replaced...
their support line is useless - they send the wrong parts all the time. i've tried for the last 9 months to get a replacement part for an R900 only to be told that the part does not exist even though i have the part number and am physically holding the part. now they've taken to IGNORING my emails relating to this problem. Dell servers also don't have thermal cutouts in them it seems, and have regularly had malfunctioning servers cook themselves. Dell cannot provide us with laptops with Polish keyboards, even though their manufacturing plant is in Poland...
HP, however... i've never had a problem with their laptops, we've never had any major problems with their MFP's or printers. we've never had a problem with their network switches (when we use them) and we've never had a problem with their servers or SAN's. their support team can get any replacement part to me in a day no matter how obscure it is. i've never had a piece of kit turn up mis-specced, faulty or incorrect.
Dell are a complete burden to us - their hardware is subpar and so is their support. their Finance company is a complete joke as well and it takes them a week to get 1 PC to us. they cannot locate parts, ship us US power cables when we request UK ones, and ship us UK power cables when we request European ones.
they are a complete farce.
their support line is useless - they send the wrong parts all the time. i've tried for the last 9 months to get a replacement part for an R900 only to be told that the part does not exist even though i have the part number and am physically holding the part. now they've taken to IGNORING my emails relating to this problem. Dell servers also don't have thermal cutouts in them it seems, and have regularly had malfunctioning servers cook themselves. Dell cannot provide us with laptops with Polish keyboards, even though their manufacturing plant is in Poland...
HP, however... i've never had a problem with their laptops, we've never had any major problems with their MFP's or printers. we've never had a problem with their network switches (when we use them) and we've never had a problem with their servers or SAN's. their support team can get any replacement part to me in a day no matter how obscure it is. i've never had a piece of kit turn up mis-specced, faulty or incorrect.
Dell are a complete burden to us - their hardware is subpar and so is their support. their Finance company is a complete joke as well and it takes them a week to get 1 PC to us. they cannot locate parts, ship us US power cables when we request UK ones, and ship us UK power cables when we request European ones.
they are a complete farce.
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do you shop direct or via reseller?
really? what level of business support do you have?
our 19xx and 29xx's did when our a/c failed.
we have an HP SAN and while the hardware is good, the "support" is shocking. when we went to the bristol tech center to look at them even the sales guys said HP's support was beyond dire.
again are you going direct or via a reseller?
dont take any of that as a hostile reply im just interested as my experiences are the exact opposite of yours
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we have a global agreement directly with Dell. all of our hardware is ordered and supplied directly from Dell. highest level of support.
when our chiller failed and our DC went up to 45C, all the HP's shut down (as expected), but all the Dell's continued to run with fans going full pelt. we get PSU failures all the time as well with Dell servers but never a problem with the HP's.
HP have outsourced their support, but i have a lot of historic contacts in a higher tier than just their phone monkeys. however, those times i've spoken to a 1st tier person have been successful and immensely helpful.
i guess you'll always get this kind of thing though. some people will have crap support from HP and good support from Dell, and some will experience it the other way around.
when our chiller failed and our DC went up to 45C, all the HP's shut down (as expected), but all the Dell's continued to run with fans going full pelt. we get PSU failures all the time as well with Dell servers but never a problem with the HP's.
HP have outsourced their support, but i have a lot of historic contacts in a higher tier than just their phone monkeys. however, those times i've spoken to a 1st tier person have been successful and immensely helpful.
i guess you'll always get this kind of thing though. some people will have crap support from HP and good support from Dell, and some will experience it the other way around.
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that is a bit odd then, ive never had an issue with dell support or getting the right bits out of them. HP on the other hand i actually loath calling, i actually ended up banging my phone on the desk to try and get a word in edgeways they were so intent on reading their script.
also our 4 lone HP servers pop PSUs like no ones business compared to the dells.
lol, our AC failed in the middle of summer last year that was a fun day. commendering desk fans
but yeah like you say youll always have someone with contrasting experiences..
do you live in a parallell dimension??!
also our 4 lone HP servers pop PSUs like no ones business compared to the dells.
lol, our AC failed in the middle of summer last year that was a fun day. commendering desk fans
but yeah like you say youll always have someone with contrasting experiences..
do you live in a parallell dimension??!
cowasaki
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I have always found Dell's service to be very good too. My Dell 2407 monitor's on/off button broke when it was 2.5 years old. I rang them and there was a brand new one there at 9:30 in the morning next day. Can't fault them really.
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our chiller blew up - we had 3 weeks without AC in our DC... had to spend about £3k on portable units, and even then we could only keep the room at about 28C 
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you'll like this neil_g 
ordered a Belgium E4300 from Dell with a DVDRW drive. they shipped the laptop with a CDRW drive in it, with a DVDRW drive in a seperate box expecting me to install it myself. however on opening this extra box (which says it contains a DVDRW drive and a copy of Roxio), there are 2 AMD Operton processors in antistatic bags in it...
1: how can you confuse a DVDRW for 2 processors
2: HOW !?!!
Dell strikes again
ordered a Belgium E4300 from Dell with a DVDRW drive. they shipped the laptop with a CDRW drive in it, with a DVDRW drive in a seperate box expecting me to install it myself. however on opening this extra box (which says it contains a DVDRW drive and a copy of Roxio), there are 2 AMD Operton processors in antistatic bags in it...
1: how can you confuse a DVDRW for 2 processors
2: HOW !?!!
Dell strikes again
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oh dear lol
although i can kind of understand if their warehouse is anything like ours.. the pickers (people get the item of the shelf and bung it in a box) probably just get a location in the warehouse and a qty on their little palm pilot/barcode scanner thingies. so if someones checked a box back in the wrong location then its possible that will end up in someones order than the correct item. its not the pickers job to open the boxes and inspect the contents because they simply wont know what it is theyre picking anyway.
if so then its poor warehouse management/training.
although i can kind of understand if their warehouse is anything like ours.. the pickers (people get the item of the shelf and bung it in a box) probably just get a location in the warehouse and a qty on their little palm pilot/barcode scanner thingies. so if someones checked a box back in the wrong location then its possible that will end up in someones order than the correct item. its not the pickers job to open the boxes and inspect the contents because they simply wont know what it is theyre picking anyway.
if so then its poor warehouse management/training.
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yeah, but quantity 1, ship 2 ?
none of it makes any sense
none of it makes any sense
cowasaki
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you'll like this neil_g
ordered a Belgium E4300 from Dell with a DVDRW drive. they shipped the laptop with a CDRW drive in it, with a DVDRW drive in a seperate box expecting me to install it myself. however on opening this extra box (which says it contains a DVDRW drive and a copy of Roxio), there are 2 AMD Operton processors in antistatic bags in it...
1: how can you confuse a DVDRW for 2 processors
2: HOW !?!!
Dell strikes again
Bet they are worth more than the DVDRW though !
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http://www.medion.co.uk/
check out the aldi link on the left hand side of this link. very good spec for £400
im in a similar situation to yourself and this is very tempting.....
also check out novatech too, they are a decent company by the sounds of it, im very tempted by one of their barebones bundles too.....
check out the aldi link on the left hand side of this link. very good spec for £400
im in a similar situation to yourself and this is very tempting.....
also check out novatech too, they are a decent company by the sounds of it, im very tempted by one of their barebones bundles too.....
I bought one of these when the offer started, and it's been good, so far. The only thing I dislike is the front part of the case. It's glossy "piano" black - which I loathe - and the optical drive and various ports are hidden under doors/flaps which have built in opening/closing switches. I'm not that clumsy, but I'm sure I'm going to break something, and I'd rather have the old style open front. The LG optical drive seems flimsy too, compared with my older ones, and the drawer is also controlled by the same switch, but it works OK.
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yeah, but
1: they're AMD's... i mean COME ON !
2: even if i did want to use them, i have nothing to put them in
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also, be careful of Novatech - they take on batches of parts that have a higher than normal failure rate than most other suppliers.
hence the cheapness, and the high return rate of stuff purchased from them. go with a reputable company - Toshiba, HP, Dell, Fujitsu, Sony etc.
hence the cheapness, and the high return rate of stuff purchased from them. go with a reputable company - Toshiba, HP, Dell, Fujitsu, Sony etc.
cowasaki
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even if i did want to use them, i have nothing to put them in
A motherboard does tends to be traditional
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cheers for the heads up 
the latest one im looking at (my opinion changes daily :bang is this
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/502089
the latest one im looking at (my opinion changes daily :bang
is this http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/502089
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A motherboard does tends to be traditional
yeah, but only an AMD capable one... of which i have none.
Yes. I don't play computer games, and just use it for general tasks and post processing - nothing very intensive - and it seems fine. The W7 upgrade was part of the deal and is on the way one of these days.
I'm not really "into" computers, and don't have any experience of buying ready built ones. I used to live in SA and there were a lot more small, independent, computer stores who would build to order. I knew the guys at our local place quite well, and they built two for me over the years.