Me n Granny need advice about a new pc!

wayneyboy1942 · #16 (**permalink**) 20-05-05, 10:12

Thanks Matty! :) Me n Granny have a budget of about £300 each so these prices seem to be in of price range! digsy will be over at some stage this weekend and we'll start looking around for shops round here, all this info is great and thanks again everyone! :) We'll keep you informed of our progress!

Mattylad · #17 (**permalink**) 20-05-05, 12:15

Things to remember are.

Get better than "what you think will do", as it won't do in 12 months time, certainly not in 2 years as software upgrades take lote more resources every time.
As do antivirus/spyware programs etc.

Get as much RAM as you can, the faster the better.
I got 512mb & am going to upgrade it t 1gb, but 512mb for a PC that does not play intensive games is certainly enough. (Winxp takes about 200mb when really busy).

Get a big hard drive, it only cost a few pounds extra for almost double the size, so it's often worth the extra few quid. All that porn you download has got to go somewhere... :D

If getting a CD writer, it's better to pay the extra and make it a DVD writer as they still write ordinary CD's but can also copy DVD's etc. Also better to backup that huge hard disk space.

The processor, AMD or Intel? well for games AMD is currently toops ditto for price and for anything else (apart from CAD) an AMD is superduper.
64 bit is the way forward.
The ASUS motherboards are good.

System case, well choose whatever one you want, there are usually many to choose from starting at about £29 upwards, with front USB/extra fan etc.
I'd suggest going for the biggest PSU that you can afford, for an extra £10 I had a 480w put in mine to cope with all the extra hard drives, USB peripherals etc that mine will see over it's life.

Graphics card, don't bother with anything under 128mb, less than that & it's well old stuff.
Software/OS is all free if you know the right people ;)

You most likely do not need a new monitor if the current one works well, but a 17"+ is much better on the eyes.
An LCD one is expensive, but can save a lot of deskspace.
although I'm not keen on them as I don't think they have the resolution good enough for me (I use a 21" CRT for CAD so I'm picky).

ANd when putting together your list of what you want, when you ask for a quote from wherever, get the make & model of all the parts insifde it and then do web research on it to determine if your being sold a lemon & that bit has problems.

jaseyboy · #18 (**permalink**) 20-05-05, 12:25

found this ....http://www.meshcomputers.com/updated...sale_order.htm

got my pc from here.

jaseyboy · #19 (**permalink**) 20-05-05, 12:26

plus i copuld giv ya microsoft office xp for free

Digsyboy · #20 (**permalink**) 20-05-05, 12:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattylad

Things to remember are.

Get better than "what you think will do", as it won't do in 12 months time, certainly not in 2 years as software upgrades take lote more resources every time.
As do antivirus/spyware programs etc.

Get as much RAM as you can, the faster the better.
I got 512mb & am going to upgrade it t 1gb, but 512mb for a PC that does not play intensive games is certainly enough. (Winxp takes about 200mb when really busy).

Get a big hard drive, it only cost a few pounds extra for almost double the size, so it's often worth the extra few quid. All that porn you download has got to go somewhere... :D

If getting a CD writer, it's better to pay the extra and make it a DVD writer as they still write ordinary CD's but can also copy DVD's etc. Also better to backup that huge hard disk space.

The processor, AMD or Intel? well for games AMD is currently toops ditto for price and for anything else (apart from CAD) an AMD is superduper.
64 bit is the way forward.
The ASUS motherboards are good.

System case, well choose whatever one you want, there are usually many to choose from starting at about £29 upwards, with front USB/extra fan etc.
I'd suggest going for the biggest PSU that you can afford, for an extra £10 I had a 480w put in mine to cope with all the extra hard drives, USB peripherals etc that mine will see over it's life.

Graphics card, don't bother with anything under 128mb, less than that & it's well old stuff.
Software/OS is all free if you know the right people ;)

You most likely do not need a new monitor if the current one works well, but a 17"+ is much better on the eyes.
An LCD one is expensive, but can save a lot of deskspace.
although I'm not keen on them as I don't think they have the resolution good enough for me (I use a 21" CRT for CAD so I'm picky).

ANd when putting together your list of what you want, when you ask for a quote from wherever, get the make & model of all the parts insifde it and then do web research on it to determine if your being sold a lemon & that bit has problems.

HOPE YA GOT THAT WAYNEY!!!!!!! :yelrotflm
YOU NEED A SYSTEM WITH LOADS AND LOADS OF MEMORY, AND A FAST INTERNET SPEED - YOU DON'T WANT TO PLAY GAMES SO DON'T NEED A REALLY GOOD MEMORY CARD (UNLESS YOU INTEND TO PLAY THEM IN THE FUTURE) - SPECS - ASK THE GUYS ON HERE COS I KNOW NOWT
AM SURE THERE IS A PLACE CALLED "P[C SPOT" NEXT TO THE POST OFFICE IN CLEVELEYS - THEY "MIGHT" BE GOOD

grannyclaret · #21 (**permalink**) 20-05-05, 17:21

blimey its not like buying a new tele is it ?

jaseyboy · #22 (**permalink**) 20-05-05, 22:17

Mattylad · #23 (**permalink**) 20-05-05, 23:49

depends if you want teletext, wide screen, dolby, how mant SCART sockets etc..

lol

ollie · #24 (**permalink**) 22-05-05, 15:46

I got the pc I am on now through the loot £80, two years ago. My nephew upgraded it to xp that cost me another £20, and very kind nephew bought me an all in one printer scanner thing for Christmas so havent done to badly! However bought another one from a computer fair at Colne for work and it has been a bag of s**t, never worked properly and have spent a fortune on phone calls to AOL trying to sort the internet out

grannyclaret · #25 (**permalink**) 22-05-05, 19:55

got to admit this one has realy been good ,but now its always going off line just when you are half way through doing something ,

wayneyboy1942 · #26 (**permalink**) 06-06-05, 15:29

Now then folks this is my list of things we think we want!
Internet access with built in modem
CD/DVD re-writer-we want to be able to download music and video
Grafhics card/basic we don't intend to play on line games,
Hard drive/ 80 GB at least
RAM 512MB
Processer speed 1.4 GH ar least
Windows XP
Sortware to create CD.s of music
Photo and written data

We also re-quire
Keyboard
Scanner
17inc monitor (colour)
Digital Camera
Colour printer
Speakers.

wayneyboy1942 · #27 (**permalink**) 06-06-05, 15:34

If we have missed out anything you think we may need then please feel free to say! :)
Can anyone give us an idea of the price we are talking about?
I've got a few small pc shops around here to ask prices but your help would be great! Thanks again Wayney! :)

Mattylad · #28 (**permalink**) 06-06-05, 15:47

Mnitor aside, you can get that for less than £300
17" monitors (not LCD type) are going for about £70
Digital camera, well now thats another matter, you have a massive choice depending upon what you want to spend & what you want it to do.
A webcam can be got for £15.