Is this a good price and spec for a new computer?

[Marcella Ross]

oops ………….. didn’t put on the price …………. £426 inc VAT.

Sound OK?

[Hugh Potter]

what language is that? best get mr Rowlands to have a look!

[Marcella Ross]

quote Hugh Potter:

what language is that?

why do you think I’ve posted it up here Hugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven’t got a clue what half of that means! :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

[Hugh Potter]

quote Marcella:

I’ve got a quote for a build of a new PC.
Can anyone tell me if this is an OK spec, what I should change/upgrade etc and if the price is good for what is quoted.

Thanks guys

Marcella the computer eejit.

Description Qty Price Discount Total

1) COLORS IT 8050 C34BLK/SIL 450W12CM 1u.s0b0

2) AMD ATHLON 7750 X2 2.7GHZ 3.0MB L2+1L.30 0A M2+BLA4C6K. 1E4

3) 3.5 western digital Hard Drive 500G1B. 0S0A TA2 165M7B. 1C3

4) OCZ 2GB DDR2 800 PC2 6400 SINGLE CH2A.N0N0E L

5) ASROCK K10N78FULLHD AM3(X4) READY (BD)HY4B1R.I3D1

6) LG 22X DVDRW+DL22X/-DL12X, SATA, GH12.20N0S 30 RE1T7 .B0L6

7) WINDOWS XP HOME EDITION 1PK OEM

8) GNR TB2200W 22 WIDE 5MS VGA+DVI SCR1E.E0N0

9) LOGITECH S510 CORDLESS DESKTOP SET

at first glance the numbers make it more confusing,

1.. no idea what it even is! motherboard perhaps?
2, amd make good processors, looks like that might be a dual core, might be worth upgrading to quad core,
3, not had one but they seem to sell well on ebay and pc shops
4, memory, 2gb ddr2 ram, about right for xp though i think ddr3 is common now.
5, graphics card?
6, cd burner / reader. much of a muchness.
7, fine.
8, monitor, prob ok, not sure of model but, if you can afford more then get best you can.
9, logitech make good keboards etc, if you listen to a lot of music etc (which iirc you do, then get the Y-rr63 media keyboard which is part of a cordless keyboard / mouse set, like a laptop keypad, very comfy to ue and works winamp easily! )

not sure if it’s great value or not to be honest, mine was about £300 more in value and a higher spec but, i swapped it for a sign so i never did get to see a proper invoice 😕

[Graeme Harrold]

What colour is it, thought that was what girlies decided technical matters on?? :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

2Gb memory is a little low, sure Dave will tell you that too, Id be looking for way more on a new machine, not sure how much XP can handle though……….

[Marcella Ross]

thanks Hugh ……….. that’s a start! 😀

The main thing is that it runs smoothly and fast ………. if what is listed here will do that then it should be OK.

[Andrew McCreadie]

Hi Marsella

Just a couple of things to point out

Do you need in a hurry ??

If not and I’m talking a few weeks you could go for something like this from Dell

Sorry to bore you with all details just a did a cut and paste, this is for tower only and NOT monitor but you could get a good one pretty cheap.

It has amd 4x (Quad core)

1tb of Hard drive space

8gb of ram – Vista 64 bit version with a FREE upgrade to Windows 7

Just gives you an alternative to look at.

The bottom price is £406.10 inclusive of vat and delivery.

Andy

Inspiron™ 546 (D004604)

SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Inspiron™ 546 (D004604) Qty 1
Inspiron 546 Minitower with Black Bezel, Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Premium (64 BIT) – English Unit Price Incl. VAT £734.00

Windows 7 Upgrade Eligible
Expires 31 July 2009 View Details

Save £305 (Inc Vat) until 22/07/2009
Expires 22 July 2009 View Details
– £305.00

Get 10% off!
Expires 15 July 2009 View Details
– £42.90

Catalog Number: 202 D004604
Module Description Show Details
Base Inspiron 546 Minitower with Black Bezel
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Premium (64 BIT) – English
Memory 8192MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [4×2048]
Keyboard Dell™ USB Entry Keyboard – UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Monitor Display Not Included
Video Card 256MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 3650 graphics card
Hard Drive 1TB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
Floppy Drive 19-in-1 Media Card reader
Mouse Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse – Black
Modem No Modem
Optical Devices DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)
Sound Cards Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio
Speakers No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Cable 2 Meter Power Cord – UK
Shipping Documents English Documentation
Gedis Bundle Reference D074604
Standard Warranty 1Yr Limited Warranty – Collect & Return
Enhanced Service Packs 1 Year Limited Warranty – Collect & Return
Order Information Inspiron Desktop 546 MT Order – UK
Processor AMD Phenom™ X4 9750 (2.40GHz, 512kx4)
Dell System Media Kit Inspiron Desktop 546MT Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
Color Choice Piano Black
Accidental Damage Support No Accidental Damage Support
Online Backup DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year
Microsoft Application Software Microsoft® Works 9.0 – English
Protect your new PC No Security/Anti-Virus Protection – English

TOTAL Incl. VAT:£386.10

——————————————————————————–

Total excl. VAT VAT Rate Total incl. VAT
£335.74 15.00 % £386.10
Total Delivery Charge £17.39 15.00 % £20.00
Total Price £353.13 £406.10

[Nigel Hindley]

Hi marcella,

For what its worth I personally would never buy a built computer unless I was 100 percent sure that the people building them have an excellent reputation, as I have seen computers built by so called experts run very slow and have compatibility problems.

Shop bought branded computers are so cheap now id say it wasn’t Worth the risk but others may say differently its only my experience but based on actual experience.

Go with a brand and you get good guarantees – as for the spec im really not sure without taking a good look at all computers on the market just see how it compares to a branded machine – buy computer shopper magazine tons of great deals on good machines.

Nigel

[Marcella Ross]

thanks guys.

Andrew, I need something quicker. My pc is playing up and I want another in and set up before I’m screwed! Didn’t realise Dell took forever to send you a pc!!!!! I was looking at them too.

Nigel – I appreciate your comments. 🙂 I’ve bought from this company before and I’ve always bought pc’s built to order, thankfully problem free.
The main problem I face at the minute is PC World etc all have pc’s with Vista ……… I need XP to run my software, there’s a very limited choice with XP on them now.

[Gordon Jones]

DELL just delivered to me in 4 days, then i got the monitor from ebuyer for £62.00 plus VAT.

DELL are not as busy as they used to be and you need to call DELL business not the home pc number, much quicker delivery

[Marcella Ross]

thanks Gordon. That sounds better!

[Chris Wool]

as you spend so much time looking at the screen i would buy a middle of the road computer and a nice screen or 2.

if you go to the business desk in PC world they will sell you a XP machine but ask anybody else in there and they will say vista only. 🙁

enjoy

[John Childs]

I’m not trying to pick a fight here, but is a sixty two quid monitor good enough?

For general office work, yes, but for graphics?

Especially one you’ve got to look at all day long. 🙁

[Hugh Potter]

quote John Childs:

I’m not trying to pick a fight here, but is a sixty two quid monitor good enough?

For general office work, yes, but for graphics?

Especially one you’ve got to look at all day long. 🙁

I have to agree John, most important thing i put down when i ordered this pc build was the screen, got a 22" samsung syncmaster, i took the shops recommendation and it was the best decision i have ever made, crystal clear and ideal for the amount of time i spend in front of it.

next on list was quad core processing, hi spec graphics and a good motherboard, i pretty much got top of the range of all three, the mother board in particular was the latest generation gigabyte motherboard which will still be high spec in another years time.

i guess i was in the fortunate position of not worrying too much what it cost (as i said, did a deal against their new signage), even dells best offer didn’t compete!

there’s the moral perhaps… see if your local pc shop wants a new sign! i reckon my £800 (trade price) pc cost me about £250 excluding labour!

[Marcella Ross]

I agree with the monitor debate …………… I had a cheap monitor that I used and thought was OK ……….. it went ‘ping’ last week and I’ve borrowed a small Samsung Syncmaster in the meantime. It may be a small screen but the clarity in comparison to the one I was using is night and day.

I think I will buy a system and go look for a monitor separately!

Out of curiosity, how do Dell monitors compare?

[Andrew McCreadie]

Hi Marcella

Try this one good spec at a good price

Andy

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/Pr … sku=189447

[Marcella Ross]

Andy, that does look good! Price is excellent! 😀

Think I’ll contact Dell and see what they can do.

[David Rowland]

hi Marcella,
just seen this thread. with regards monitor, i have a few dell monitor but good spec ones out of their range, really great screens.

Zooming with the mouse is the most annoying thing at times, so bigger the better.

the spec u got is asrock, basically i have not built anything from them for years but they may have improved, who knows, they are known for cheap mainboards.

In your case, consider a hi-spec laptop and maybe plug-in a big monitor or buy a 17" dell laptop. Doesn’t take up much room then

thing with XP, vista is damn good but might need to do your homework on what ur connecting to it, you never know the programs/hardware might all work. however windows 7 is about to come out, so to buy XP might be getting very hard.

delivery from dell does take a while and some deals can add on £50, but PC world are now involved with Dell.

I do a lot more work on my Dell Inspiron 1520 Core Duo laptop which i have now got upgraded to max spec, really fast.

my works pc is quad core Dell, its very good but feel the laptop with vista is a little quicker at times.

i like dell equipment, but recently our old dimension 5500 caused problems, but generally dell are great, except their ‘support’ lines which stink!!

[Bill McMurtry]

An extra hard drive is always handy and cheap as chips these days.

[Marcella Ross]

thanks Dave. I have a 17" laptop but keep it at home. I’m looking for a desktop to keep permanently at work, it’s suits me.

I’ve got an external hard drive which I back up on to, so an extra hard drive isn’t necessary.

I’ve been looking at Dell this morning.
The more I look the more confusing it gets!!!!!

Came up with this ………… if this sounds OK then I might just take the plunge with this package.

Components
PROCESSOR: Intel® Pentium™ Dual-Core E5200 processor (2.5GHz, 800MHz, 2MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows Vista® Business (SP1) with XP Professional installed and Vista & XP Media-English
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE: Microsoft® Works 9.0 – English
MONITOR: 22in E2209W WIDESCREEN Black UK/Irish (1680 x 1050) TCO99 DVI-D
MEMORY: 4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2×2048]
HARD DRIVE: 250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
GRAPHICS CARD: Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X4500
OPTICAL DRIVE: 16x DVD +/- RW Drive
KEYBOARD: Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard – UK/Irish (QWERTY)
MOUSE: Dell 2 Button USB Optical Mouse

SUPPORT SERVICES 1Yr Collect & Return Warranty – No Upgrade Selected

SECURITY SOFTWARE: Norton Internet Security™ 2009 – 15 Month Protection – English
Accessories
SOUND SOFTWARE: Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio HD

POWER, PROTECTION & SECURITY Belkin 4 Socket SurgeMaster, 2m Cable edit
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES 19-in-1 Media Card Reader
MODEMS No Modem
Also included with your system
Base Vostro 220 MT Standard Base Mini Tower Chassis
Power Cords 2 Meter Power Cord – UK
Documentation/Disks English – Documentation Vostro Desktop
Bundle D072202
Standard Warranty 1 Year Collect and Return
Order Information Vostro Desktop 220MT Order – UK
Dell System Media Kit Resource DVD – (Diagnostics & Drivers)

£480 + vat

[Andrew McCreadie]

Hi Marcella

Its me again I would def have a look at my original posting

heres link, I have put code in to get you discount works out £406.00 + £130.00 for monitor works out better than what you’re looking at .(thats including vat + del)

http://ecomm.euro.dell.com/dellstore/ba … =undefined

Phone Dell and see how quick they can deliver you.

Remember any 32bit operation system can only see up to 3.5gb of your ram !! I am not a fan of vista but it looks like windows 7 is the way vista should have been 🙂

Andy

[Gordon Jones]

I don’t see a problem with this monitor:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120308

read the reviews, I have set it up and its fantastic, no problems at all

[David-Foster-]

Hi Gordon, I still think that monitor is skimping it a bit for the work they do here. Colour is critical, especially if you are printing. You need to be able to calibrate the screen for good colour reproduction. Also size, if you can afford it, you should be looking at a 22-24" at 1920 x 1200 resolution, or dual monitors.

[Marcella Ross]

quote Andrew McCreadie:

Hi Marcella

Its me again I would def have a look at my original posting

heres link, I have put code in to get you discount works out £406.00 + £130.00 for monitor works out better than what you’re looking at .(thats including vat + del)

http://ecomm.euro.dell.com/dellstore/ba … =undefined

Phone Dell and see how quick they can deliver you.

Remember any 32bit operation system can only see up to 3.5gb of your ram !! I am not a fan of vista but it looks like windows 7 is the way vista should have been 🙂

Andy

Andy, the link has expired 🙁

[David Rowland]

yeah shopping carts links never work like that….

that unbranded monitor is not something i would put in front of a designer who has to work with the computer all day long.

also, u have to ask urself if u want
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office 2007 Basic – English
or publisher package, how often do u get files from publisher people

i have a load of apple monitors but not tried the LED version, but have older style… its is simple awesome.

http://www.apple.com/displays/

I did look thru the dells… cant see any doing RAID 1 drives arrays, hmm…. i always think that storing data should be over two drives, not 1.

[Andrew McCreadie]

Hi Marcella

Try this one

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstor … 13df8ba822

add code 3R5J65KRCC2J2J

hope that helps

Andy

[Marcella Ross]

trying it now ……. thanks. 😀

[Marcella Ross]

only problem with that one Andrew is that it doesn’t give me the option to have XP. I need XP to run signlab. 😕

[Steve Newell]

Have just ordered the Dell inspiron 546 package Andrew spoke of on Monday. Looks good value,(quad core, 8gig mem etc). Will let you know how long it takes. Price has gone up slightly. £448 inc.

[Andrew McCreadie]

Hi Steve

I apoligise to say there is a code for 10% off forgot to put it in original posting

3R5J65KRCC2J2J

Marcella It is possible to dual boot between vista and xp but this probably steers away from your original request. might be too time consuming switching between

Andy

[Marcella Ross]

Well, I’ve bought the Vostro with the Vista/XP downgrade option.
They quoted delivery by 27th July, that’s great as I go on holiday for a week and I’m back on 25th 😀

Fingers crossed they come up trumps! Will let you know how it goes.

[Steve Newell]

Hi Andrew
No Problem, I still thought it was a good price. I’m just intrigued to see how long delivery will be. I have always bought Dells and they have come from Ireland in a few days. But I bought my wife a laptop recently and it took 3 weeks as it come from China. We shall see…
Steve

[Marcella Ross]

Well, I got my Dell Vostro ……….. Set it all up yesterday and now got the hellish task of slowly filtering out all the crap from my documents in my old PC and then transferring it over onto this! Got my email, firefox, Signlab, Adobe and Corel in and running, everything else I can do a bit at a time.
But so far as I have seen this has been a good purchase. The huge monitor looks great! 😀 It’s running lightining fast and looks good too.

Got the guy who installs the systems in the garage here to come in and set it up. My god, when you watch someone who knows what they’re doing they make it look so easy! It was all done in no time, with no trouble at all. He has set it all up with loads of shortcuts for me and put it better anti virus than the Norton that it came with.

Going to cut some vinyl and then out to fit ……….. then back in to get to work on putting in my other software. 😀

So far so good! 😀

[Lorraine Clinch]

Hiya Marcella, good luck with getting the computer set up, just don’t put the old one away for a week or two, is my advice-I’ve fired my old one up a couple of times now to get files off that for some reason haven’t transferred over.
The new computer is fantastically fast, doesn’t seem to slow down whatever I ask it to do!
It’s also a bit weird having a widescreen-things appear a bit stretched 🙄

Sounds like you had a great holiday!

Lorraine

[Tim Painter]

Marcella
If you don’t intend selling the old PC get an external case to put the old hard drive in so you can connect to it via a USB cable and pull any old files you need from it.

Glad you had a nice break. Enjoy the new PC.

Tim.

[John Childs]

quote Lorraine Clinch:

It’s also a bit weird having a widescreen-things appear a bit stretched

It shouldn’t do that Lorraine.

Have you got the screen resolution set correctly?