where do you recommend i buy a new pc from?

[Lorraine Clinch]

Hi Nick, theres been some discussion on here a couple of weeks ago, best advice I think is to get as large a memory & processor that you can (or something like that)

[Phill Fenton]

Try looking at http://www.dell.co.uk.

You can spec up your own ideal computer.

[David Rowland]

Dell is my first stop also… but if you end up with gobble de-gook from a computer sales man, then look at the processor:-

Athlon XP (yesterdays spec)
Athlon 64bit (Today 64bit spec and future proof)
Anything with Sempron is budget spec but certainly very fast and I may build some soon for our staff.
Anything IntelP4, well there is loads of variations but cross check it with Dell online, not a big fan of P4 but P4 with HT is certainly worth considering.

Hi Spec graphics cards are not needed for us as we don’t use 3D, the biggest and most important decision will be the monitor, Dell are very flexible and the resolution of a flat panel is the important bit, the 1280×1024 is a good resolution and so is the 1620×1200 ( a flat panel monitor is developed to work at ONE resolution only, so must choose for budget)), try and buy the biggest screen size you can afford, the computer comes second place to the monitor. XP Home or Pro, doesn’t really matter. Memory should be between 512Mb and 2GB but another one to consider (and dell sell them) is RAID SATA harddrives but formatted to ‘Mirror’ (or plan a backup plan)

Warranties are s*it with all computer makers, you could argue a manufacturer to fix something and then hopefully they will.

Wireless Mice are not the best things, the models I have used sometimes come with laggy pointers but a mouse must be optical.

If considering a laptop, they are okay but normally about 25% slower then a computer designed to similar spec, but you must have a backup plan as if you loose a laptop on the road or drop a laptop you do risk loosing data.

So, consider monitor then consider the computer. Also in my view a flat panel monitor is good on the eyes, they vibrant and fantastic to look at but I do feel that the tube monitor give more accruate colour then a panel monitor, however a good panel monitor really is good but normally cost a bit more then the rest.

[Lee Ballard]

Dell would be my first stop too. Good service and if you check the website weekly they have some great deals.

As mentioned the screen is very important. I used to work in a former life with a cheap(company didn’t like to spend money) CRT monitor. Even though it was anti glare etc etc I needed glasses after a year or so. Don’t need them at all now and only ever use tft monitors, granted colour isn’t as acurate but they are much nicer to work with IMHO:D

[Gordon Forbes]

I have both P4 with HT and ATHlon 64 one bought one built myself.
P4 is for web and home use Athlon never goes on the net so no virus protection on it (I am the only one who uses it)
Both have a Gig of DDR memeory.
I think because of the virus scanning the home one is considerably slower.

Wouldn’t dream of a laptop unless its over 2K they are always a compromise. and if its for work only and no games etc I would go for a high end 2D graphics card made for crunching numbers these will outperform the 3D game type by a mile.

Goop

[Peter Thompson]

Hi, I’m just looking into a new PC as well, One of my (many) current pc’s is a dell inspiron 9100 P4 3.4HT which has a 256mb graphics card in it, But what I’m looking into getting now is the New AMD 64bit Dual core Processors, Basically it’s 2 processors in one CPU, Great for Number crunching and multi tasking as they both run full time, a 3800+ghz starts at around £200 plus a new motherboard which will set you back another £60

Big-Pete

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote b18pte:

new AMD 64bit Dual core Processors, Basically it’s 2 processors in one CPU, Great for Number crunching and multi tasking

nice bit of kit….but still no operating system yet that supports 64 bit….when it does come out i think in may…..i would wait until the bugs are all sorted 😀

nik

[Peter Thompson]

Hi Nik, There has been a 64bit version of Xp out for quite a while now, Dabs sell it for around £100, I have had a beta test version on another AMD 64Bit Desktop in the workshop for 8months or so, it’s pretty much 100% bug free, Well I’ve not had any problems, As soon as the Free Beta test licence expires at the end of Feb I’ll get an upgrade to a full retail version from Microsoft.

Big Pete

http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Qu … PageMode=1

[John Childs]

Or if you want to avoid a lot of grief……

Mac G5 with a pair of 19″ flats.

😀

[Peter Thompson]

I’ve Not Experienced any grief at all With The AMD’S the 64Bit OS
and the 20.4″ Screen, Although Macs are nice I’d personally stick with what i Know and that’s AMD and Microsoft.

Big-Pete

[Gordon Forbes]

The days of the mac’s being far superior to windows no longer exists.

Goop