PC advice

[RygarR]

Evening All,

My 8 year old Advent Laptop is really starting to grind my gears. The battery's never been good for more than half an hour, so I've run it off the mains for most of its life. It's rocking Vista, which I've never really liked (XP ftw!). The USB ports are dying, and now with the antivirus on it takes forever to start up, and often has to slow down for a rest. I'm thinking about upgrading, but its been so long since I've built or bought a PC, I don't really know what's what. I need it mainly for office apps, but also GIS, which I use to manipulate massively 'quilted' raster images. Being Scottish, I'm also tight and wouldnt want to spend more than £300. Oh yeah, I'd also want it new for guarantees etc. Any tips on what to look out for in a large screen laptop or a sff desktop?

 

[joe34]

if buying a new pc u might struggle to find one with windows 7 (which is a nice step forward from xp/vista)

so you would be looking at windows 8 or 10

u probably should look at some tutorial videos for those operating systems on youtube, to see if it's something u are going to like

or maybe you could downgrade some new pc's to windows 7 (assuming you dont like windows 8 or 10)

whatever you go for, make sure it is 4gb minimum ram (which most new computers should be).. or if doing a lot of large image work try to get a bit more ram than that. also if doing heavy gfx/calculations etc you would prob be better off with a 64bit OS (which again most new pc's should be)

joe342015-09-11 23:36:13

 

[tazfaedodge]

Have a look in PC world you can get good end of line deals in there look for prices that end in a 7, or try their website for returns and refurbs as they have guarantees.

There's also the likes of Dabs.com and ebuyer.com

Nick

 

[RygarR]

Cheers Joe. Just been looking at laptops online and was surprised to see how many of them had 8gb RAM. My first computer was a 16Kb Spectrum. How the times have changed!

 

[RygarR]

Hiya Nick, good plan. What's the difference between the I5 and A6 processors? Any must have?

 

[tazfaedodge]

I5 is the middle range of the newest intel processors A6 is an AMD processor.

I would go for the intel had AMD and never liked it but thats me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiQV7SFoZq4

 

[guddler]

AMD, despite being used in a lot of server farms, in the desktop / laptop space is well known for not being as powerful or being able to keep up to Intel. But saying that, at £300, I hate to say it but you are going to be all about price. You're going to be up against it a bit so AMD might well be where you can shave some money off. I think AMD is only a real killer for gaming, for which you don't even want to go there. But it doesn't sound like that is on the cards (well, if it is, forget a £300 laptop anyway!!)

I'm sure there are possibilities at that price point but I always try to convince my family that a £300 machine is going to feel like it needs replacing again within 2 to 3 years. The more you spend, the longer it's going to be before you feel you need to do it all again.

 

[RygarR]

Thanks dude.

 

[RygarR]

Yeah Gud, 300 squids is meagre, but like I said, I'm tight. From my limited searching so far, it seems that laptops offer the best bang per buck in terms of features, performance and power use. Given that I already have a wireless keyboard and mouse and a monitor, however, would it be worthwhile looking at a modest desktop?

 

[big10p]

Pity you must have new. That 300 quid could buy you a lot of 'puter on ebay. I had to replace my lappy too, as it died. Got a Dell Vostro off ebay for under 50 quid, delivered.

 

[joe34]

i agree with big10p, there's nothing wrong with a refurb pc
a lot of them u get a 1 year guarantee

here's a good example of a decent pc for you (although you may want to phone their customer support number regarding if they offer a warranty)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121744122439

note: you would have to buy a monitor separately .. these days though i expect u can just use an LCD tv as they are loaded with tons of inputs (hdmi, vga, dvi, etc)

joe342015-09-12 00:27:52

 

[RygarR]

Thanks Big and Joe. The eBay option with guarantee is certainly tempting. Looks like I might have to reconsider...

 

[bbz149]

Got a new Dell 9020 All in one with 3 Year RTB Warranty for sale

I5, 23" Screen

Also got a new Dell i5 E7250 Notebook sealed I might consider selling, but that will be more than £300!