desktop for around ?300 needed

[sgerrard]

Hi im in the market for a new desktop pc, i would like to spend around ?300 (may go a little higher for an absolute bargain etc)

not bothered about what OS its running (i have XP on CD anyway) i dont play many games etc but do like to stream and watch movies (although my laptop has blueray, so thats not important)

i would like it to have 4GB RAM though and obviously as fast a processor as possible, not sure if AMD or INTEL is better though?

not fussed about a huge HD and im sure even 320GB would be enough for me, as i dont download much music/films etc.

I do need a monitor, keyboard, mouse also....

any suggestions on where i should look? or are there any bargains that anybody knows about, i have been to PC WORLD etc but it seems i get little for my money...

thanks

[dctyper]

i used Home

[sgerrard]

thanks mate, how reputable is the company?

it says no router, does this mean that it is not wirelessly enabled? i have my own wireless router but doesnt that require some sort of network card in the pc........tomake it work?

cheers..

[icepick]

Have you had a look at DELL .... _http://www.dell.co.uk/
.. Often have good offers,
Regards

[dctyper]

dell are poo, always go wrong. sgerrard, most modern motherboards have built in lan ports, call them up, really helpfull

[ruudvandan]

I'd stay away from DELL and other "mass-market" brands. They build their computers with as cheaply as possible. That doesn't necessarily mean that they have cheap components, but they build them with little scope for upgrading the hardware

[opsmonkey]

you would be better looking at a laptop for those specs at that price

especially as you want a monitor as well..

?300 is bottom end price mate i doubt you'll get 4GB RAM and a decent processor for that money

There is this one but no monitor included.. its ?79 over your budget though..

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176495

Also its better to run your main PC through an ethernet cable to your router.. i only use wireless for things like PS3, iPhone and Laptops

[mickarick]

Try here m8 You can ask them to upgrade the memory for you as well .

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/cat.php?search=PCs+%26+Laptops&nav=227

[sgerrard]

thanks guys, i wouldnt go for a dell anyway, heard too many bad stories...

Hi OPSMONKEY, hows it going mate?, i already have a laptop and i hate using them, need a desktop for my work as it easier and faster....

the one you suggested is a little expensive but i think thats cus it has windows 7, and because its quad core.

I know i wont get a great spec but then again im not sure i need it becuase i will onlt be surfing, word processing and watching the odd movie.

what do you think of this:

Crystal Technology Ltd: Crystal Elite Extreme (IN STOCK)

its coming out at ?260 and i could get monitor for ?60-?70 so ?320 not bad?....

im not sure if it's processor is any good though?

people keep telling me that bigpockets pc's are cheap but poorly made?....any truth in that as they seem quite cheap too....

thank for all the advice, much appreciated...

p.s OPS, i still havent sorted out my blackbox 500s....my pc is so slow now and full of virus i decided to wait and do it on the new one.....!

[opsmonkey]

yeah that looks good mate, sound for just movies, surfing and office..

why dont you just re-format your current harddrive, completely wipe it (or buy a new one.. i bought a 1TB drive for ?54) then see if you can upgrade the memory..?

try this website it will tell you if you can upgrade to a higher spec.. Just use their "Crucial System Scanner Tool"

RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

I upgraded my Desktop to 4GB of RAM, a 1TB HDD for ?80 ish

[ruudvandan]

Crucial is also very good RAM. I doubt you'd want it for what you're doing, but if you don't mind forking out that little bit extra for top-performingRAM, then go for Crucial Ballistix - there is easily noticeable performance increase

[dctyper]

mate, ive had many pc form crystal and they are very good machines. well made and good quality for example.. the monitors are hannspree

[sgerrard]

yeah that looks good mate, sound for just movies, surfing and office..

why dont you just re-format your current harddrive, completely wipe it (or buy a new one.. i bought a 1TB drive for ?54) then see if you can upgrade the memory..?

try this website it will tell you if you can upgrade to a higher spec.. Just use their "Crucial System Scanner Tool"

RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

I upgraded my Desktop to 4GB of RAM, a 1TB HDD for ?80 ish

cheers mate, my pc is old anyway so i thought why not get a new one, so that crystal one might not be bad for the price and if they have a good rep i might aswell get that one...

thanks for the advice...

[sgerrard]

sorry guys but i still havent bought one yet and now i have been advised of the following system which is ?300 so only ?40 more than the crystal system talked about previously in this thread...

can somebody have a look and tell me if its any good, or if they have ever heard of the company seems like a good deal to me though...

OP3 Tetra Intel Quad Core Base Unit - Aria PC

is it worth spending the extra ?40 for this? if it prolongs my pc's shelf life and has more ability to utalise future applications then i dont mind the extra spend....

thanks

[ruudvandan]

The processor is OK, but do you really need a Quad core? Might be worth looking at a dual core with a faster clock speed.

On the whole it looks OK to me but I would expect to get a graphics card included for that price.