Cheap / Dell Desktop

boxa

Hi folks,
just on the search for a reasonable (cheap!!) desktop and am getting the impression that dell seem to be the best bet (although I've also read their tech support is pretty !!!!!!). I'm after a pretty basic model which will do me for the office & home - not gonna be downloading videos or playing games so I assumed that a bog standard 60GB HD / 256MB RAM comp would do me (ideally I'd go for 512 MB but I presume I can upgrade that at a later date if necessary). Anyhow, the best deal I seem to have come across so far is the £289 Pentium 4 processor here :-

http://www.wizmarkcomputers.co.uk/hotdealsdell1100.htm#289a

(can anyone educate me on how to put the above hyperlink under a specific name as opposed to the full website address !!??!! that probably shows you how much I know about using computers !!)
I know I can get one a bit cheaper & maybe with a bit more RAM but they tend to use the Celeron which I believe are nowhere near as good as the Pentium 4 (I also understand that the AMD Athlon is as near as good as the Pentium & a lot cheaper but it looks like Dell do not use them)

Anyway folks, just wondered if anyone would like to enlighten me on my choice & / or recommend anything else.

Cheers in advance, Box.

boxa

when you take out the 90 day collect & return warranty, I take the statutory 1 year garuantee still applies !!

Cheers again, Boxa.

Doonhamer

If you go for the Dell I would recommend you pay the extra £35 to get the warranty upgraded to 1 year on site. A Celeron will be fine for what you say you'll be doing. Memory is an easy DIY upgrade at a later date so don't pay extra to Dell for 512Mb. They charge an extra £58 for the extra 256Mb of memory which is a rip off. If you try all the codes on the link you gave you get different options for similar prices. Personally I would get the 17" TFT monitor, you'll be glad you did. Other things like DVD writers depend on your plans but again are a relatively easy future DIY upgrade.

boxa

Cheers for the reply Doonhamer. I have heard not to get any extras with Dell as that is where they make a lot of their money from, thanks for confirming that. With regards to the DVD writer you mentioned, I thought that I would be getting a DVD RW by the way it says " 48xDVD/CDRW " does this then mean that they are offering only a CDRW and just a DVD player ? Also re extending the warranty to 1 year on-site, pesonally I am not a great one for taking any extended warranties out, I just stick to my year statutory. Athough i know anything can happen, if they are not confident that their computer will not last a year without going wrong then I'll probably look elsewhere !!!

One thing I was thinking of doing (& I may make a separate thread of it) is the monitor, I was thinking of getting a slightly bigger one & doubling it up as a TV ..... I believe I have to get a TV card or something, does anyone know if this is much hastle !!

Many thanks again,

Boxa.

Steve_xx

You may find this site interesting:

http://www.dmxcomputers.co.uk/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Doonhamer

If you really want a cheap Dell with a nice spec try the 1-D01113 (1 in the left hand evalue box and D01113 in the right) But be quick the free delivery is only on for another day or too. The DVD\CDRW ir a DVD and CD reader and CD writer combo, so you have free bay for a DVD writer later (about £35 from eBuyer) or you can choose it as an option in place of the combo one (for a rip off £58). Bottom line is a 2.8GHz, 512RAM, 160Gb HD, 17" TFT for £293. Just remember to select the 90 day warranty option.

Doonhamer

Too late the free delivery ended today. Now they have double memory though so you get 1Gb or RAM. I just priced all the components on Ebuyer and got this.

Case £30, Motherboard £30, Celeron 2.8GHz Processor £55, 1Gb Memory £50, 160 Gb Harddrive £50, DVD\CDRW Drive £26, Keyboard & Mouse £10, XP Home OEM £58, Microsoft Works OEM £30, value 17" TFT monitor £130.

This gives a total price without delivery of £469 and you have to build it yourself. The system from dell (1-D01113) is £353 delivered, with 90 day warranty.

The days of self build are gone!

You may get a better deal somewhere else but I think Dell are hard to beat. Again though, the secret is to get a standard system with everything you want, not add the extras.

Check https://www.wizmarkcomputers.co.uk for latest best deals.

marylee

If you decide to buy from Dell, phone them using the non geographical number and tell them what you need and ask for any discouont. I have just bought a Dell Dimension 5150 intel penthium 3.2 with 17 ins flat monitor etc and got it for £620.40. She offered the 3 yrs warranty for £30, an offer I could not refuse. I got the new Dell within 1 week. Very pleased with it except the back of this model has got loads of holes and vents, just the right place for dust to build up. My old one tiny is more sturdy. I have done a lot of research and in the end I found Dell was the best exceept of course the CS. I am keeping fingers crossed everything goes well with the new computer.