Need to buy a PC £400 max

Stobbzy

Hi all! Been lurking the freebies board for months & finally signed up.

I need to buy a desktop PC at a maximum of £400, as my current one which i've had for 5 years is dying. I'm a student so really only need it to run the internet, Microsoft Office & of course Football Manager .

Can anyone give me some suggestions/recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

DatabaseError

do you need keyboard, mouse and monitor? are you competent to build your own?

Stobbzy

DatabaseError wrote: »

do you need keyboard, mouse and monitor? are you competent to build your own?

I need a monitor, but don't mind too much about using the keyboard & mouse that i already have

[Deleted User]

For about £350 you can get a decent PC on the Dell outlet site.. buy yourself a monitor from somewhere like here (aria.co.uk) and you're laughing.

£55 off + free delivery at the outlet at the moment - (search for 'outlet' on the Dell.co.uk homepage)

FrugalFriend

It's the credit crunch; hold on to your £400 and get yourself down to your local recycling centre. Just haul the best looking PC base unit and monitor outta the skip. Grab a keyboard and mouse as well if you can, otherwise get both for £7 from Tesco. Then stick Linux on it, you can download it for free, or get a CD from your local LUG (Linux Users Group) usually for free. All the apps you need are included on the CD.

Total cost max £7, money in your pocket £393. Result!

DatabaseError

^ genius

BillScarab

DatabaseError wrote: »

^ genius

So long as the staff at the tip/recycling centre don't spot you!

How about this one, just spotted on another MSE thread. £264.98 including Vista Ultimate or £199.99 without. I don't know much about Football Manager but am guessing it doesn't need a hiogh spec graphics card so this should be fine, although if you sepnd a few quid on a card it will be even better.

DatabaseError

..or try freecycle, I have PCs that are up to that job just sat in the loft, waiting for me to get my backside in gear and get shut of them...

ebay or giveaway....???

FrugalFriend

BillScarab wrote: »

So long as the staff at the tip/recycling centre don't spot you! ....

The guy in my local recycle centre's happy for anyone to take whatever they want. It's less stuff for them to deal with anyway. Plus then the item's actually being reused, rather than just scrapped.

The reason I suggested this was I was bringing in an old monitor for recycling and I noticed the quality of the computers people had dumped. For example, decent looking Dell Optiplexs, lots of beige base units (looked fine), and perfectly usable 17" CRT monitors. Most of this stuff would work fine with a little TLC, accessories and a fresh operating system.

Get the latest Ubuntu operating system CD for free: https://shipit.ubuntu.com/
New Tesco Value mouse, keyboard and speakers £11.59: http://direct.tesco.com/q/N.1999036$4294965929/Nr.99.aspx?Ns=P_SORT_Price&btnResultSort.x=5&btnResultSort.y=12

If you're trying this, choose a PC with an ethernet (network) connection rather than a modem, most internal modems only work with Windows. You'll need that if you're getting broadband anyway. Also the above accessories are PS2, rather then USB, so just make sure the computer base has PS2 connectors on the back. That's easy because they're usually colour coded green and purple, and most older desktop PCs will have them.

grudz

take a look at www.ebuyer.com, I built my PC from there and its the dogs danglies, cost me around £300 - £400 from scratch

will-he-payitoff

Stobbzy wrote: »

Hi all! Been lurking the freebies board for months & finally signed up.

I need to buy a desktop PC at a maximum of £400, as my current one which i've had for 5 years is dying. I'm a student so really only need it to run the internet, Microsoft Office & of course Football Manager .

Can anyone give me some suggestions/recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

What exactly is wrong with your old pc, could be a lot cheaper to upgrade