My next PC

DatabaseError

if your son wants to play games with the new PC...he may be disappointed with the graphics card/chipsets on each of those machines

timbim_2

I wouldn't dabble in video with a Mac Mini, one HDD, duboius airflow, that doesn't make for good video editing, although I suspect my idea of dabbling with video is very different from yours...

macman

Go for the Dell every time. But the RAM is only 2GB, which is the min you want to be running Vista Premium on. With the £50 you have left in your budget you can upgrade that to 4GB.
As a previous post points out, this is a good general purpose machine but it's not suitable for high-end gaming in this spec. However you could upgrade the graphics card now or later.

aliEnRIK

macman wrote: »

However you could upgrade the graphics card now or later.

Just bear in mind that Dells tend to have the 'miniumum' PSU needed to power what it already has. Most dells would need a more powerful PSU as well as a graphics card upgrade

asininity

Have you considered building your own? Its quiet easy and you'd get a better spec for the price plus its tailored to your needs.

chunter

What about this one?
Vostro 220S £355 delivered
(includes 19" monitor - stick it on Ebay and you'll make a few quid back)



Windows Vista™ Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 32-bit - English
Intel® Core™2 Duo E7300 processor (2.66GHz, 1066MHz, 3MB cache)
Microsoft® Works 9.0 - English
19in E1909W WIDESCREEN Black UK/Irish (1440 x 900) TCO99 DVI-D
2048MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X4500
16x DVD +/- RW Drive
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell 2 Button USB Optical Mouse
Services & Software
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Onsite - No Upgrade Selected
Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio HD
No Speakers
No Floppy Drive
No Modem

NOTE that if you want to put a graphics card in, make sure it's low profile,
because of the non-standard size of the 220S

macman

Good point AliEnRIK. Are you saying that if you order it new from Dell with a higher spec graphics card, they don't upgrade the PSU as appropriate?
Isn't that a bit short sighted? I kind of assumed that manufacturers built in some sort of margin in this respect to allow for upgrades and extra drives etc?

aliEnRIK

Generally speaking, the PSU they supply will JUST ABOUT power their cheapie computer range. Id 'assume' the high spec ones would be a lot better though I dont know for sure

macman

Mm, interesting that about the only component you can't uprate online when you build your Dell is the PSU...though it does give you the option to upgrade the graphics card on the Inspiron 530, there's no mention of this including a PSU upgrade.
Edit: manual says the standard PSU on the 530 is 300W, except if you specify the Core 2 Quad processor when you get 350W.

nogginthenog

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Hope this helps