Philips P4 Desktop PC - £299.97 @ PC world

golddustmedia

UPDATED INFORMATION BELOW, SEE POST #8

Just ordered one of these: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?calling_page=Product&sku=733371&tabIndex=0&page=Product&showFinanceOnTop=YES

It's a Philips MT1400 mini tower PC.
A pretty nice P4 3Ghz pc with 512MB ram, 256MB graphics, 160GB HD.
Also includes Windows Media Centre, a TV tuner and remote control.

It doesn't include a monitor but I've bought it as an upgrade to an existing PC.

Then slap on the 5% (£15) NHS discount and another 5% from quidco and the cash price is £290 delivered, circa £275 after cashback.

Then sell my old PC in local paper/ebay and hopefully release about £100 more toward it.

None the less at the full price of £299 it's a far higher spec than equivalent priced Dell systems. Also having just got one at work I can tell you the Dell 19" monitors are rubbish! So I'm happy to re-use my existing Acer one at home.

Clasics

Good price, but please be aware it's a refurb, albeit one with 12 months warranty.

golddustmedia

Yeah, though my experience of refurbished items is they are good as new. Normally the case has been replaced, likewise most vulnerable parts. Often they are still new stock just returned as overstocked items or without original packaging.

Also as you say, 12 month warranty. Ironically brand new dell pc's only have a 90 day warranty... (unless you pay extra).

So seems better than any Dell offer I can find.

bad-head-day

No mate they have a 12 month warranty, they just pick it up within the 1st 90 days

joseph21_2

hi ya goldustmedia what is a nhs discount ?????

scottgreenwood

Ok for shop bought be bare in mind:

1. AGP graphics card- ok for work and stuff but not upgradable

2. No screen - so add on about 100 pound if comparing with complete systems

3. No warranty

4. Old processor

£290 - what else on the web:)

1. Dell outlet http://outlet.dell.com/Emea_Dfo/EuDispatcher?country=GBR&target=InventoryPage&lob_constraint=DIM


For example

SYSTEM SPECIFICATION
Dimension 5150/E510 (System Identifier. DDC3VBAL)
Dimension 5150 PentiumD 820 DualCore(2.80GHz, 800MHz fsb, 2x1MB cache)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005

---

System Price £324.03
Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional


Operating System: Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Memory: 512MB (2x256MB) Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz Memory
Hard Disk Drive: 160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
Video: ATI Radeon X600 256MB HyperMemory
Modem: Dell 56k Data/Fax/Voice Modem
CD Read-Write Drive: 48-32X CD-RW IDE
DVD Drive: 16 X DVD +/- RW
Software: Image Restore Utility
AOL, Dellnet + Tiscali UK ISP Combo
Microsoft® Works® 7.0
BT, AOL, Tiscali ISP Combination
MISC: Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Entry Mouse
Doc Dimension 5150 ENG/UK Cord
Dell Quietkey Midnight Grey Keyboard
Paint Shop Picture Studio 1.01 - trial version
Photo Shop Photo Album (5.22) - trial version

For 380 (including delivery)

Dual core and very fast (I own one)

2.Or this from mesh £299

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=PRODUCTVIEWPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=51980

Intel® Pentium® D 805 Dual Core (2.66GHz,2x1MB Cache,533MHz)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
Mini-Tower Micro ATX Case +250W PSU - Black/Silver
ASUS P5RD2-VM - ATI Xpress 200 PCI Express,DDR2 Pentium 4/D/EE Mainboard - Micro ATX
512MB DDR2 Memory - 533MHz
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB Buffer
16x DVD-ROM Drive (40x CD-ROM)
128MB ATI Radeon X300 Graphics(onboard-SMA)
5.1 High Definition 6 Channel Audio Codec (on-board)
Classic Warranty - 3 Years Back-to-Base - Parts & Labour

3. pc nextday

http://www.pcnextday.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?ProductCode=3361-1301

224,95

- Intel Celeron D 341 2.93GHz CPU
- 512MB DDR400 PC3200 Memory
- 80GB IDE Hard Drive
- 16x DVD+/-RW Double Layer Drive
- On board 3D graphics
- 5.1 Sound
- LAN
- 6 USB 2.0 Ports
- Micro ATX cool and dark grey case
- Microsoft Windows XP Home

This low price economy system is ideal for anyone who wants computing on a tight budget. If you already own a monitor, keyboard and mouse, why pay again for new ones? Well the 1-1301 from Zoostorm solves this problem as it is a base unit only. Just plug in your existing peripherals and away you go!

This system is great for general Microsoft Office tasks, surfing the Internet, watching movies and listening to music. It comes with Microsoft Windows XP Home preinstalled for easy set up.

Warranty (parts and labour): 1 year - First 30 days collect and return (system) and repair will be complete with a 3 working day turnaround. After 30 days - return to base warranty with 3-5 working day turnaround. 3 years manufacturer on-site warranty on monitor.

An upgrade to a 12 month or 3 year on-site warranty is available on this system. Please add one of the following product codes to your order when purchasing this PC to upgrade the warranty. 5010-1020 for the twelve month warranty or 5010-1030 for the 3 year warranty.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This product is manufactured to order so therefore please allow up to 5 days for delivery. You will receive an email from our Customer Services Department on the day of despatch confirming your delivery date. Please note that if you order additional goods at the same time as this PC System, all goods will be despatched together or alternatively you can amend your order in the 'basket' menu if you require the additional items on a next day delivery.

or

Limited time offer - Free upgrade to the 3800+ processor. While stocks last this system will automatically be upgraded to the 3800+ processor. Get even more performance for your money!

- AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.2GHz CPU
- 1 GB DDR400 PC3200 RAM
- 250GB SATA Hard Drive
- 256MB PCI Express NVidia GeForce 7600GT Graphics Card
- 16x DVD+/-RW +/- DL Drive
- 52-in-1 Flash Memory Card Reader
- Floppy Drive
- Nvidia NForce 4 Motherboard
- 7 USB Ports
- Giga LAN
- 5.1 Realtek Surround Sound
- Windows XP Home

PLEASE NOTE - Due to massive demand on this system since it picked up the Computer Shopper award, delivery times have been extended to 10 working days from order date. We apologise for this unavoidable delay.

If you already have a good monitor, keyboard and mouse, the Zoostorm 1-3401 Versatile PC offers a tremendous money saving opportunity. This is a brilliantly performing PC at a low price.

Recently awarded a Computer Shopper Magazine Best Buy Award in a group test of EIGHT other PCs submitted by other manufacturers, the 1-3401 uses high quality performance components configured in an advanced set up to create some stunning results which defy it's £499 price tag. As the reviewers at Computer Shopper commented the 1-3401 was "the fastest computer in our application tests and 3D benchmarks, and it's easily the best PC here for gaming. With no major faults to speak of, it wins our Best Buy award".

This PC is exclusive to PC Nextday!

Per Second Frame Rates:

Doom 3 (1,280 x 1024 resolution, high quality, 4x AA) - 48.2 fps
Call of Duty 2 (1,280 x 1,024 resolution, 32-bit colour, default settings) - 25.1 fps
PC Mark 04 Performance Test - 4,345

This PC is a base unit only and does not come with a monitor, keyboard or mouse.

Warranty (parts and labour): 1 year - First 30 days collect and return (system) and repair will be complete with a 3 working day turnaround. After 30 days - return to base warranty with 3-5 working day turnaround.

An upgrade to a 12 month or 3 year on-site warranty is available on this system. Please add one of the following product codes to your order when purchasing this PC to upgrade the warranty. 5010-1020 for the twelve month warranty or 5010-1030 for the 3 year warranty.

Every Zoostorm system comes with free 28 day telephone software support as standard. We will send you a certificate with the machine containing the details and how you can upgrade this support to 12 months for £39.00 plus VAT.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The graphics card used on this PC is DVI only. Please ensure your monitor is DVI or you will need to purchase a seperate DVI to VGA port converter.

Contrary to the review in Computer Shopper, the motherboard used in this PC is not SLI compatible.

This product is manufactured to order so therefore please allow up to 5 days for delivery. You will receive an email from our Customer Services Department on the day of despatch confirming your delivery date. Please note that if you order additional goods at the same time as this PC System, all goods will be despatched together or alternatively you can amend your order in the 'basket' menu if you require the additional items on a next day delivery.

499 - worth it!!

golddustmedia

joseph21 wrote:

hi ya goldustmedia what is a nhs discount ?????

Found it here: http://ukshops.!!!!!!/vouchers.html#P

golddustmedia

Mine arrived yesterday (4th July) and the interesting thing is the spec slightly differs from what's advertised.

• The keyboard and mouse are wireless!
• There is BUILT IN wireless networking (was on orig spec but I missed it!).
• Includes a SCSI adaptor with RAID function need to look into further
• Also includes a licenced version of PowerDVD and other software

Also, many of the components are brand name items;
The fan is "CoolerMaster", The tv card is "Hauppage WinTV" etc. I'm really impressed and so glad I didn't buy a Dell in the end as compared to the Dell stock we buy in at work this is much better quality!

However the graphics card is not 256MB as claimed, rather it was an ATI Radeon with 128MB. SO, I phoned PC world to complain and was offered either a full refund and the item collected or a goodwill refund of £40.

Given that you can buy a 256MB card for less than that it's pretty generous, OR like me just pocket the difference making the net cost for this PC now only £230!!! (using quidco and NHS discount to get £15 each respectively).