Medion PC at ALDI -3rd August - Is It Any Good?

honestDave_2

Browntoa wrote:

not sure if it will cope with the latest games with only an onborad graphics but it is supplied with an 8x AGP slot so its easy to upgrade

Dual core is a big plus over other sheap PC's around

This is my main concern - AGP. There is still plenty of stock about, but fewer and fewer manufacturers are making the latest gfx cards in AGP.

Upgrade the gfx card for another £60-80 and you will have a good PC for 18 months.

All other specs considered, it's a good price.

hammy_the_hammer

gets a rave review in computeractive as do all aldi computer products ....which comes first the rave review or the 2 or 3 page advert ?

shown73

Very poor graphics, apparently, so by the time you've splashed out on an upgrade you could probably have had a better pc for the same money. It's a 2.8 processor, I gather, and apparently although dual core, there isn't very much in the way of software at the moment which would benefit from that feature. I don't speak from a position of knowledge, just quoting some reviews.

monty58

I don't give a fig what computer active says don't go anywhere near this pc! When Windows Vista comes out it is going to be reliant on good graphics this hasnt got them. AGP is old technology. Also when you read the blurb from Aldi you will find that both memory slots are already full so you cant upgrade it that way. All the 'techies' Ive spoken to say that Vista might require even larger amounts of ram than the 1024 on offer here..and even if you think you might not want Vista now what about when it comes out? what if you change your mind? Or when you you want to resell your pc later on? At first glance looks a good buy but it isnt. Save up for something thats 'future-proof'.

royalsteve

AdamW wrote:

ALDI have a new medion PC in on thursday, its at £400 but is it value for money?

Intel Pentium D820 Dual Core Processor 2.8GHz
Two processor cores work within the same processor to increase the performance of your PC. Dual core technology means that several demanding applications can be run at the same time allowing your computer to think as fast as you can multitask.

200GB Hard Disk
Superfast 7,200rpm, Serial ATA interface.

1024MB Memory
DDR2 SDRAM/533MHz. Both memory slots occupied.

Multi-Standard Dual Layer DVD/CD Writer1
Max. Write Speed: 8 × DVD+R dual layer, 4 × DVD-R dual layer, 16 × DVD+R, 16 × DVD-R, 8 × DVD+RW, 6 × DVD-RW, 5 × DVD-RAM, 48 × CD-R, 24 × CD-RW. Max. Read Speed: 16 × DVD-ROM, 48 × CD-ROM.

DVB-T2/Analogue TV
Hybrid DVB-T/Analogue TV Tuner Card with RF remote control.

S3 Graphics UnichromeTM PRO IGP (on board)
Upgradable through 8 × AGP slot.

6 Channel Audio3
Dolby Digital© For Home Theatre Sound4.

Integrated 8-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader
Reads from and writes to all common Flash cards5.

Connectivity
6 × USB 2.0 Ports - 2 × Front, 4 × Rear.
V.90 PCI data/fax modem, modem connection cable included.
Network controller on board. Fast Ethernet 10/100MBit/s.

Plus…

Huge software package included
3 year manufacturer's warranty
Full support available from the customer helpline

generally the aldi medion pc deals are good value...however i wouldnt touch this as someone else rightly stated its graphics card is agp which is fine (i use one in my PC).....but the market has moved to PCI-Express....so this PC will be near useless in 12-18mths time as you will need to change the motherboard and graphics card and possibly the memory to take advantage of the latest games.....it may be cheaper to buy a new PC!

trevored

AdamW wrote:

Thanks for your help, i already have a monitor so that isnt an issue. what do other people think? is it good value?

You get a 3 year warranty with the Aldi offer, you won't get that from many other places including Dell!!"

royalsteve

hammy_the_hammer wrote:

gets a rave review in computeractive as do all aldi computer products ....which comes first the rave review or the 2 or 3 page advert ?

what do computactive know? rubbish magazine written by amateurs!

monty58

royalsteve is right......so you get a 3 year warranty with Aldi.......so? In the meantime nobody makes AGP graphics cards anymore only PCI Express; the games everyone else is playing you cant play and Vista is the de facto operating system and you cant run it.........then you hope and pray that your pc breaks down so you return it to Aldi and they give you a refund? Like what if it doesn't break down? Its like someone saying to me 'heres a free pc but it only runs Windows 98'. I don't think so!

Brockyman

monty58 wrote:

'heres a free pc but it only runs Windows 98'. I don't think so!

I'll have one! There are 4 PC's in our house and I have them all networked. Two on XP, one on ME and one on 98se. Guess which one is the most reliable? Yep, win 98 everytime. The XP ones are a pain in the bum.
I got a Medion PC from Aldi about 5 years ago and it is still going strong, I'm writing this on it in fact, and would highly recommend them.
I would also say to anyone thinking of buying a new computer not to worry what it will be worth in 2 years time, computers nowadays are so cheap that you can just get a new one and keep the old one as a second one for surfing the net etc. my first PC in 1996 was a pentium 100 with 8mb of ram, a 1.6gb hard drive and cost just short of £1500! My sister still uses a Pentium 200 (with Win 98) and it fulfills her needs entirely.
Ian.

hammy_the_hammer

royalsteve wrote:

what do computactive know? rubbish magazine written by amateurs!

who get good advertising revenue from aldi ...see the connection ?