New PC Required

homebird

I have decided to bite the bullet and buy a new home PC as my old HP is struggling with my demands now that I have started to master computing.
I mainly require a PC for general internet usage and storing music/business files. I would like to maybe use it to start watching C4 on demand etc, maybe TV if a tuner option was available and generally take the next step in using it for home entertainment although this part is not essential.

My problem is that I have a minimal budget and so have noticed the following PC at PC World that may provide me with a starting point http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-p6300uk-04204050-pdt.html. at up to a maximum of £500.

Can anyone advise me whether this is a good build or suggest anywhere else I could look, or even things I may need to add in order to give me best value for money. I am happy to look at any manufacturer.

Please help.:beer:

bob_man_uk

whilst that is a pretty good desktop pc for what you want, the price is a little expensive for what it is, since 2.something processors 3gb ram and 500gb storage is about the normal these days, I had a quick look on tesco and they do slightly better spec pc's for about £350 they are medion but ive never had a problem with them, the only difference your likely to see is the pc looks different compared to the HP one.

If you can actually go into a PC world (or anywhere that sells pc's) and see if they have end of line products going cheap, you may be able to get something like £50 knocked off a brand new pc package.

you could also go to somewhere like ebay, theres a lot of custom build pc's going that will come in easily under your budget, the only problem with ebay is obviously if it breaks, you fix it yourself or deal with posting it off to be repaired, quite costly, if you go to tesco/pc world, they can sort it there and then in most cases.

homebird

Thanks bob_man_uk. I note your point about the Tesco site but the Medion computers do not come with a 20" monitor, whereas the HP one does and at present I only have a 15" monitor.

bob_man_uk

good point, and i suppose thats where the extra cash goes, well if the whole bundle is what your after then go for it. but i do recommend you brush off your bartering skills and go accost a pc world member of staff, they always have stock to shift and if your dropping £400 on a system, they will usually do some kind of deal.

homebird

bob_man_uk wrote: »

good point, and i suppose thats where the extra cash goes, well if the whole bundle is what your after then go for it. but i do recommend you brush off your bartering skills and go accost a pc world member of staff, they always have stock to shift and if your dropping £400 on a system, they will usually do some kind of deal.

Excellent point and I will try and be more forthright and try to get 10%, although I will also need to see whether there are any online discount codes. I shall look at the Codes forum now.

bob_man_uk

just remember if you do it online to go through somewhere like quidco... every penny counts

Basil1234

you considered dell at all homebird? here is a couple desktops might interest you both come with 20" monitors

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/minicat/new/upsell/inspiron-570-D005734?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

• AMD Athlon™ II X3 435 (2.9GHz, 1.5MB Cache)

• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

• 4096MB Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz [4x1024] Memory

• 320GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive

• Dell IN2010N 20" Widescreen Consumer Flat Panel Monitor - UK

• 16X DVD+/- RW Optical Drive (DVD & CD read and write)

• Integrated ATI Radeon HD4200 Graphics

• 19-in-1 Media Card reader

Price From£469
Includes VAT & Shipping




http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/minicat/new/upsell/inspiron-560-D005634?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz,1066MHz,3MB)

• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

• 4096MB Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz [4x1024] Memory

• 750GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive

• Dell IN2010N 20" Widescreen Consumer Flat Panel Monitor - UK

• 16X DVD+/- RW Optical Drive (DVD & CD read and write)

• Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 Graphics

• 19-in-1 Media Card reader

Price From£479

also got dell outlet which are returned/refurb still with 12 month warranty etc had 3 lappys out of them all good saved £180 on one compared to brand new price. maybe there would be something to suit you but i know they dont sell with the monitors but you could always buy a mon seperate and still be under budget
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfo

hethmar

Id go with dell too - and google for discount codes for them/use cash back sites or haggle when you ring to buy.

Lil306

Number 1 rule....

NEVER BUY FROM PC WORLD

BTW, that PC in PC world has onboard graphics. It's poo, you can view the 20" monitor but not to a standard you could expect with a high end card.

homebird

I loved the Dell computers and think I would be better off getting one but it just seems that it is out of my price range.
Another £40 would not seem much but for a pensioner I just cannot stretch so looks like PC World here I come....

Unless you good guys and gals can see a way around it?:T

Many thanks for the great advice to date though.

bob_man_uk

is that even with discount codes?

have you tried to call them? they usually can do a great deal if your willing to buy on the day, i remember i was talking to dell about buying an xps laptop. i managed to get them down to £1000 square, thats from about £1300. cant remember exact figures but it was quite substantial.

also dont worry about integrated graphics, unless your planning on playing demanding games i wouldnt worry, i dont think the likes of peggle really require much power lol