Advice needed on buying new computer

flis21

Hi All,

I am not very computer literate on the hardware side, but we want to get a new computer, as ours is 7 years old and very out of date now!

We don't use it for gaming (well, apart from bejewelled blitz on facebook!!). I mostly use it for browsing the internet, getting emails and occassionally using word and excel. My OH does use it for downloading, music, movies etc.

Can anyone give us any advice about what we should look for in a new computer and point us in the right direction of any good places to buy one from. We only really want the tower, as our monitor / speakers etc. have all been replaced more recently.

Many Thanks,
Flis

giraffe69

You can go to a site like the Dell one and look for Home use desktops. There are plenty of other decent places to buy from but it is quite easy to select something and configure it if you wish to at least give you a starting point. Most machines come without a monitor and speakers unless you choose to add them. I would make sure you have
a. Windows 7 (64 bit version)
b. at least 4gb of memory
c. A reasonable size hard drive (1tb)

Give some thought to what software you use also. You may be able to use what is on the old machine especially if you have the orginial disk(s).
I would also get a cable to ease the transfer of files from old to new (will cost under £20)

dispossessed

Power Computing of Kempston, Bedfordshire offer just the tower and (in my experience) are good people to deal with. They offer delivery for a very reasonable cost if you are not local and have a wide range of systems to suit all needs / budgets.

I am not allowed to post links so their web URL is powerc with the usual www before and dot com afterward. Or just Google them.

As to what specs you should look for - well.....

I would be inclined towards a hard drive around 250GB, 2GB of R.A.M and a 2 GHz processor (CPU) for a Desk Top system.

Having said that I still occasionally use my 1994 DELL 450 MC laptop (240MB Hard Drive / 8 MB RAM / 33 mhz CPU) for web browsing and e-mail.

I have no connection with Power Computing beyond being a happy and fairly longstanding customer.

Hope this is of interest / help,

Trevor

closed

What do you want to do that yours can't do?

dispossessed

"What do you want to do that yours can't do?"

Thats actually a very good question - I wish I had thought to ask it !

Trevor

flis21

Nothing extra really, but our current one is very slow and sometimes freezes or turns itself off. My hubby reckons it's on it's way out, which is why we want a new one. Thanks for all your tips guys, this is invaluable.

prowla

The advice of going to Dell is pretty sound, as is Windows 7 and 4 GB memory; you may or may not need as much as 1 TB hard disk, but there's no harm in that, and I would suggest at least a 2 GHz dual-core processor (you probably won't get less anyway).
Given the price of laptops, you could consider one of them instead of a desktop; if you do then you need to consider the screen resolution, but modern machines should be OK.
A lot of people advise against taking out extended warranty (aka insurance) for desktop systems.

closed

slow is curable, post specs, ram, commit charge from task manager, and a hijackthis log, or backup data and reinstall windows.

dispossessed

It might be worth running C Cleaner, Easy Cleaner & Defraggler before consigning it to the bin.

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm

http://www.piriform.com/defraggler

Trevor

Donnie

You really don't need to stick the specifications suggested to you. They are way more than you are likely to need, but nice to have. Buy within your budget.

What is your budget?

busenbust

Whatever u do, go with Windows 7 ; it's a wonderful OS.