When is the best time of year to buy a computer?

jenniewb

I need to get a new computer, I think mine is dying a slow death and trying to take me with it!

I will need to save up for a new one but not sure when I should be looking or shopping for one.

I am not going to get another Dell (don't get on with these, nor their premium rate helpline!) and would prefer to get from another store I can visit so if I have problems I can speak to someone rather then run up a massive phone bill with Dell who in every past occasion I have asked them for help have done nothing but try to sell me more memory which is nothing to do with the problem itself!

Anyone have any tips or know when its best to shop or where its best to shop?

Thankyou for any help

santer_2

You could try this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

Or, if you have backed up any data you need, formatting the hard drive and doing a clean install can improve things. If you go for the re-install, check you have the discs and serial numbers for anything you want to put on to the PC. Also, before formatting, download and copy to disc, any firewall, anti virus and anti malware programmes you will be using, then install those right after the Operating System, then update them and run scans

If you post the current specification of your PC then maybe you can upgrade some things, speccy will tell you if you do not have anything already

http://filehippo.com/download_speccy/

Sales are seemingly ongoing so it can be a case of looking at a few sites to see what is on offer

PC Specialist lets you custom build so you can add and remove things to see what is suitable, though if you post the specifications of a system you have put together then someone will be able to offer suggestions for possible improvements

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/pcs/

Novatech have barebones bundles so you could start with a good one and then add things like graphics card, sound card, more memory if they become necessary, if you get DVD rewriter drives, they will install them for you if asked.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/barebones.html

Nile

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

closed

backup your data, boot into factory restore partition and do a factory restore - instructions in manual or Dell website, install avast 6 free, disable windows defender, copy your data back, should take around 30 minutes and run like new

Going to a high street shop is unlikely to result in good (or free) advice on a software problem, and going to a local pc shop is likely to cost far more than a phone call to Dell

paddyrg

Best time of year is the day after your old one gives up altogether. You will get more for your pound the later you leave it. The market isn't particularly seasonal, unlike ice cream and cottages in the Cotswolds...

free4440273

there is no 'best time' -- it's not seasonal If it's a laptop u intend then definitely try and go in-store and actually inspect the machine / what u see in the glossies /Internet can often be deceiving /

yep, backup the existing data -- have two or more copies /

SailorSam

You can get cheap refurbished computers here, less than £100 if you're on benefits.

Get your computer

jenniewb

Thanks for the replies everyone:

I have had to do a factory restore, lose loads of stuff (cannot afford back-up box thingy and have not as yet managed to save anything to disk as the computer doesn't like doing this!) I normally lose all my music and have lost £££ as a result of this! (I am a big music fan) have had apple and amazon resend things so much in the past they now refuse and am just sick and tierd ot all the waiting around. I tried to make up an email to send earlier, not peak time so internet wasn't the issue, I tried to first open the page...15 minutes, I then tried to type....15 minutes of "windows is not responding" and FINALLY! Nearly 50 MINUTES later I am able to type. Don't get me started on the 'send' part, lets just say I am very grateful for the copy-paste feature!

I have done malware scans, virus scans, had windows updates and rechecked all, done spyware checks, everything on the MSE pages I have tried, infact I have no errors, viruses or anything wrong according to the error reports. I now have a trial of the AGV on my computer, its making it worse so I doubt I'll run the full term. It hasn't made anything better anyway.

I was asking about time as I don't want to get something now then find its 50% off the following week, its still going to take me a while to save anyway but if it was better to hold off to a certain time (eg people seem to 'know' when boots, m&s...etc sales begin down to the time slot!) but if computers work differently, ie they don't have set days for launches (so all the previous models become massivly reduced the following day) then this means they don't tend to have computer sale times. I'm not so good at shopping for technical things, clothes? yes, health and beauty? yes, even reduced foods! But I don't have a clue on price reduction scheduals for computers hence my question! Of course its better to wait until the computer is totally dead but I also don't want to feel as if pulling a cheese grater over my skin feels less painful then the daily hour or two of waiting to use my computer whilst every web page is "not responding..."

jenniewb

closed wrote: »

backup your data, boot into factory restore partition and do a factory restore - instructions in manual or Dell website, install avast 6 free, disable windows defender, copy your data back, should take around 30 minutes and run like new

Going to a high street shop is unlikely to result in good (or free) advice on a software problem, and going to a local pc shop is likely to cost far more than a phone call to Dell

Well last time I called Dell, they not only tried over and over again to get me to buy more space (the computer only uses 50% of its actual space at the moment on the C-drive and 60% on the D-drive) the entire call was wasted, they told me this was my problem and could not help me until I bought more space, from them priced at £150. I then had the phone bill...near enough £50! Sorry but any high street store chat has to be cheaper then that: they didn't even deal with the problem!

Did what you suggested last time, it works marginally faster (as in not much faster) for about 2 months then same old same old, "windows is not responding" error messages (no codes mentioned for me to check) and freezinf screens. Its just too much for me to tolerate now, have had enough of this computer and of Dell and want out!

Having to wait daily to use my own computer which now runs at a slower rate then the ones in internet cafes (yes I got that desperate that I went out and found a cafe and paid to use the internet there despite already having my own internet at home!) and even at rock bottom prices in a place I used to joke about being 'so slow' it still allowed me to type and send off an email within minutes.

HailBailey

I usually have the best luck with deals right after Christmas.

asbokid

jenniewb wrote: »

Well last time I called Dell, they not only tried over and over again to get me to buy more space (the computer only uses 50% of its actual space at the moment on the C-drive and 60% on the D-drive) the entire call was wasted, they told me this was my problem and could not help me until I bought more space, from them priced at £150. I then had the phone bill...near enough £50! Sorry but any high street store chat has to be cheaper then that: they didn't even deal with the problem!

Did what you suggested last time, it works marginally faster (as in not much faster) for about 2 months then same old same old, "windows is not responding" error messages (no codes mentioned for me to check) and freezinf screens. Its just too much for me to tolerate now, have had enough of this computer and of Dell and want out!

Having to wait daily to use my own computer which now runs at a slower rate then the ones in internet cafes (yes I got that desperate that I went out and found a cafe and paid to use the internet there despite already having my own internet at home!) and even at rock bottom prices in a place I used to joke about being 'so slow' it still allowed me to type and send off an email within minutes.

it sounds like it's not your computer as such, but more of the same old Microsoft Windows problems.

You could try Ubuntu linux. It's completely free. Linux is used in most universities around the world, although you don't have to be an expert to use it.

All you do is visit here..

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Click on 'Get Ubuntu', and it will download a CD 'image'. This will take some time.

Once it's downloaded, you must burn that image to a CD.

Then put the CD into your PC, and boot from it.

You will be amazed! Linux breathes new life into old computers!