New PC - help me choose please!

tigs78

She won't be home repairing or upgrading, she wouldn't have the first idea hence asking me to find her one.

Screen size shouldn't be too much of an issue either, their current computer which has died a slooooooooow death has a 14" CRT monitor so anything flat is an improvement!

Russ66

"This Bundle" should be more than suitable for their needs; Good value @ less than £330 with free delivery.;)

superjaggybunnet

you could get a good dell laptop with a free wireless card for under £350 including delivery.

faz7875_2

tigs78 wrote:

One question though, if laptops are so great why would anyone buy a desktop? There must be disadvantages to having a laptop - does anyone who has one have any ideas what the disadvantages would be?

Laptops are not very good really. For lots of reasons, some are below:

1, What you get is pretty much it - not very upgradable at all and when it's out of date... you have to get a new one (ie probably after 3 years if you need to be up to date)
2, Everything is usually 'onboard' - ie soaks up PC resources because doesn't have dedicated resources
3, What do you do if the screen goes after your warranty runs out? - buy a new laptop. What do you do if your monitor goes? - buy a new monitor (not a new pc)
4, Processors for laptops are designed to be less power hungry due to batteries, the knock on effect is that they tend to be more expensive but outperformed by a pc equivalent

I could go on and on but, the best advice is... if you need a laptop then buy one, if you don't need a laptop get a pc. PCs are much more cost effective and efficient in the long run.

(PS Like ur cat!!!)

HTH:D

niccy

Mmm
1) mines nearly 3 years old, i've just doubled the ram and the hard disc is still not half full
2) not quite sure what you mean, it works, it might be a nanosecond slower but hey

3) are laptop screens more prone to going,if it did couldn't i just attach a monitor to it

4) outperformed maybe on a bench test

convenience is the main thing i look for, and for that you cant beat em

faz7875_2

niccy wrote:

Mmm
1) mines nearly 3 years old, i've just doubled the ram and the hard disc is still not half full
2) not quite sure what you mean, it works, it might be a nanosecond slower but hey

3) are laptop screens more prone to going,if it did couldn't i just attach a monitor to it

4) outperformed maybe on a bench test

convenience is the main thing i look for, and for that you cant beat em

In response

1 Can you upgrade the graphics card (for example)?
2 If you have 1 gig of Ram, the graphics and sound knock it down to 768MB to run the pc in most cases.
3 And what do you do if you need to take it outside, strap a car battery to your back?:eek:

4 I have a Athlon XP 2400+ (approx 2-3 years old), my brother has a dell inspiron with Athlon 64 x2 turion 3200+ and more ram (approx 2 weeks old). My pc fully boots up in approx 1 min, his takes 2.

Yes they are convenient but if you don't need a laptop specifically then a pc is cheaper, easier to repair/upgrade and will last longer.

It's a question what you prefer and what you want really.

Must admit tho, I'm biased. I hate laptops really :rotfl:

niccy

booting up thats old hat :rotfl:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/23/windows_vista_laptops/



with sideshow "no need to boot information display"

faz7875_2

niccy wrote:

booting up thats old hat :rotfl:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/23/windows_vista_laptops/



with sideshow "no need to boot information display"

Seeing as both the laptop are running the same version of XP and neither uses vista, the above is irrelevent.
I used booting as an example to show what difference there is between having a system that is designed to extend battery life and having one designed to perform.

So sorry, but if you want a more specific example, I installed Max Payne (as a demonstration because it was handy at the time) on the Laptop which has a more powerful processor and (supposedly) twice the ram and superior graphics to my PC. Guess which one had the most difficulty running it at full blast. I wouldn't dare install something that's more resource hogging on a lappy.

niccy

why am i doing this
at this time of day
i have a dell inspiron 8600

1) can i update graphics card

http://www.bay-wolf.com/8500video.htm


yus:j :j

niccy

3 And what do you do if you need to take it outside, strap a car battery to your back


and you would need....
an extension cable

and a wheelbarrow:rotfl: