Which desktop pc package for £350 max?

Qwiksilver

jac,

please do not go for the e bay offer. It is very old technology and the 30 day warranty on the tower is practically useless.
If it is still there i would go for the Dell XPS 7100. Although it is a refurb they come with full manufacturers warranty.
The Dell outlet site is constantly updated as the deals on there for mid range pc's dont tend to hang around for long so keep looking if the XPS is not there any longer.

Lil306

As your on a budget I'd recommend looking at package deals to save you some money
(i.e Case + Powersupply), (Motherboard, RAM and CPU)

This will give you more money to play with, although you might have to go second hand if you want a monitor since I don't think the budget would go that for to cover cost of Windows + PC. If you can use the TV as suggested then your budget would do. If you have a friend handy with computers they could build it for you

From Novatech (btw it's really a wrong time to build PC, the flooding in Thailand means hard drives cost a bomb)

£100 - Novatech Motherboard Bundle - Intel Celeron G530 - 2GB 1333Mhz DDR3 - Intel H61 Chipset Motherboard
£110 - Windows 7
£65 - Hitachi Deskstar 500gb HDD
£15 - Generic DVD Drive
£30 - Coolermaster 450W PSU
£30 - Generic Case

That builds you a PC, and leaves you with the connection for a monitor you may get lucky and find one via a freagle

I use an AMD X4 640 Cpu myself (passmark is about 2500) and it's certainly no slouch, it's fast enough for gaming with for me so the CPU shoudl be more than enough for him if he rarely games and it's more for facebook, email, etc.

jac29

Thanks Lil306 but only looking at a 'ready made'. Too much on with Christmas/Birthdays to do more than pay for a pc!
Grumpycrab, sorry i missed the one for pc world...reading too fast. That sounds like an option. I saw the studio one on Dell which so far seems to be coming out as the best contender.
I was worried that the ebay refurb would be 'old technology' but hubby thought it sounded like it offered a lot...and as i know nowt i couldn't really disagree without finding out more!
Does no one rate the zoostorm? They do seem to offer a lot for the money, though they aren't coming out as highly as the advent and the studio for processing.
Any more thoughts welcome as i need to make a decision soon....and i know that the ones i'm looking at may go in the meantime..............and the point has been proved as the studio now gone on dell outlet!!
Thank you for helping x

Qwiksilver

jac,

i do hope you are still on. Go on the Dell outlet site just now and get the inspiron 620 at 266.75 (second page ) absolute cracker in my opionion. Milea and miles ahead of anything posted here so far. I know it will not leave you much for a monitor but you can worry about that later.

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandid=1&c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh

second from bottom.

trust me on this you will not get beter at that price. If you get it let me know and i will source you a cheap monitor.

Inspiron 620s Slim Tower
Processor : Intel Core i3-2100 (3.10GHz, 3MB)
English Windows 7 Professional
1TB 3.5inch SATA III Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
Graphics: 1 GB AMD Radeon HD 6450
Back Up Media Not Included
English Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64 Bit)
Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)

grumpycrab

Yep, the above Dell Outlet desktop looks good. "oomph rating" 3858. FREE DELIVERY. With VAT that's £320. Order on price to find cheaper (but lower spec) alternatives.

jac29

Thanks Qwiksilver. Just got back from picking up my youngest son and had a peep on here before middle one (recipient of pc) got home and.....i've bought it!!
Relying on your knowledge....such power!!
So now i need to find what goes with it. Your help here would also be greatly appreciated. Have talked to hubby and we are debating whether or not to combine his birthday pressie with this (04/02/12) and buy a better monitor or just stick to budget and let him upgrade next xmas. Also need to consider connection...wifi card or whatever...really not very knowledgeable about computers and bits they need. As I stated in my initial post we have dire signal in his bedroom so need to look at that.
Then....just got to sort out the other two boys...phew...
Again, thank you so much for your help so far xx

...Just read Grumpycrabs' post...assumed he has looked after i made my purchase or i've bought the wrong one!! Mine cost £279.61 inc vat/12 month warranty and free delivery.

grumpycrab

jac29 wrote: »

Also need to consider connection...wifi card or whatever...really not very knowledgeable about computers and bits they need. As I stated in my initial post we have dire signal in his bedroom so need to look at that...

As its a desktop (fixed position and probably doesn't come with a wireless network card) the easiest solution is
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/powe...ebuyer-1071654

grumpycrab

jac29 wrote: »

...Just read Grumpycrabs' post...assumed he has looked after i made my purchase or i've bought the wrong one!! Mine cost £279.61 inc vat/12 month warranty and free delivery.

I wouldn't worry. If the specs are the same that Qwiksilver posted you'll be fine. Does the one your bought have a DVD drive or Bluray drive?

Qwiksilver

There were a few at that time jac. Looks like you may have bought a slightly different one. Don't worry though i think the one you bought was the same but without the BLU-Ray drive. Post the specs on here from your order confirmation from Dell if you want me to check. You still have a cracking deal though.
I will look later tonight for a monitor and wireless card. Do you know someone who has tech knowledge?

Qwiksilver

lol grumpy is on the case already. good man.