Compaq PC

Clarah_

Hi, my old PB Ixtreme pc has just died on me so need to replace it on a budget of £300. Can anyone tell me if the compaq cq1130uk is any good? I am totally useless at anything 'computer' but have managed to work out that the memory is a lot bigger than my old one which is a good thing!

Any advice gratefully revieved

Clarah_

TakeThis

It wouldn't be my choice. Small form factor and a little under-powered.

Perhaps something a bit more mainstream, such as this Medion P3.

I'm sure there are better deals around. How about your monitor?

robmar0se

Reasonable for the price, reviews don't report any nasties - I assume you're looking at Lasky's @ £290 inc free delivery

Specifically it has an AMD E450 dual processor, nothing special, 3gb RAM okay for Win 7/32 which I suspect it has - win 7/64 would have been preferable. However 1tb hdd is surprisingly good, considering the current replacement cost of these drives (upwards of £130) - when you install, make sure you partition as two logical drives and keep yr data on the second (larger) partition.

Conclusion: price/quality reasonable for the price

Clarah_

Thanks for the advice TakeThis, I did see the Medion one in Argos but was put off as I didn't recognise the brand (as I say, I don't have a clue!) I will need a new monitor too as my current one is not widescreen. I have seen an AOC 20" one in PCworld for £69 (Budget is £375 with monitor!)

Hi Robmarose - I actually saw the compaq in Comet for £289 so not far off. Partitioning the drives?!! (That will require an online tutorial first! Ha ha) So you think I should keep looking for one with win 7/64 (would that come up on the spec?) Also, would would be preferable to the AMD E45) dual processor?

Sorry for all of the questions, I do really appreciate your advice!

Clarah_

danthemoneysavingman

just a thought, but when you say it has 'died', what do you mean? it could be economically repairable... unless you don't want to look into this of course! If you state what constitutes 'died', i'm sure you'll receive a flurry of suggestions

Clarah_

danthemoneysavingman wrote: »

just a thought, but when you say it has 'died', what do you mean? it could be economically repairable... unless you don't want to look into this of course! If you state what constitutes 'died', i'm sure you'll receive a flurry of suggestions

Hiya, a friend of mine 'upgraded' it with a new version of windows (I think) which was obviously too much for it to cope with as we then realised I need to install a new video and sound card as the current ones and not able to support it, also it is soooo slow so he suggested a Ram upgrade (I think?) All in all, when I add up the cost of all of this (plus a new monitor as it wont display correctly as it is not widescreen) I just thought I may as well cut my losses and buy new... Maybe it is the easy way out but new sounds appealing

Oh, also the two USB's on the front of the tower don't work as my darling son stood on the USB drive whilst it was plugged in...twice! Grrr...

robmar0se

The Medion has a much better i3 processor, 4gh RAM, 500gb Hdd, and I suspect win 7/64 (but you'll need to check with Argos.) I'd go with Take This suggestion as the components are more upto-date - my guess is that 500gb hdd is enough for most users (unless you are very heavily into media)...........

macman

Clarah_ wrote: »

Hiya, a friend of mine 'upgraded' it with a new version of windows (I think) which was obviously too much for it to cope with as we then realised I need to install a new video and sound card as the current ones and not able to support it, also it is soooo slow so he suggested a Ram upgrade (I think?) All in all, when I add up the cost of all of this (plus a new monitor as it wont display correctly as it is not widescreen) I just thought I may as well cut my losses and buy new... Maybe it is the easy way out but new sounds appealing

Oh, also the two USB's on the front of the tower don't work as my darling son stood on the USB drive whilst it was plugged in...twice! Grrr...

So sounds like with a reinstall of the original XP OS and some more RAM (maybe £20) it would work fine?

Clarah_

robmar0se wrote: »

The Medion has a much better i3 processor, 4gh RAM, 500gb Hdd, and I suspect win 7/64 (but you'll need to check with Argos.) I'd go with Take This suggestion as the components are more upto-date - my guess is that 500gb hdd is enough for most users (unless you are very heavily into media)...........

Thank you!

TakeThis

macman wrote: »

So sounds like with a reinstall of the original XP OS and some more RAM (maybe £20) it would work fine?

Sounds that way to me too.

Who needs the USB hubs at the front when a USB hub will do?

£25 max, to include 1GB or RAM and a USB 2.0 hub.

PB Ixtreme *****? Full model number?

Clarah_

macman wrote: »

So sounds like with a reinstall of the original XP OS and some more RAM (maybe £20) it would work fine?

Really? That simple? I thought a RAM upgrade would be £150+! Plus fitting... (I wouldn't want to meddle myself) Sorry if I sound thick but does that mean that as there is more memory it would speed everything up too?

Clarah_