Help finding a cheap replacement PC.

paddytehpyro

So, my PC died and I'm going to have to buy something to replace it for 6 months while I save for something decent. The PC that died was fairly old already (A Dell Inspiron 531) so I was hoping to get something similar to it for a lot less.

Is looking for something with a dual core CPU and a 128mb video card for no more than £130 completely unreasonable? I don't really mind what OS it has as long as it has one.

Any help/opinions are appreciated, thanks.

BigRonW

Obviously, I have no idea of your location, but a GOOD place to look would be a "Computer Fair"; kind of like a car boot sale, but for computers and related items. They're a good place to buy a refurbished "Ex Corporate" system. (A lot of big companies routinely replace their computers every two years. The drives are securely wiped, and the system boxes are then sold-on by the Pallet load to people who scrub the Biro stains off of the plastic and so on.) You get to look at the unit before parting with any cash, can pick out the best one and so on. If there's any problem, the Fair will usually be back about a month later.

Alternately, there's http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk which is a long-established shop that does the same thing.!They've usually got a good range of ex-corporate systems in stock (or alternatively "remaindered" NEW items, usually at a good discount) and they've got Shops in London (just off Tottenham Court Road, and opposite Centre Point) or Birmingham.

GunJack

some cracking refurbed HP ex-servers on ebay, dual quad-core xeon CPU, twin-output graphics cards, around £110.... a mate of mine got one while I was contemplating one, he's well chuffed with it

couple of examples...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFUL-Dual-Xeon-5-6-6-Ghz-250GB-4GB-RAM-Desktop-PC-Tower-Computer-HP-Core-Duo-/251194768678?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item3a7c5ffd26

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFUL-HP-DESKTOP-GAMING-PC-MINI-TOWER-2x3-0Ghz-4GB-SFF-SMALL-COMPUTER-ATI-GFX-/110950717046?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item19d52d9676

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Dual-Xeon-6-8Ghz-64-Bit-Gaming-PC-4GB-RAM-Dual-Display-Desktop-Tower-Computer-/180957441135?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item2a21e76c6f

John_Gray

Suggest you search on Amazon for something like "Dell Optiplex" and check through the configurations of these second-hand boxes. "Sam's Computers", for example, is an excellent dealer, in my experience. A separate graphics card would be the exception rather than the rule for ex-business PCs...

GunJack

at least 2 of the 3 I linked to above have pretty powerful gfx cards

mr_fishbulb

GunJack wrote: »

some cracking refurbed HP ex-servers on ebay, dual quad-core xeon CPU, twin-output graphics cards, around £110.... a mate of mine got one while I was contemplating one, he's well chuffed with it

couple of examples...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFUL-Dual-Xeon-5-6-6-Ghz-250GB-4GB-RAM-Desktop-PC-Tower-Computer-HP-Core-Duo-/251194768678?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item3a7c5ffd26

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFUL-HP-DESKTOP-GAMING-PC-MINI-TOWER-2x3-0Ghz-4GB-SFF-SMALL-COMPUTER-ATI-GFX-/110950717046?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item19d52d9676

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Dual-Xeon-6-8Ghz-64-Bit-Gaming-PC-4GB-RAM-Dual-Display-Desktop-Tower-Computer-/180957441135?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item2a21e76c6f

Those are very tempting looking deals! But I laughed out loud at this bit on the first one:

HP Workstation XW6200 Dual Xeon 5.6GHz
THIS ITEM COMES WITH 2.8GHZ X 2 = 5.6GHZ.

So if I have 2 cars that can do 100 mph, I can tie them together and go at 200 mph?

GunJack

^^^ lol, yeah, I know... you have to look through the bullcarp, but when you do, these are very well specced machines. The mate (he's also a work colleague) who dived in before me is raving about how fast it is, just wish I had a spare £130 to upgrade Ol' Faithful to one of these

Jonpop

The above fleebay machines have been used as servers. Shame you can not stretch to £200. Ebuyers Zoostorm Desktop PC with a OEM windows 7 OS would be a good buy...

See if any your friends as a old laptop you can use rather than spend £130 on a machine for 6 months. That sort of is a waste of money "money saving expert"..

NiftyDigits

GunJack wrote: »

some cracking refurbed HP ex-servers on ebay, dual quad-core xeon CPU, twin-output graphics cards, around £110.... a mate of mine got one while I was contemplating one, he's well chuffed with it

couple of examples...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFUL-Dual-Xeon-5-6-6-Ghz-250GB-4GB-RAM-Desktop-PC-Tower-Computer-HP-Core-Duo-/251194768678?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item3a7c5ffd26

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFUL-HP-DESKTOP-GAMING-PC-MINI-TOWER-2x3-0Ghz-4GB-SFF-SMALL-COMPUTER-ATI-GFX-/110950717046?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item19d52d9676

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Dual-Xeon-6-8Ghz-64-Bit-Gaming-PC-4GB-RAM-Dual-Display-Desktop-Tower-Computer-/180957441135?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item2a21e76c6f

A lot of sales blurb, but what is the reality? XEON may sound impressive, but the CPU is from eight years ago. Expect a CPU Benchmark of an ATOM processor of today.

This £150 PC from eBuyer will outperform it and provide you with a PC that you can continue to use. Install the OS yourself.

GunJack

^^^ agreed, the benchmark scores don't sound too good, but the reports I'm getting from real-world useage are pretty good...but admittedly all relative to the individual. Put it this way, it'd be far quicker than my trusty old Semperon 3000

Hadn't looked at ebuyer recently, but yes their £150 machine should last a fair long while...... now where did I put that credit card ??

Jonpop

Band wagon jump on!!! as i mentioned Ebuyer. Pick on the newbie!! £149 for the zoom storm £69.99 for windows 7 premium your up and running