Would you recommend this desktop?

BoyBlunder

Hi I'm looking for a desktop...yes definitely a desktop, not a laptop. I currently have a Dell which I bought new and have had more than a few years now.

I'd be using it mainly to have a number of applications open at the same time. Lots of internet browsing, multiple pages together etc. Webcam and skyping.

I thought this refurb seemed a good price. I realise it doesn't come with leads, mouse and keyboards etc but does it have everything else needed? Would I just be able to plug my existing Dell monitor in and go?

I want a pc pretty quick so any advice welcome. Thanks

Agh,can't post links but item is on ebay:
Windows 7 Dell Core 2 Duo 4GB Ram - 1000GB HD
dvd
Windows 7, Open Office, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Security Essentials Anti Virus, Adobe Flash Player, VLC media player, Adobe Reader, WinRAR

£149.99 with 1 year warranty. Seller is titanium computers

Thanks

anotheruser

A Core 2 Duo is an older type processor these days.
The latest set of processors are either i3, i5 or i7 "Ivybridge" although these have just been replaced in the last month by Haswell named processors. However there isn't much difference between those two.

I just sold a motherboard, with 4Gb of ram and a processor "Clarkdale" (part of the first generation of dual core processors) for less than £50.
Sold a 500Gb hard drive for about £30. 2Tb drives are currently £65 new from Amazon (Western Digital Green).

Open Office, Firefox, Chrome, MSE, Flash, VLC, Adobe and WinRAR are all free and downloadable so these could be installed by yourself. They shouldn't be factored into the cost of the machine really.

To get a massive speed boost you need two ensure two things:

1) 4Gb+ of ram.
2) An SSD - Solid State Drive. It's a little bit like a flash drive but will send your pc alight at a blazing speed.

HOWEVER - for what you want, the PC should be okay. If you want to run any games, you will need a graphics card. (Between £30 - £80, anything over that will be wasted as the PC wouldn't be able to cope.)

matttye

I have a Core 2 Duo and, while a little dated now, it's more than powerful enough for basic multitasking like you're after. Mine is an E8400 (3GHz dual core) which was one of the better C2Ds.

Do you know the clock speed or model number of the one you're looking at buying?

At a glance it looks like a bargain, so long as the parts used aren't all crap

matttye

anotheruser wrote: »

A Core 2 Duo is an older type processor these days.
The latest set of processors are either i3, i5 or i7 Sandybridge although these have just been replaced in the last month by Haswell named processors. However there isn't much difference between those two.

I just sold a motherboard, with 4Gb of ram and a processor from the ones before Sandybridge for less than £50.
Sold a 500Gb hard drive for about £30. 2Tb drives are currently £65 new from Amazon (Western Digital Green).

Open Office, Firefox, Chrome, MSE, Flash, VLC, Adobe and WinRAR are all free and downloadable so these could be installed by yourself. They shouldn't be factored into the cost of the machine really.

To get a massive speed boost you need two ensure two things:

1) 4Gb+ of ram.
2) An SSD - Solid State Drive. It's a little bit like a flash drive but will send your pc alight at a blazing speed.

HOWEVER - for what you want, the PC should be okay. If you want to run any games, you will need a graphics card. (Between £30 - £80, anything over that will be wasted as the PC wouldn't be able to cope.)

Ivybridge came after Sandybridge.

The Core i3/i5/i7 processors are now on their fourth generation: -

Nehalem - 1st gen;
Sandybridge - 2nd gen;
Ivybridge - 3rd gen;
Haswell - 4th gen.

NiftyDigits

What I don't understand is why you would buy a machine that is probably as old as the one that you have now? That machine is seven years old.
Simply clean and update your current machine. Job done.

What is the Service Tag? It will be printed on the back of the machine.

matttye

NiftyDigits wrote: »

What I don't understand is why you would buy a machine that is probably as old as the one that you have now? That machine is seven years old.
Simply clean and update your current machine. Job done.

What is the Service Tag? It will be printed on the back of the machine.

If the guy has a single core pentium machine, the different will be night and day

BoyBlunder

I'm obviously out of touch, not familiar with i3/5/7 and what Core 2 actuallly meant.

I thought the 1000GB and 4GB ram meant it must be not that old My current pc (think it's a P4) has less capacity than that so I thought it must be much newer.

I was looking for something with Windows 7 (I've read bits and pieces about avoiding Windows 8). Although I could download office etc, I'd be happier if it came with the Operating System etc. I've seen some pcs mentioned where you buy the basic and have to load everything on.

No idea on the service tag Nifty and Matttye what do you mean? Would my P4 be a single core pentium and if so do you mean this core 2 would be loads faster?

I'd be happy to spend maybe £300ish, I just thought this one seemed decent for the price.

matttye

BoyBlunder wrote: »

I'm obviously out of touch, not familiar with i3/5/7 and what Core 2 actuallly meant.

I thought the 1000GB and 4GB ram meant it must be not that old My current pc (think it's a P4) has less capacity than that so I thought it must be much newer.

I was looking for something with Windows 7 (I've read bits and pieces about avoiding Windows 8). Although I could download office etc, I'd be happier if it came with the Operating System etc. I've seen some pcs mentioned where you buy the basic and have to load everything on.

No idea on the service tag Nifty and Matttye what do you mean? Would my P4 be a single core pentium and if so do you mean this core 2 would be loads faster?

I'd be happy to spend maybe £300ish, I just thought this one seemed decent for the price.

A dual core processor means that it has two processing cores to perform actions at the same time. So while your single core processor completes tasks one after the other, a dual core can do two things at once. A quad core can do four things at once. etc...

It's not as simple as that though, as software has to be written to take advantage of the multiple cores and not all software does. The operating system itself, however, should be much more smooth on a dual core machine.

The size of the hard drive doesn't really have anything to do with how new the system is.

Seeing as you're willing to spend a bit more, maybe get something like this:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Home+and+Office/Next+Day+Systems/GLADIATOR+Intel+Pentium+G3220+Haswell+Dual-Core+Next+Day+Desktop+PC+?productId=57468

It doesn't cost much more than what you've already looked at, but it's running one of the latest processors. Should be plenty fast enough for your needs.

If you want to treat yourself to something a bit more powerful, this thing will fly for your purposes...

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Home+and+Office/Next+Day+Systems/GLADIATOR+Intel+i3-4130+Haswell+Dual-Core+Next+Day+Desktop+PC+?productId=57467

BoyBlunder

Thanks for the explanation matttye. Haha I think I want a quad core now that I know how they work - but they're probably out of my price range.

Thanks for the links, I notice that they don't come with an OS though. Not sure how much more that would add on, or even if I'd be confident enough etc to install my own.

I meant to say earlier, thanks anotheruser for the info you gave....and the fact you sold something similar for £50ish made me think again!

Am I right in veering towards Windows 7 rather than Windows 8?

matttye

BoyBlunder wrote: »

Thanks for the explanation matttye. Haha I think I want a quad core now that I know how they work - but they're probably out of my price range.

Thanks for the links, I notice that they don't come with an OS though. Not sure how much more that would add on, or even if I'd be confident enough etc to install my own.

I meant to say earlier, thanks anotheruser for the info you gave....and the fact you sold something similar for £50ish made me think again!

Am I right in veering towards Windows 7 rather than Windows 8?

When installing an OS you get a 'wizard' which is basically a window that takes you step by step through the install process.

It's literally like... click next... select language, click next... select date/time, click next... read licence agreement, click agree... etc. Nothing too taxing. It's not really any more difficult than installing any other kind of software.

You're right though that they don't include an OS. You can pick up Windows 7 Home Premium for about £80.

BoyBlunder

Thanks for all your help here :T I'm now thinking maybe I shouldn't be in such a hurry and be a bit more patient with delivery etc.

With the cost of the OS I sort of think maybe it's simpler to buy a desktop with it already installed. Zoostorm seems to be featuring a bit on this forum and I've discovered Argos seem do them with Windows 7 loaded on - they do seem to have a few different models to mull through though Delivery seems to be ? 10 days. Not quite sure right now what to do but thanks everyone, I've made my mind up not to go with the original post