Help Choosing a first Desktop

hawkwinddotcom

Can you help my confused head on helping a friend choose their first desktop?

Will be mostly used for a 9 year old for future homework and "easy" ganes such as sims etc and their parent as surfing.

Budget is up to £550.

I have found this from chillbast http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-kevlar.html

or this from Vibox http://www.amazon.co.uk/VIBOX-Alpha-Package-Operating-Processor/dp/B007PBGJ02/ref=sr_1_21?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1381866901&sr=1-21&keywords=vibox+4

Thanks

gonzo127

out of those two the chillblast system is the better one,

dont have the time to search around for any other suggestions at the moment but might have a look in the morning if no one else has posted anything in the mean time

Cisco001

chillblast.
However, I strongly recommend upgrade to Xigmatek 500W.

MothballsWallet

Have a look at a Wired2Fire Velocity VX system, won a Computer Shopper Best Buy award back in May. Their website is here.

It's what I replaced my Athlon64 system with after it (sadly) died on me after 8 years' use.

I took it without keyboard, mouse or monitor because I've already got those (and recently bought a BenQ 24" LED off ebuyer) and it cost me £463 (inc. VAT, fast build, PCI WiFi card, 1GB HD graphics card and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit).

hawkwinddotcom

Anyone else any thoughts?

closed

laptops are better value, use less electricity, more use.

If you really want a desktop, big name brands tend to be less troublesome.

yangptangkipperbang

closed wrote: »

laptops are better value, use less electricity, more use.

Laptops:

1. cost more to buy
2. cost more to repair
3. are difficult and more costly to upgrade
4. if you get a partial failure (mouse/pad, keyboard, monitor) you lose the whole machine until it is fixed: peripheral bits for a desk top are cheap and easy to buy/replace. (mouse/keyboard - £5 each)
5. laptops have batteries which are renowned for i) short life: ii) high price: iii) exploding (if you are really unlucky )
6. they do use less electricity - probably because they are out of service awaiting repair so often
7. they suffer from overheating problems
8. all the problems that arise from their design: drops, problems with screen hinges and cables
9. routine maintenance is very difficult/impossible
10. in many cases appear to be a "fashion" item rather than a practical one

Unless you NEED a laptop for portability/space reasons I would say get a desk top.
Since I have had my current PC, I have:
a. put in a larger 2nd HDD
b. put in more RAM
c. put in a larger monitor
c. put in a second graphics card to drive a second, even larger, monitor
d. put in a USB3 card to drive an external HDD
e. regularly given it a clean out inside

I have done all this myself. If I had a laptop some of the additions would have been impossible and I don't think I would have attempted any of them - so there would have been considerable extra cost involved.

closed

I can't be bothered to respond to all that, but its largely a nonsense/paranoid scenario. £550 is enough to buy 2 laptops, mine averages 15w, quiet as a mouse, and will pay for itself in saved electricity in 2-3 years.

Coraline

Me either. Get a good laptop and it will last you longer than you need it for (it becomes functionally obsolete). You don't need to add all that extra stuff to it and it will save you a lot of hassle. Desktops are dead.

Then hook up said laptop to a USB hub and use it to connect your accessories like a keyboard, mouse and whatever else you like. There's an instant desktop, which you can unplug the "brain" of the system and take it wherever you need to by disconnecting a couple leads.

I'm typing this on a 9 year old laptop--still running perfectly.

yangptangkipperbang

closed wrote: »

I can't be bothered to respond to all that, but its largely a nonsense/paranoid scenario.

Not nonsense/paranoid scenario - but FACT ! "Paranoid" ??????

Coraline wrote: »

You don't need to add all that extra stuff to it and it will save you a lot of hassle. Desktops are dead.

Then hook up said laptop to a USB hub and use it to connect your accessories like a keyboard, mouse and whatever else you like. There's an instant desktop, which you can unplug the "brain" of the system and take it wherever you need to by disconnecting a couple leads.

I didn't say that you NEEDED to "add all that extra stuff" - if you do need to add, it is simple with a desktop.

Your own post has totally destroyed your argument for a laptop - "usb hub, mouse, keyboard, and whatever else you like," etc, etc, - you have made it into a desktop !

closed

They are as ludicrous as me saying don't buy a desktop because

1. They break your toe, due to problems that arise from their design.
2. They corrupt your hard disk in a power cut, due to problems that arise from their design.
3. The disk light causes migraines.
4. They set on fire, and burn your house down
5. They dont fit in small wheelie bins.
6. They are a bxxxxx to carry upstairs.
etc etc.

There is a reason laptops have largely taken over from desktops, and it's nothing to do with fashion.