best home pc for £500

sockospice

I've got £500 to spend on a new home PC, which will be used mostly for internet, downloading, and writing essays etc. I'm basically looking for the highest spec possible for that money. JAL have some decent offers, as do mesh, I'm just wondering if there is anything better out there that anyone knows of?

newfoundglory

Dell have usually got some good offers on!

You could also always consider the Mac mini - its good and cheap too (about £340-£400); but remember the price doesnt include a screen, keyboard or mouse - so if you wanted to do that you might be better off just getting an eMac instead which comes with everything (my housemate has one). If you know a student who can buy it for you, you can get 10% off which should bring it to less than £500, a complete bargain!

Florrie_Fimble

I'd have to say that I'm amazed how cheaply you can get a pc from Dell now. I've bought a laptop and a pda from them and both times have enjoyed excellent service and quick delivery.

I build my own desktop pc's as I like to spend far too much money on swanky graphics cards - but when it comes to my family i get them to buy Dells.

They currently have a Dell Dimension 3000 that has free delivery (£50 saving) and free double memory - it even comes with a 17inch flat panel screen - all this for £491 all in.

wolfman

If you're up for building a machine, then it might be worth looking into the following. It's not a "gaming" machine, and doesn't allow for a huge amount of upgrades, but it's definitely good value, and the Pundit case is nice and small.

Asus Pundit-R (has onboard, graphics, sound, network card) - £100
Intel Celeron D330 - £55
512mb PC3200 400Mhz Ram - £40
80gb Hard Drive - £35
DVD-Writer - £33

Mouse + Keyboard - £30
17" TFT - £200

MoneyMonkey

Florrie_Fimble wrote:

I'd have to say that I'm amazed how cheaply you can get a pc from Dell now. I've bought a laptop and a pda from them and both times have enjoyed excellent service and quick delivery.

Try Dell Outlet. They sell virtually new computers (purchased and then returned, tested and sold again). I know a few people who have got these, and they are all happy with them, and you get a good deal too.


Hope this helps.

MM.

NOTE: The prices seen on the list are shown excluding VAT.
Another Note: The list of what is available and what deals are currently on, change regularly, so keep an eye on them.

MoneyMachine_2

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=6878&GroupID=539

I just bought a desktop from Microdirect about a month ago.
Here's an example.
They have a lot of reconditioned machines - which means they may have been ordered and then returned or some other reason. The one I got was brand new - looked like it had never been touched.

I then picked up a TFT from them for about £100.
Very prompt delivery and a warranty.
If you dont't like this one - which looks like a good all rounder - there are new ones been added all the time.

I was recommended JAL by someone on this site. I ordered an excellent system from them but to cut a long strory short - they really messed me around for 2 months and ended up blatantly lying to me before eventually telling me they hadnt even started building my order after 8 weeks.
Suffice to say - I wont be using or reccommending them.
I was then very pleased when Micro Direct sorted me a Desktop in less than a week with no fuss/lies/bull/delays at all.

crewe

Great deals on systems. I have used them in the past, no problems fast friendly service.
http://www.compsol-uk.com/

cloud_dog

sockospice wrote:

I've got £500 to spend on a new home PC, which will be used mostly for internet, downloading, and writing essays etc. I'm basically looking for the highest spec possible for that money. JAL have some decent offers, as do mesh, I'm just wondering if there is anything better out there that anyone knows of?

I tend to refer to PCPro's 'A-List' when I'm looking to buy PC's or PC stuff (as they've all the hard work to evaluate things). I think from your post you may have got your info from a similar source as JAL was their previous A-List 'Budget PC' winner and the Mesh Select Pro is the current recommended 'Budget PC'.

I was looking at the Dell's (for me bruvver) and yes they are very nice and seemingly cheap. But looked at the spec of the Mesh and recommended that. Reasons:

* Dell's are not easy to upgrade (cost prohibitive compared to 'normal' components)
* Mesh gives you a 160Gb Serial ATA (not a 40Gb or 80Gb Eide)
* Mesh provides a seperate graphics card (not cutting edge but certainly good enough and *always* better than onboard graphics)
* Dito with the sound card (I think its 5.1 although need to check)
* Comes with a 15" TFT (again perhaps not cutting edge but it is a Sharp)
* Mesh is an AMD and Dell is Intel (depends on your views)

Me, I'd go for the Mesh, as recommended to bruv (can't comment on their sales service). You need to compare like for like. I'm not saying Dell PC's are not worth considering but get the specs together (upgrade Dell if necessary and buy what comes out on top.

cloud_dog

wolfman

I totally agree with cloud_dog.

Definitely check out https://www.pcpro.co.uk. In fact check the labs section, they've just done a group review on budget pc's.

The Mesh computers do seem like good value. I don't know what the service is like, but you do seem to get more for your money than with dell.

sockospice

Thanks to everyone for the responses so far, I'll definitely be checking everything out, the advice is really useful. Thanks again.