Is this the best £700 PC out there at the moment? Quad Core 2GB RAM

martinbsp

Is this the best £700 PC out there at the moment?

Is this worth £700 incl. VAT?

MESH Computers
Elite Quad 6600 DOTW
Key Features:
- Quad core
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Processor
(2.40GHz ,8MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz)
SLI nForce 650i Mainboard
2GB 667MHZ DDR2 Memory
500GB Serial ATA hard drive with 16MB buffer 256MB nVIDIA Geforce 8500GT (Dx10) 19" Widescreen TFT LCD Display w/speakers LightScribe Super Format 18x DVD Writer
5.1 High Definition onboard sound card
6 USB, 2x Firewire, GB LAN
Multi-format Memory Card Reader
Logitech Cordless KB & Optical Mouse
1 Year Onsite Warranty (Home Service)
FREE Delivery* ( Worth £40 )


£699.00 inc VAT
(£594.89 ex VAT)

superscaper

It all sounds great, my only criticism is the first line of the specs: "MESH Computers".
From dealing with them personally I'd recommend noone touch them with a barge pole. I had to deal with them both before and after their appearance on BBC's Watchdog in which they promised to improve. I can say from personal experience that they were as bad after their "improvement" as they were to get themselves on Watchdog in the first place.

To put it another way I think it'd be worth getting a lower spec pc for the same money from somewhere else. If it was only £200 I still wouldn't hand over my money to Mesh.

viv0147

Spend an extra £300 and get a Mac they are amazing its the best thing I have done you can also have windows on the Mac as well

superscaper

viv0147 wrote: »

Spend an extra £300 and get a Mac they are amazing its the best thing I have done you can also have windows on the Mac as well

But impossible/extortionate to upgrade. It may only be worth it if you can budget large disposable cash at one go every couple/few years. I haven't spent more than £150 on components in one go since I got my very first computer eight years ago. Even if I'd saved everything I'd spent in one go for a mac it would only cover the cost of one mac that would probably be obsolete by now and I wouldn't be in position to replace it or upgrade.

GoofyGAT

martinbsp wrote: »

Is this the best £700 PC out there at the moment?
Is this worth £700 incl. VAT?

You could build this yourself (if so inclined) with some better components (highlighted in green) for a little less £680.75 (eBuyer) - an example (only): G

- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 = £144.98
- Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 = £59.68
- Antec Sonata II Quiet Midi Tower with 450W PSU = £52.74
- Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 675MHz/PC2-5400 XMS Memory = £44.24
- Seagate ST3500630AS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 16MB Cache = £54.78
- NEC Optiarc 7173A 18xDVD±RW/RAM DL LabelFlash Black = £15.41
- Xpertvision 8500GT Sonic edition 256MB = £43.13
- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64Bit OEM = £53.35
- Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 110 = £14.45
- Ebuyer Extra Value All in 1 internal Card Reader = £5.10
- Cibox C1905 19" Widescreen TFT Monitor (1440 X 900) 5ms 800:1 = £91.46
Cart Total: £579.32
VAT: £101.43 (FREE SHIPPING ON THIS ORDER)
Total: £680.75

P.S. Deliberately left out MS Works because it's not worth it

Bamber19

Just built the same system up on Pc Option for £677.

Just out of interest what are you going to use the system for as Quad Core may be overkill. If gaming is on the agenda then it might make more sense to have a more gmaing orientated card(8800 GTS) and an E6750

matty2767

if you build it yourself then you may be able to salvaged some bits from your old pc like the keyboard, mouse, monitor and dvd drive.

also goofy you have quoted the vista 64bit edition. is this the best way to go at the mo or would he be better with 32bit?

GoofyGAT

matty2767 wrote: »

...also goofy you have quoted the vista 64bit edition. is this the best way to go at the mo or would he be better with 32bit?

32-bit may be better. Well, I just included the first cheapest Vista Premium OEM I could find in a search really - as I mentioned it was only meant as an example to compare value. G

martinbsp

Bamber19 wrote: »

Just built the same system up on Pc Option for £677.

Just out of interest what are you going to use the system for as Quad Core may be overkill. If gaming is on the agenda then it might make more sense to have a more gmaing orientated card(8800 GTS) and an E6750

Well the last PC I bought lasted 13 months and was a 2.3 Ghz Celeron with only 512MB RAM. And then the motherboard and other bits burnt out. I found it desperately slow, even though I only go on the web, listen to music, download films and email. But then I am very cautious (probably overly so) about online security.

So I've thought about buying the best I could afford in an attempt to secure myself against future needs, If I bought something like this with a 3 year warranty perhaps.

Building your own PC sounds great, but isn't it really only for those with the expertise? Or is it really as simple as plugging and screwing everything together? What's the best way of learning how to do this?

On a final note I don't tend to use paid for software, apart from the OEM stuff that comes with the PC (Windows etc). I use Open Office or Google Apps at a push, and all of my security needs are met by free versions of something. In all my computing life I've never had a problem with viruses etc, so think that as long as your careful you'll be ok.

If someone could convince me that Linux is reasonably easy to use and compatible with most stuff then I wouldn't even use Windows. Something like Vista is overkill for me, all I need the OS to do is operate as a platform, I don't need all the fancy stuff that goes with it - I'd just use a free/open source version of whatever it was.

gotnobread

martinbsp wrote: »

If someone could convince me that Linux is reasonably easy to use and compatible with most stuff then I wouldn't even use Windows. Something like Vista is overkill for me, all I need the OS to do is operate as a platform, I don't need all the fancy stuff that goes with it - I'd just use a free/open source version of whatever it was.

Couldn't agree with you more Martin. I had a dabble with Linux a while ago (Mandrake 10) and found it very frustrating because I didn't have the knowledge to use it properly (I'm not a Luddite, btw, but also do have other things to be getting on with in life besides trying to set up a USB router...)

A shame because I defo like the idea of Linux, and like you I use all the FOSS software I can, mainly because it does the job and is, well, free...

I'd be very interested in knowing where to get info on saving cash by building your own PC as well.

Cheers,
Gotnobread.

martinbsp

superscaper wrote: »

It all sounds great, my only criticism is the first line of the specs: "MESH Computers".
From dealing with them personally I'd recommend noone touch them with a barge pole. I had to deal with them both before and after their appearance on BBC's Watchdog in which they promised to improve. I can say from personal experience that they were as bad after their "improvement" as they were to get themselves on Watchdog in the first place.

To put it another way I think it'd be worth getting a lower spec pc for the same money from somewhere else. If it was only £200 I still wouldn't hand over my money to Mesh.

Ok, I've obviously been out of the loop on the whole MESH thing but having spent last night doing some research, I think you may have saved me some trouble there. I'm willing to give most companies a go but on balance, MESH appear to be too big a risk to take at the moment.