PC from Aldi - what do you reckon?

Bob_the_Builder_5

This is it:
http://www.medion.de/md8824/uk/flash.html

I know a lot about PCs, its just that I haven't kept up with the technology for a number of years.

Does the price sound okay, and does anyone know what flavour motherboard is inside?

ijustlovesavingmoney

Most of my family have had PCs from Aldi and they we are all pleased.
I had a problem with the remote control and so I have used their after sales service which was very good, problem solved.

IJLSM

Strangled

Before I switched to Mac's, I've owned 2 Medion PC's, have to say, for the price they have very good specs and good build quality. Just looked at that one and it looks spot on.....wonder what price it will be ?

Lavendyr

The graphics card is not great if you're a gamer, and there is no DVI connection which means you won't be able to view in digital mode, but other than that it looks fine.

I can't see how much it is though?

Poppy9

It's £399 which excludes a monitor.

Lavendyr

Ah, got you.

Well, to look at the component prices:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo processor E4300: currently around £75
- 2GB RAM DDR2 533Mhz*: currently around £50 for the cheapest stuff (which no doubt the Medion RAM will be)
- nVidia GeForce® 8400 GS 128MB**: well, the 256MB version is retailing at £32.
- Windows Vista™ Home Premium OEM***: assuming it's the 32-bit version, currently £64
- 320 GB SATA hard drive, 8 MB Cache, super-fast 7200 U/Min: about £45.
- DVD burner: around £20, less for a cheapy cheapy one
- Cheap case: around £30
- Cheap keyboard and mouse: around £10

Total: £326 (possibly less, as I've included the price for the graphics card at 256MB, not 128MB)

So it's still a bit more expensive than to buy all the components separately, but if you're not able to build it yourself then it's still a pretty good deal.

*533Mhz is not the fastest RAM - 667Mhz is 'the norm' but it is more than good enough (the RAM in my system is 533Mhz and does the job, and some of the games I play are quite demanding on the memory).

**This is really not a good graphics card, as not only is it not all that powerful, it's only got 128MB memory. If you're not going to be playing games on the computer (at least, not going to play games made in the last two years) it'll be fine. If you want to play games, you will need to upgrade that graphics card.

*** Note that this is the OEM version, not full retail, so you would legally only be able to install it on this one computer (hard drive) - i.e. if you upgrade to a different computer in future, you would not be allowed to install this same copy of Vista on the new computer. However if the hard drive (or another essential component) were to break, you should be able to contact Microsoft and they should give you a key to be able to install it on another hard drive.

Bob_the_Builder_5

Thanks Lavendyr for the break down - but you don't mention the motherboard. If we take your prices, that leaves £73 for the motherboard.

As long as the motherboard is Asus or something, rather than PCChips, then it doesn't seem a bad deal really. I'm not a gamer, so don't care about the graphics. The TV card can come out and go on fleabay.

Sure, I could put one together myself, but I can't be bothered.

Hmm... tempted.

Inactive

And no 3 year warranty on the self build, oh and apart from the MB.

What about the TV Card and Remote Control.

Card Reader as well.

8 Channel Sound .

My Medion has Samsung memory, so not cheap stuff at all.

Lavendyr

Bob_the_Builder wrote: »

Thanks Lavendyr for the break down - but you don't mention the motherboard. If we take your prices, that leaves £73 for the motherboard.

You're absolutely right, I just realised that on looking at someone elses' thread. A motherboard would cost you around £50, and you'd also need a PSU (assuming the case probably wouldn't come with one), for another £30-40 - alternatively for around £55 you could probably get a case complete with PSU, saving a few tenners.

Bearing all that in mind, the Aldi deal is actually a very good one, not just a pretty good one. I'd expect it's also reasonably upgradeable which is an added bonus.

Incidentally, in reply to the last poster, with self-build you do often get very good warranties on the individual parts as long as you don't do anything to them which might damage them (i.e. overclocking). For instance, RAM typically comes with at least a 10-year warranty and often a lifetime one, CPUs come with 3 years warranty usually, and so on.