New PC advice please

Tamster150

Hi,

I've been through the older posts but was unable to find all the answers that I need,

I'm looking to replace my 8!!! Yr old Dell Inspiron PC. I mainly use it for work so I have to have MS Office, I use word and ppt mostly. I store most documents on memory stick/external drives. Going on all the feedback, I would prefer W7 to W8

I have recently bought a dslr so would like to be able to edit and store photographs and videos. (Although again I tend to store all of these externally)

The monitor that came with the Dell is still going - can I keep this or should I replace?

Other uses of the PC are general family uses, internet, gaming (not serious gamers just the odd game) netflicks, occasional sports streaming, would also like CD/DVD writer

Budget - around £500 but can go higher

Although I have been very happy with my Dell, i hear that they are not so good these days, so where else can I buy from these days? I also don't fully understand the difference between the Inspiron and xps models that they sell.

What spec/features should I be looking for? Although I'm fairly confident at finding my way around software programmes, I have absolutely no understanding of hardware or tech-speak!

Any tips welcome!
Many thanks!

prowla

Generally keyboard & mouse (USB) and monitor (VGA) should work fine.
Some peripherals may not have drivers for newer versions of the OS (this can apply especially to printers and scanners).
Yes, go for Windows 7 (yaay!) over Windows 8 (boo!).

£500 should get you a decent box, but Dell seem to have confused their range a bit just now... I have a 7020 SFF, but it seems they're targeting that at business users.

I would also have recommended an Apple Mac mini, but the current model with the soldered-in memory is a stupidity.

Tamster150

Actually that is a good idea - to look at business models rather than home. My printer is less than a year old so will be fine.

fred246

prowla wrote: »

I would also have recommended an Apple Mac mini, but the current model with the soldered-in memory is a stupidity.

Maybe they have found Apple users are incapable of opening the case.

weeowens

I have a Zoostrom via Ebuyer & have had not a problem with it in over three years: http://www.ebuyer.com/zoostorm

With £500 you could look at such as this: http://www.ebuyer.com/662334-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7260-0041

Or for a good bit less: http://www.ebuyer.com/662248-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7260-1013

If you are happy with the monitor keep it.If not they are pretty cheap nowadays: http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Monitors

PenguinJim

prowla wrote: »

Yes, go for Windows 7 (yaay!) over Windows 8 (boo!).

100% agree, but 8.1 beats both and is included free with 8, so either going for 8.1 or taking 8 and clicking on "update" seem to be the best way to do it.

With a £500 non-gaming budget you can easily put together a machine with an "Intel i5" CPU and 8GB of RAM.

Also consider getting a PC with both an HDD and an SSD. HDDs (hard drives, hard disks, hard disk drives - all the same!) are still popular for holding lots of data, so look for a 1TB (~1,000GB) or 2TB (~2,000GB) HDD - you can use it to copy your DSLR data and keep the external copy as a back-up.

SSDs ("solid state drives" - but everyone just calls them SSDs, don't worry! ) are great for your Windows install, as SSDs are much, much faster and snappier than HDDs. It will make a big difference to your PC's interface speed. 64GB is probably the bare minimum for a Windows install + free space. Aim a touch higher if you can - 96GB, 120GB or 128GB SSDs are available and reasonably priced.

I'm sorry, I don't have a specific recommendation for a vendor of pre-built PCs in the UK at present. But if you can wait until two weeks on Thursday, a new wave of Intel CPUs will launch which should get you a bit more for your money on either a cheaper old CPU or a more efficient new CPU (there's not much speed improvement, so I don't think it's too important which way you choose to go!).

prowla

(8.1 is still 8)

PenguinJim

(Yes, in the same way that you are still a baby. The only difference is development. I appreciate your attempt at trying to offer technical advice, but if you think that Windows 8 and 8.1 are identical, you're possibly not in the best position to do so. 8 was laughable and worth paying money to avoid, but "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" springs to mind - perhaps read up on the facts or brush up your experience and you'll be in a more helpful position! )

Cycrow

The Core of Windows 8 wasn't all that bad. It was the stuff on top that made it bad.

8.1 fixed alot of that stuff.

But if you have 8.1 with classic shell, then you will be close to 7 anyways but with the better core

NiftyDigits

What is the old machine's Service Tag?

Gloomendoom

Just before Christmas I put an ssd into my 2008 Dell desktop and it has given it a new lease of life. I'm considering upgrading it from 7 to 8.1 next.

Cost me less than £50