Looking for a new computer

welshbookworm

My faithful Windows Vista machine is showing its age. It freezes regularly and has to be 'kickstarted' into working by control +alt +delete on a daily basis.
Now the the on/ off pressure switch is also temperamental and only works when it feels like it.
Time to replace I think.
For convenience and speed I was looking at this one -
HP Pavilion 550-081na AMD A8 8GB 1TB Desktop Tower - Blue

from Argos. (£300)

Will it last me a few years or will it need replacing in less than 5 years?
I play Facebook games and gossip on forums, so don't do anything high spec.
Many thanks

prowla

I would say that 5 years is a reasonable expectation for a computer's lifespan.

1 TB should be plenty of disk space, unless you store large files (eg. movies), but disks are the least reliable components and so it is not impossible that it might fail withing 5 years.

8 GB memory is probably right for now, but the "base" amount does seem to creep up over the years; it might be worth checking whether it can be expanded if you find you need to.

I tend to gravitate towards Intel based machines, but that's my preference.

£300 is a reasonable amount to pay.

welshbookworm

Many thanks. I couldn't spot any obvious flaws with it, but thought if there were any the eagle eyed people here would spot them.

macman

A Factory Restore should solve the lock-up issues, except for the faulty switch, which would be a very cheap and simple fix. You'd still be stuck with Vista though.

welshbookworm

The thought of being free of Vista! YAY
Well worth £300
Then keep this one for a spare.

Doshwaster

Not a bad machine for £300. It's not going to set the world alight but you will notice a big difference from your current computer.

It might be worth considering upgrading your monitor too. Even a graphics card in a cheap modern computer should be better than one from a machine from 5 years ago.

welshbookworm

My monitor is a 22" HDMI thingy which is lovely

Doshwaster

welshbookworm wrote: »

My monitor is a 22" HDMI thingy which is lovely

In which case there is no need!

Amazing how many people buy a new computer then connect it to an ancient monitor running at a low resolution.

getmore4less

For basic use machine I grab Dell outlet , my last base one was around £200 been good for 7 years+ same issue vista and getting sluggish too much rubbish.

Check inside could be overheating get the dust off all the fans and CPU heat sink


if you don't want to do anything too fancy really basic machines are very capable, other places to spend the extra.

Had disc go on work machines(that got hammered) not on a home one that get more power cycles but less overall use.

Decent cheap base price has been £200+- for years just get better specs as component prices drop every few months.