Cheap desktop required

spud17

A workmate is wanting to get a computer, he's fed up with breaking his iPads. :cool:
I don't have anything in my pile of stuff suitable for chucking one together.
He was wanting a laptop, but I'm hoping I've persuaded him to go for a refurbed desktop.
I'll sort him out a monitor, keyboard mouse etc for nothing.
It's to be only used for surfing and basic office stuff.
Budget is up to £200, but I was wondering if I could find something that would still allow me to fit an ssd and stay below £200.
Not had time to have much of a look, but was thinking along the lines of,

https://microdream.co.uk/dell-optiplex-380-dt-core-2-quad-q8400-2-66ghz-4gb-250gb-dvdrw-wifi-windows-10-professional-desktop-pc-computer.html#.WlU6gsSCuUk

https://microdream.co.uk/dell-optiplex-gx280-desktop-pc-pentium-4-ht-3-4ghz-1gb-ram-80gb-hard-drive-dvd-windows-7-home-premium-26166.html#.WlU6vsSCuUk

I'm just looking for suggestions of where to look and what models.
I'm not fussed if it's missing a hard drive or comes without OS installed.

debitcardmayhem

Evening Spud , quick look eg
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Desktops-Refurbished-Computers-Accessories/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A428651031%2Cp_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A3240862031

but there's a lot out there but it seems that ND has disappeared so his input may be lacking but have you looked EveryWhere :cool:
PS microdream seems to be down

forgotmyname

1GB RAM and 80GB HD?

I have door stops better than that. Argos had some cheap SFF desktops for around £200 a while back. OK it was a celeron but low power usage and silent. At least 4GB RAM and 1 TB HDD.

emptybox

spud17 wrote: »

A workmate is wanting to get a computer, he's fed up with breaking his iPads. :cool:
I don't have anything in my pile of stuff suitable for chucking one together.
He was wanting a laptop, but I'm hoping I've persuaded him to go for a refurbed desktop.
I'll sort him out a monitor, keyboard mouse etc for nothing.
It's to be only used for surfing and basic office stuff.
Budget is up to £200, but I was wondering if I could find something that would still allow me to fit an ssd and stay below £200.
Not had time to have much of a look, but was thinking along the lines of,

https://microdream.co.uk/dell-optiplex-380-dt-core-2-quad-q8400-2-66ghz-4gb-250gb-dvdrw-wifi-windows-10-professional-desktop-pc-computer.html#.WlU6gsSCuUk

https://microdream.co.uk/dell-optiplex-gx280-desktop-pc-pentium-4-ht-3-4ghz-1gb-ram-80gb-hard-drive-dvd-windows-7-home-premium-26166.html#.WlU6vsSCuUk

I'm just looking for suggestions of where to look and what models.
I'm not fussed if it's missing a hard drive or comes without OS installed.

Either of those two would probably do, but you could get them cheaper on Ebay. The second one for about £50 probably.
(the link sends you to Pentium dual core and 4GB RAM, despite what the URL says).

Might be better with something like this though.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/i3-Desktop-Ultra-Small-128-256GB-SSD-4-8GB-RAM-Dell-Optiplex-790-Windows-10-PC/222785203572?hash=item33df086d74:m:mjw4z8-ncA4NmViDszHR-Cw

Only trouble is, it wouldn't allow a graphics card upgrade, but you could probably find a similar spec in a bigger form factor.
The integrated graphics on that i3 2120 are fairly decent though.

EveryWhere

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

Evening Spud , quick look eg
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Desktops-Refurbished-Computers-Accessories/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A428651031%2Cp_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A3240862031

but there's a lot out there but it seems that ND has disappeared so his input may be lacking but have you looked EveryWhere :cool:
PS microdream seems to be down

Who is ND? I think you mean Donnie http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.php?u=22620

I think he's around, somewhere.

Cisco001

i3 4th gen in micro atx case. easy to fix/ upgrade in future.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fujitsu-P420-Intel-Core-i3-4130-3-4GHz-4GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-Win-10-Pro/132457176708?epid=219494964&hash=item1ed7101e84:g:5ikAAOSwWHBaTkbo

Add 250GB SSD
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/MZJkcf/sk-hynix-sl308-250gb-25-solid-state-drive-hfs250g32tnd-n1a2a

Add another 4GB RAM
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-GB-1x4GB-DDR3-PC3-10600U-1333-MHZ-NON-ECC-UNBUFFERED-240-PIN-DESKTOP-PC-RAM/222788396126?epid=2238081469&hash=item33df39245e:g:YaoAAOSww85aU-im

rmg1

For the cost of collecting it, I've got one he can have free gratis.
It's currently running XP (it's that old!).

It's got a graphics card (can't remember which one) and 1GB of RAM.
It'll never set the world on fire but it should do for basic stuff.

bob_a_builder

Can recommend those refurbed Dell Optiplexs via ebay - many sellers out there

Nice small neat machine, very quiet too, loads of USB slots inc usb 3, I got an i5 @ 3.2ghz - with small SSD too, for about £220 a year ago

more than adequate for the usual home office stuff

The i3 one mentioned above for 140 ish (256 SSD and 8gb) looks like a 'no brainer' almost !

spud17

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

Evening Spud , quick look eg
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Desktops-Refurbished-Computers-Accessories/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A428651031%2Cp_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A3240862031

but there's a lot out there but it seems that ND has disappeared so his input may be lacking but have you looked EveryWhere :cool:
PS microdream seems to be down

Hi DCM, yup there's plenty out there, I was really after which models to look for and those to avoid.

spud17

emptybox wrote: »

Either of those two would probably do, but you could get them cheaper on Ebay. The second one for about £50 probably.
(the link sends you to Pentium dual core and 4GB RAM, despite what the URL says).

Might be better with something like this though.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/i3-Desktop-Ultra-Small-128-256GB-SSD-4-8GB-RAM-Dell-Optiplex-790-Windows-10-PC/222785203572?hash=item33df086d74:m:mjw4z8-ncA4NmViDszHR-Cw

Only trouble is, it wouldn't allow a graphics card upgrade, but you could probably find a similar spec in a bigger form factor.
The integrated graphics on that i3 2120 are fairly decent though.

Cheers for this. I had one of those Pentium Dual Core (E6600) processors and had no problem with it.
That one in your link is a cracker but I'm now sorted, see below.

spud17

rmg1 wrote: »

For the cost of collecting it, I've got one he can have free gratis.
It's currently running XP (it's that old!).

It's got a graphics card (can't remember which one) and 1GB of RAM.
It'll never set the world on fire but it should do for basic stuff.

Seriously?
I now throw away stuff like that, can't even give it away on TrashNothing.

bob_a_builder wrote: »

Can recommend those refurbed Dell Optiplexs via ebay - many sellers out there

Nice small neat machine, very quiet too, loads of USB slots inc usb 3, I got an i5 @ 3.2ghz - with small SSD too, for about £220 a year ago

more than adequate for the usual home office stuff

The i3 one mentioned above for 140 ish (256 SSD and 8gb) looks like a 'no brainer' almost !

Thanks for that, I've now got some model numbers to look at.