Another "what desktop" thread

Farway

My desktop, W7, is getting a bit erratic & sluggish after a lot of years

Rather than try & upgrade, W10 etc I think my easy option is buy a replacement, so looking for help from those with far more knowledge than I have

I want a desktop, no need or use for laptop

I only need the computer, not a monitor, keyboard etc

I have no preference on make or supplier, but would prefer to avoid flea bay

My budget is £100 - £200, so a refurb would seem like best bang for buck

Uses are mainly surfing, like on here, bit of Office stuff, Excel etc
Quite a bit of Photoshop so good for image processing, not video editing though

Not used for gaming, viewing movies or suchlike

I have been looking at second hand Dells, but have got confused, so here I am

for instance
https://microdream.co.uk/dell-optiplex-780-sff-dual-core-4gb-160gb-windows-10-professional-64-bit-desktop-pc-computer.html#product_tabs_review_tabbed

or
https://microdream.co.uk/dell-precision-t3400-workstation-core-2-duo-e8400-4gb-160gb-wifi-dvd-windows-10-professional-64bit.html#product_tabs_description_tabbed

or
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#product_tabs_description_tabbed

I assume any above will suit me, but is one outstanding? Is price any guide here? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Frozen_up_north

Last year I bought a second user Dell Optiplex 7010, i7, 3.4GHz, 16GB RAM, 128GB SSD, dual monitor card, DVD reader, Win 10 Home. No keyboard or monitor. It was £220 delivered from an eBay trader who currently doesn’t list any desktops.

The above will give you an idea of prices, which looks better value than the ones you listed.

Note, Dell Office PCs typically don’t have DVD writers. An external USB powered DVD writer is only around £12 on eBay. I particularly like the speed the PC boots up, and the Dell Support Agent “update” and config checking utility. The only downside (to me anyway) is the way everything is shoehorned into a compact case. Overall, a Dell i7 with the above RAM and SSD suits me well and was much better value than buying new, or buying the parts to build it myself.

bob_a_builder

I'll second the recommendation for the refurbed Dell Optiplex 7010's available on Ebay

Whilst mines only an i5 ( 8GB + SSD) . been going strong for about 3 years now, very pleased with general speed and performance

+ its compact and quiet

It is very tight inside but beautifully engineered, unlike your average cheap and cheerful PC case

worried_jim

I got one of these for £240- https://www.theitbuffs.com/product/dell-optiplex-990-sff-2nd-gen-quad-core-i5-2400-8gb-2000gb-windows-10-professional-64bit-desktop-pc-computer-certified-refurbished/

toshi

Farway wrote: »

My desktop, W7, is getting a bit erratic & sluggish after a lot of years

Because your desktop uses a sluggish painfully slow hard disk, I have no idea of the exact spec of your computer, but just replacing your hard disk with an SSD would be the solution.

Farway wrote: »

Rather than try & upgrade, W10 etc I think my easy option is buy a replacement, so looking for help from those with far more knowledge than I have

I want a desktop, no need or use for laptop

I only need the computer, not a monitor, keyboard etc

I have no preference on make or supplier, but would prefer to avoid flea bay

My budget is £100 - £200, so a refurb would seem like best bang for buck

Uses are mainly surfing, like on here, bit of Office stuff, Excel etc
Quite a bit of Photoshop so good for image processing, not video editing though

Not used for gaming, viewing movies or suchlike

I have been looking at second hand Dells, but have got confused, so here I am

for instance
https://microdream.co.uk/dell-optiplex-780-sff-dual-core-4gb-160gb-windows-10-professional-64-bit-desktop-pc-computer.html#product_tabs_review_tabbed

or
https://microdream.co.uk/dell-precision-t3400-workstation-core-2-duo-e8400-4gb-160gb-wifi-dvd-windows-10-professional-64bit.html#product_tabs_description_tabbed

or
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#product_tabs_description_tabbed


I assume any above will suit me, but is one outstanding? Is price any guide here? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

None of them won't suit if you choose a hard disk computer. Probably the current desktop with an SSD upgrade is much faster than your new hard disk computer.

Last 10 years, CPU cost/performance is more or less flat, the most innovation is an flash memory technology. I don't mind if you would get a new computer, but the bottom line is that you need to use an SSD.

Now, you get an 500GB SSD (5 year warranty) at 65 pound,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX500-CT500MX500SSD1-Internal-NAND/dp/B0784SLQM6

I paid 65 pound for a 256GB SSD 3 years ago, now you won't be regret. Welcome to 2019! Happy SSD computing

Cisco001

What is the spec of your existing desktop? We can tell if it worth installing SSD

I won't choose any of the desktop you link. They are too old.

You should aiming at at least i5 6th gen budget under £200

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-ProDesk-280-G2-MT-Business-6th-Gen-PC-Quad-Core-i5-6500-3-2Ghz-500Gb-SATA/123681914050?hash=item1ccc043cc2:g:u34AAOSw8kFcgoHs&frcectupt=true

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-EliteDesk-800-G2-SFF-Intel-Core-i5-6500-6th-Gen-3-2-Ghz-4GB-Ddr4-256ssd/223444192746?hash=item34064fcdea:g:GdAAAOSw5XJchnZW&frcectupt=true

^ you buy a windows key from ebay and install it yourself.

Farway

Thanks for the suggestions, I wasn't clear in OP, I don't want to start installing SSD or operating systems, just a working PC, plug & play

Cisco001

Farway wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions, I wasn't clear in OP, I don't want to start installing SSD or operating systems, just a working PC, plug & play

OK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-Pavilion-590-p0027na-Desktop-PC-AMD-Ryzen-3-4GB-RAM-1TB-HDD-C-Grade/123653507651?epid=21026010613&hash=item1cca52ca43:g:9SAAAOSw8VNca3Sb

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-EliteDesk-800-G1-USFF-i7-4770S-3-1GHz-8GB-RAM-1TB-HDD-Win-10-MS-Office-4/233159785133?hash=item364967faad:g:wRgAAOSwqD5cgnqZ