Buying New Desktop

Zenza

Hi, hope i've posted in the right forum

I'm looking to buy a new desktop and just need some advice.

I need it for browsing, watching videos and burning DVDs, i'm after one as cheap as possible that won't struggle for power when watching 720p youtube, browsing sites with lots of videos etc just a good PC

I'm probably looking to get this one

https://www.very.co.uk/acer-aspire-desktop-xc-830-cel-4gb-1tb-bundle-with-v247y-monitor-238-inch-monitor-and-optional-microsoft-365-family-15-months/1600572629.prd

It helps that i can pay it off monthly as i have an account.

Thanks for any help

OnlyTheBestWillDo

If you cannot afford it; then don't buy it. I would not recommend buying a PC that doesn't have a solid state storage drive. The combination of a Celeron processor and a slow, spinning magnetic disk hard drive is reminiscent of a decade ago.
If it had an SSD, it might have been passable.

Better to either refurbish what you have or simply buy a refurbished PC that you can actually afford.

Neil_Jones

There are three things in that computer specification that make it a no-no:  Celeron processor, mechanical drive and 4Gb of memory.  Its a bespoke size so when the board does pack up in x years time you'll either have to buy another "small" one or have it transplanted into a regular size case.

What computer do you have have now?  Maybe it just needs a little upgrade.

Cisco001

Not recommended. 
Crappy spec.

Cisco001

How good is your credit score?
Can you afford get 0% purchase credit card?
Or may be PayPal credit? 

ann_droid

Hi
Initially download the "free" Ccleaner suite...
Ccleaner
Defraggler
Recuva
Speccy

Spring Cclean, Defrag and note the improvement in access speed.

Recuva is in case a file/fotograph is inadvertently deleted.
Speccy gives an adequate amount of detail about your current setup.

If in doubt please ask

NB: if you already have a mouse, monitor and keyboard and you can save a few pounds every month (rather than pay Very) you can then select from a large range of systems only beige boxes.

Antarctictwice

Cisco001 said:

Not recommended. 
Crappy spec.

ao.com has some good reviews for the xc830 and 6 months credit if OP wishes.
So what would you recommend?

Neil_Jones

Antarctictwice said:

Cisco001 said:

Not recommended. 
Crappy spec.

ao.com has some good reviews for the xc830 and 6 months credit if OP wishes.
So what would you recommend?

The xc830 at ao.com has a different processor compared to the in the OP's link, albeit a slightly better one, but they're still both crap at the end of the day, performance will be on a par with a laptop, as they are both mobile processors, ie you expect to find them in laptops.  Not uncommon to see mobile processors in desktop machines (especially the smaller form-factor ones like the Acer listed) but, they will never be lighting fast.

The OP might be better off with a "proper" desktop processor for a start, ie something with more than 10w TDP on it (most desktops budget processors start at 35w, with meaty ones going up to 125w) at full load.

OnlyTheBestWillDo

Antarctictwice said:

Cisco001 said:

Not recommended. 
Crappy spec.

ao.com has some good reviews for the xc830 and 6 months credit if OP wishes.
So what would you recommend?

Even their description tells a story:

• Intel® Pentium® processor - for basic tasks like email....kerplunk

Something like an Optiplex 3050. i3 6th Gen with small SSD recently seen at £100 would be my starting point. I5 for not much more. Ideally with a 7th Gen Processor and an SSD already fitted if the OP doesn't feel capable. A device that can grow with you and is far more capable; as opposed to something disposable and weak..
Cheap monitors you can find all day.

CoastingHatbox

Do you have an existing desktop PC? Do you have any idea what specification it is? You can probably get some information using Microsoft System Information (msinfo32.exe) which is bundled with Windows 7 upwards:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/description-of-microsoft-system-information-msinfo32-exe-tool-10d335d8-5834-90b4-8452-42c58e61f9fc

It might be possible to make your existing machine better than a new low end machine without too much effort/outlay.

jamesd

That Celeron J4025 is an excellent fit for the tasks. It's from the November 2019 Gemini Lake Refresh desktop CPU series and has hardware decoding support for both HEVC and YouTube's latest mainstream production codec VP9. 4k video will fly for either of those, let alone mere 720p.

The RAM is just about adequate but it's not a good machine to buy because of the spinning hard disk. You should really be looking for SSD or other solid state storage and preferably 8GB of RAM, but solid state storage is more important than the extra RAM.

There are many different versions of the Celeron, i3, i5 and other names and it can take a little bit of research and shopping around to get a good choice, particularly when exact CPU model numbers can be hard to find. But don't buy without knowing - the oldest Celerons around wouldn't be the excellent match that this one is.