Packard Bell iMedia 1705..Any Good?

LouLou

Hello Everyone,

I just got an email from Bigpockets, and this PC base unit looks tempting..

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?lang=&menu=peripherals&product=RG-OFFER1024&session=373e49a0056cbf45cb159b6a17ada358

(Packard Bell iMedia 1705.. AMD 64 Bit 3200+
Cache: 512Kb
Optical drive: DVD ReWriter +/- R9
Hard Disk Drive: 250 Gb 7200rpm
Memory: 1024MB DDR
Graphics Card: 256MB Radeon 9550). £429 delivered.

A friend of mine reckons Packard Bell and their customer service are on a par with the dreaded Tiny, however. Does anyone have an opinion of this one? Much appreciated.

Louise x

ManAtHome

I'm pretty sure Packard Bell are a sub-division of NEC and is probably a Dixon's Group overstock (several companies seem to sell these and Advent units). Advert claims a 1 year on-site warranty - worth checking who's providing it and what the callout time is.

As with most computer stuff, likely to either fail in first couple of months or last for ages (unless you stuff it by installing dodgy software).

LouLou

Thanks for the speedy reply A friend of mine has pointed out it says "As New" which I hadn't noticed. Puts me off a bit!

suexf

Hi, I got one last week from Currys (ordered online with codes + paid £664 ish) brand new and I am very happy. Works so much faster than my old HP machine and I love the XP media centre edition + the tv function. It definately gets the thumbs up from me and I haven't even tried everything yet.
I believe they are associated with NEC as their name is on the paperwork.

themadbird

Packard Bell CS used to be amazing. I had a monitor that went over it's warranty then broke down, they replaced it free of charge within a few days. Dunno what they are like at the mo, cos I'm using an awful Dell computer hubby got from a deal at work - wish I could afford another PB cos I loved them Just my pennies worth....

HenrysCat_3

The graphics card aint the best if you intend to do any major gaming on it.
Apart from that it seems like a pretty good home machine.
Not much room for expansion as it only has 2 USB ports at the back.
Certainly a good price (I have roughly calculated what it would cost to build this yourself) and it's a 64bit PC.

If it's "as new" I would find out what they mean by that - was it returned faulty and was it fixed?

LouLou

Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm very wary of PCs, the one I'm using is my first, and it's broken down 5! times in 2 years. (Not PB though, a Targa PC from Lidl. I can't fault their customer service).

Prior to that I have memories of my baby brother's PC(s) being magicked away for months, never to return. In fact it happened recently with his Packard Bell laptop. Though it was a "pick up and repair" warranty.

Bigpockets have sent an email saying that PB's onsite repairs are handled by PA Business Systems. I'll email and ask what the term "As New" means..

LouLou

I've only read one or two snippets on the Net about PA Business Systems, (the company that deals with repairs) and the opinion seems good.

Here's Bigpockets' defnition of "As New":

"Items will be in as new condition, but may have been returned to the Original Manufacturer as a failed or incorrect delivery. These items would then be fully tested, any problems resolved and reboxed if needed by the
Manufacturer and sold "As New" with the Original Manufacturers full
warranty."

I just ordered the PB tower!

LouLou

I got this PC from BigPockets last Monday (very quick delivery). Absolutely delighted with it. You get an option to extend the on-site warranty by 2 years for £69 too.

As for Packard Bell's reputation as far as reliable hardware goes, I'll let you know if I have any problems!

In Device Driver the processor appears as AMD Athlon 64 3400, instead of 3200? Not that I'm complaining.