good basic pc

katiesmummy

my fil told me today that he wants to buy his first pc after joining a silver surfers club and he asked me what is the best one to get- i know how to use one, beyond that i am lost!

can anyone give me any advice on a good basic pc pref from a shop not online? he would only really want it for internet use and the like

cheers

colin79666

Tesco have been selling some good Dells lately in their Extra stores

[Deleted User]

What's the budget?

katiesmummy

be_alright wrote: »

What's the budget?

he said that he doesnt have one! (more money than sense, what can i say) but i think that 500quid would be a good budget.

i have been looking online and i know you can get one pretty cheap nowadays but the specifications mean nothing to me!

i know that he will want to use the internet, also for his music and probably for downloading as well

totalsolutions

A good laptop then?

poppy_f1

30111987 wrote: »

Tesco have been selling some good Dells lately in their Extra stores

go direct to dell and the same machine is a lot cheaper

superjaggybunnet

Why not check out https://www.europc.co.uk

they have some cracking deals.

Look at this: http://www.europc.co.uk/pages/ProductPage.aspx?PID=108142

colin79666

poppy_f1 wrote: »

go direct to dell and the same machine is a lot cheaper

Not necessarily - I just bought a xps laptop from Tesco - much cheaper than direct from Dell for similar specs. :j

Amalea

The other point to remember, if he wants to use the internet he'll need to setup a broadband account.

rambo43

Tesco usually do good deals for PC packages.

hubris

You say that it will be used for "the Internet use and the like".

You don't need to buy a new computer, though I understand that buying new can feel good. I'm a programmer, and in my previous company, saw at least two office clear outs, from which a lot of us benefited (with hardware). My sister-in-law and I subsequently each have one of these small compaqs (link below), which were/are common in offices. We use them for Internet, documents, and as a programmer, I use mine for more, and it is fast enough for me.

My point is, you don't need a brand new computer if all you want is Internet and writing/printing documents. Try freecycle, independent computer shops/internet cafes often sell refurbished machines. Or look out for office clear-outs.

FYI, the computer I got from work is this compaq as seen on ebay ( http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=300230254215&Category=179 ). I'm not recommending this ebay seller, but at that price (28pounds including postage), I'd feel I've not got much to lose. And if you need more RAM for such a machine, send me a PM, and I'll mail you some ( last week some freecyclers sent me more than I need). This particular computer doesn't come with Windows, but it has a valid license for Windows 2000, meaning all you need to do is contact Microsoft, and they should send you the software. Windows 2000 is according to Wikipedia, supported until 2010 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2000 ).

Save your money - and the environment!