19 replies to this topic

[chasnbons]

You could write my PC knowledge on the back of a stamp, and still have space for War and Peace, so I've decided to ask on here as I know some members are very well up on these things.

 

I'm contemplating getting a new one, as mine is slowly dying (I think)

 

Anyway I have the chance of getting either of the two machines (links below) and would like peoples opinions and, or advice on which I should go for.

 

I can only go for these two as Steve can get them at a reduced price from a scheme they are doing at work.

 

I'd be very grateful for any advice opinions etc before I make any sort of decision.

 

Many Thanks

 

http://www.currys.co...898283-pdt.html

 

http://www.currys.co...852533-pdt.html

[westy20040]

If I was to purchase one of those machines it would have to be the bottom link that you posted, both machines are not fantastic (for me anyway) but if I had to pick between the two then the specs on the bottom would win it for me.

 

You just need to wait for what other people think.

[Matty.N]

Running Windows 8, so neither.

 

Top has a very weak CPU & the bottom is a very weak i3, albeit it's a 4th gen.

[chasnbons]

Well I'm more confused now cos this is different info to what I've had on my post over at the Mecca.

 

I only want it for everyday stuff, not gaming or watching loads of movies, and if it runs Amber then it will be a bonus

[Bencrest]

Neither of them represent good value. The top one at £289 - compare it to this one at £189 : 

 

http://www.ebuyer.co...op-pc-7260-8001

 

The one at £189 has a more powerful (although not quite as energy efficient) Pentium CPU. Same size HDD, same amount of RAM, they both have Windows 8 / 8.1 (the cheaper one states 8.1 but the Currys one could be upgraded to 8.1 for free).

 

[EDIT] - No optical drive keeps price down. You could pick a slightly dearer model with ODD, or add one yourself, they cost <£20. 

 

You'd need to be getting a substantial discount (at least £100) to make either of them a 'good deal'. I've just highlighted this as an example, with a lot more digging I'm sure I could come up with a much better offering, but it demonstrates the 'mark up' at Currys.

 

I tend to buy my PCs from Dell Outlet these days, have had some stunning bargains over the years, and have often made a profit when I've sold them on after 6 months to a years usage

Edited by Bencrest, 13 June 2014 - 01:33 PM.

[chasnbons]

More confused than ever now Ben.

 

All I want is something to come on here and the Mecca, do ebay and other similar things, no gaming or films etc, I really have no idea when it comes to PC's.

 

Plus with the deal Steve has at work I get these at a cheaper price than Currys and can pay monthly at no extra cost.

 

No doubt whatever I decide to do, will end up being wrong lol

[Guitar]

I wouldn't buy any of them, Windows 8 is a hideous o/s. But if you are dead set on buying from Curry's/PC World this machine has more RAM & More HDD for the same(ish) money.

 

http://www.currys.co...776911-pdt.html

[chasnbons]

I wouldn't buy any of them, Windows 8 is a hideous o/s. But if you are dead set on buying from Curry's/PC World this machine has more RAM & More HDD for the same(ish) money.

 

http://www.currys.co...776911-pdt.html

 

It wouldn't be coming from PCWorld/Currys.

 

It would be coming from the hospital where Steve works, under a scheme they are running, which makes it ideal as you pay in 12 monthly instalments at no extra cost, plus they are cheaper than  PCWorld/Currys

 

After deciding which one to buy, the next thing would be to save up for a decent dedicated graphics card with as much on board memory as you can afford. It makes life a lot easier.

 

Why would I need to start upgrading things?  I never have and all my PC's have done just fine for me, until they are so outdated and slow, due to the rapid advances in technology.

 

The one I'm on now is about 6 years old and it hasn't had anything done to it, ok so it won't run Amber, but apart from that I've always managed to do everything I've wanted to, and I can't see the point in spending money that I haven't got, on something I don't really need.  If the new one won't run Amber then I've lost nothing, I've done without it so far and tbh I hardly play the emulators anymore anyway.

[richy1976]

Put the start menu back in win8 and its ok.
I use program called classic shell.

[aaamusements]

 

It wouldn't be coming from PCWorld/Currys.

 

It would be coming from the hospital where Steve works, under a scheme they are running, which makes it ideal as you pay in 12 monthly instalments at no extra cost, plus they are cheaper than  PCWorld/Currys

 

 

Why would I need to start upgrading things?  I never have and all my PC's have done just fine for me, until they are so outdated and slow, due to the rapid advances in technology.

 

The one I'm on now is about 6 years old and it hasn't had anything done to it, ok so it won't run Amber, but apart from that I've always managed to do everything I've wanted to, and I can't see the point in spending money that I haven't got, on something I don't really need.  If the new one won't run Amber then I've lost nothing, I've done without it so far and tbh I hardly play the emulators anymore anyway.

 

Presumably it's a "salary sacrifice" scheme as they run one at the hospital that I work at. If so it has the added benefit of being tax efficient, as you pay for the item out of your gross salary before tax is deducted, thus potentially reducing income tax and NI payments.

[Bencrest]

Based on everything that has been said then, I'd personally go for whichever makes the most financial sense to you.

 

I wouldn't personally pay £50 more for the i3 version, but if the gap is much closer using your discount scheme (say £20 difference), it would be worth the upgrade (faster CPU, hyperthreading (which will make a difference in some apps, especially when encoding / converting) better integrated GPU, ability to use 1600MHz DDR3 RAM).

 

If you are looking at an extra £1 > £2 p/m for the i3, and believe that it is worth that additional spend even though it's not the option I'd normally recommend, then go for it.

 

Otherwise I doubt you'd notice much real-world difference unless you plan on encoding / converting audio and video. They will both be fine for basic tasks, both will handle OLD games / simpler 2D games fine.

 

The modern Intel HD graphics are far better than they were in the old days, and will handle HD video playback (YouTube, or MKV / Blu Ray) and that kind of thing fine.

 

Best upgrade IMHO would be to add an SSD down the line. Even a little drive purely as a boot drive will make everything feel much snappier, and then put your larger stuff onto the HDD (videos, games, e.t.c)

Edited by Bencrest, 13 June 2014 - 07:24 PM.

[Magz]

+1 for the SSD if it's in budget. If you're really only using it for web browsing e-mail etc. then that'd make more difference than RAM and even the CPU to a point.

Problem with the SSD is that if you buy it with the PC It's a lot more expensive than getting it separately and retro-fitting it so if you're not up for that then maybe that'll be a "next PC after this" thing.

 

As long as it's got a core i3 or better, 4GB RAM and reasonable graphics (Intel based on board is usually OK) it'll do what you're looking for. Not sure what the spec is to run Amber properly but I'd imagine that would be ok.

 

PS

 

Don't be too put off by the Windows 8 comments - if you are only running a browser then you'd hardly need the start menu anyway (and it takes all of 5 mins to realise you can arrange the tiles as you wish and then simply type the name of the app you want if it's not in your usual list). 8 also supports SSDs properly and kicks the pants out of Windows 7 for general performance and security.

[Bencrest]

I hated Windows 8, but when Windows 8.1 came out it's made things a lot better.

 

I'd still say I prefer Windows 7, but 8.1 is definitely usable, just with a few annoying quirks. I can't be bothered installing mods / workarounds so just live with it. I do a very limited amount of stuff on my PC and just pin stuff I need to the bottom bar.

 

Can't deny how fast the computer boots with Windows 8, although the laptop has a 120GB SSD for booting and a 750GB mechanical drive for media / ROMs.

Edited by Bencrest, 13 June 2014 - 07:39 PM.

[Tomasone]

You could write my PC knowledge on the back of a stamp, and still have space for War and Peace, so I've decided to ask on here as I know some members are very well up on these things.

 

I'm contemplating getting a new one, as mine is slowly dying (I think)

 

Anyway I have the chance of getting either of the two machines (links below) and would like peoples opinions and, or advice on which I should go for.

 

I can only go for these two as Steve can get them at a reduced price from a scheme they are doing at work.

 

I'd be very grateful for any advice opinions etc before I make any sort of decision.

 

Many Thanks

 

http://www.currys.co...898283-pdt.html

 

http://www.currys.co...852533-pdt.html

I purchased a 3tb 16g of ram for £470 its fast and quiet as a church mouse direct from argos its a Zoostorm model and its Ace just thought I'd let you know yours Terry

[stanmarsh14]

The Core i3 one just about wins it for me (Especially when it comes to dealing with something like transcoding video files), but TBH the thing that is putting me off on one point, is the £50 difference between the two, as performance wise as others have said, there is not a vast amount of difference, so you look at the two prices and it makes you think if you can justify this price difference.

With the start menu issue with windows 8 of any version, simple fix for that, is to just install Windows Classic Menu, which I have done on my win7 machine, so it runs pretty much like windows classic mode, although it can do an xp like environment too.

http://www.classicshell.net/

[RUKI2909]

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item2c7fe99871

[SwIFT]

Really for your uses I think you should stick with your current machine but learn how to better use it as you'll unlikely benefit from the improved performance if you're only using it for general use. My entry level computer from PC World is coming up to 9 years old as it was purchased June 19th 2005 (fathers day) but desktops are not throw away as you can upgrade and replace the parts easily with the help of the internet.. I've replaced cpu fan, graphics card, power supply unit, monitor and upgraded the enclosure case plus solid state drive and went from Windows XP to Windows 7.

 

My main uses consist of:

Web browsing

Downloading

Music & Video playback

Enterprise software use

No gaming (although I'm able to run MFME & Amber just fine)

 

Occasionally I burn cds, convert audio to different formats, image editing, screen recording and light video editing but other than those few intensive tasks which take a little while longer to perform my computer is serving me pretty well and so should yours.. maybe you should upgrade to SSD to run your operating system on (performance drive) and purchase internal or external hard disk drive to archive and store all your personal files (storage drives) and upgrade to windows 7 as it has a really useful 'Help and Support' center that will teach you all about operating system and how to get the most out of it. I'm going to stretch mine out to at least 10 year mark then likely to upgrade the monitor, computer enclosure, ram, cpu, and, motherboard as I'd very likely make use of the added performance by doing more intensive tasks but would expect it to last minimum of 10 years. No sense junking money on a 'new' computer if you're unlikely to benefit (I've had a couple chances where I could have junked money on a custom build when my computer was 5 or 6 years old but chose to upgrade current machine and get the most out of it) Join a Microsoft forum like sevenforums as they've loads of tutorials and guides plus loads of other websites that provide info you'll just pick it up over the years maybe run some diagnostic software such as speedfan to check the temperature of your cpu and hdtune to bench test hard disk drive performance to see the read and write speeds plus check the drive for errors as those are common issues and can drastically slow down your computer

Edited by SwIFT, 15 June 2014 - 01:08 AM.

[richy1976]

Steer clear of the Celerons.