Computer what would you recommend ?

[brendy]

Dell support is grand, if you have next day warranty too, it is fantastic. I just got my last laptop repaired after the trogons chip began playing up, they replaced the dorm keyboard also and is as good as new.
I have dealt with hp, dell, IBM/ Lenovo etc for 16 years.
Lenovo pcs are bulletproof and prices comparable between dell and hp.
Dell are bargain pcs and are hard to look past.
Hp are quality machines but keep away from their cheapest models.
Acer are in the same league as dell but do sometimes come with better components.
Home builds... Avoid these days, warranties, peace of mind and performance are all doable with prebuilt systems.

 

[richart]

Thanks for feedback guys. Had three Dell,s over the last 15 years or so, and no major problems, but the back up service has not been great. Thought HID had an Irish boyfriend, the time she spent on the phone.

Fancied a change, so alternative suggestions a great help.

My golfing partner has only just bought a Mesh, but he is already moaning about their after sales service.

 

[RobCowan]

If you are going to be using it for business use, go for a Dell Vostro & focus on the best processor/most RAM you can get for your budget as well as the next day onsite warranty (not the prosupport, just the normal next day). Don't forget that the Vostro's are priced ex VAT so remember to take that into account.

To be honest, I've not always been the biggest fan of Dell but those customers of mine that have the Vostro's never have any problems with them which makes my life easier.

If you want, pm me your e-mail address and a detail of what you plan on running on it and I will customise one and e-mail you the basket.

Rob.
Carrobes IT.

 

[richart]

This seems a good deal

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-x3910...amp;xtor=ES-115

That's more like it Bob, as a good business man always like to come in below budget. I am a financial advisor after all.

 

[richart]

If you are going to be using it for business use, go for a Dell Vostro & focus on the best processor/most RAM you can get for your budget as well as the next day onsite warranty (not the prosupport, just the normal next day). Don't forget that the Vostro's are priced ex VAT so remember to take that into account.

To be honest, I've not always been the biggest fan of Dell but those customers of mine that have the Vostro's never have any problems with them which makes my life easier.

If you want, pm me your e-mail address and a detail of what you plan on running on it and I will customise one and e-mail you the basket.

Rob.
Carrobes IT.

Thanks for the offer Rob. May have to transfer you over to HID, as she does all the work on it.

 

[RGDave]

I find it interesting what folk expect from a PC. An old XP machine with 1gb RAM can easily run as fast as a 2gb Vista.
I don't know about windows 7, but presumably it's no worse than vista.
I bought into Vista in the first week and *unlike most* have had a very positive time. To do this however (and it's a massive however!) I scrapped the idea of multiple users early on. The permissions on vista are a joke.
I'm often using macs these days and they are damn fine. The only thing is that you pay a lot for the privilege. A well-sorted PC can run very fast these days and needn't be a pain in the neck, as long as you steer clear of rubbish.

 

[RobCowan]

I don't know about windows 7, but presumably it's no worse than vista.

On the same machine, Win7 will out-perform Vista any day. What I find really amusing was all of the "Vista is worse than Windows ME" rubbish that was bandied about after its release.

In my mind (and that of other IT professionals), Vista can be more likened to Windows 95 which was a huge change in interface & core design over its predecessor, Windows 3.11. MS then went on to refine it to become Windows 98 which in its Second Edition incarnation was a remarkably stable OS. This seems to have panned out with Vista/Win7 where the major changes introduced in Vista have had flaws, but these have been rectified and everything polished up in Win7.

Windows ME on the other hand was a last minute bodge put out the door when they realised that they couldn't make Windows 2000 work for the consumer market and quite frankly should have been shot at birth!

For most businesses, I will advice that they stick with Windows machines over Macs and simply make sure that they purchase something suitable for their needs, along with a 3 year warranty. Where I will recommend Macs is when the business is involved in any sort of Multimedia or Graphic Design activities where I find that Macs excel over their Windows counterparts.

Rob.

 

[Region3]

I have an Acer desktop at work. It's Windows 7 with a 2.8 quad core processor with 4gb ram and it absolutely flies.

We have a few Vista machines. Admittedly they're only 1.8ghz with 2mb ram, but they are so slow it's not funny.
As for permissions, one of them needs to be shared and although I've not spent loads of time on it, I can't for the life of me make it let other people in over our network. It's so infuriating.

It's hard to compare Win7 to XP because my Win7 PC is better specced, but it really is very quick.

The only downside I've found is that not all software works flawlessly with a 64-bit processor, but there are ways round that and it can only (I hope) get better.

 

[brendy]

Xpmode is your friend then, runs Xp really rather quickly for a virtual machine.

 

[Macster]

There is no way on Gods Earth I would hand over £500-£800 for anything running on the shite that Gates has sporned.......

iMac without a shadow of doubt. Got one 3yrs ago, and ever since, its run quietly, quickly, and does exactly what I want it to, when I want it to.

Bloody awesome things.

 

[John_Findlay]

Seconded, Macster. I'm in the same position.

I wouldn't even know Apple's helpline number because it's never been needed. Everything works seamlessly out of the box. I won't let Microsoft crap near my baby. Will never buy a PC again.

If I had one criticism with my iMac it's that I don't have Word. Most word processing is Word based and my "Pages", whilst perfectly adequate, doesn't always translate to the exact same formatting when I email it. Otherwise, it's far better for synching with my iPhone etc and the Mac hasn't frozen in 3 years. My old PC used to do that 3 or 4 times a day. Why play with Dunlop Woods and Slazenger irons when you can play Titleists and Mizunos?

 

[surefire]

Why play with Dunlop Woods and Slazenger irons when you can play Titleists and Mizunos?

But Macs just come in standard specs out the box, whereas you can fully customise your PC.

Why play standard clubs, when you can have a set fully custom fit to you?

FIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

 

[PhilTheFragger]

The Dell Vostro range are very good machines BUT they are designed for business use.

This means that they are lacking in the graphics card department., Now this may not be a problem if you dont play games, but you will always get a better general spec with a domestic system

have a look at this http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Des...dhs1&~ck=mn

Its the Dell Inspiron 580, the 3rd one along is £579 it had an Intel I5 CPU, 6GB RAM and a 1000Gb hard drive and a very nice graphics card, You will need to add on £100 for a 22 inch screen from Ebuyer, but thats job done for under £700
and a PC that should last you another 7 years.

I use Dell for all my customers new PC requirements and on the odd occasion that I have had to do a warranty job, they have always been very quick and efficient.

If you need any further help PM me and ill point you in the right direction

Fragger

PC Hero to The Gentry

 

[Ethan]

Another vote for Apple and Macs here. Fast, work well, few faults and crashes and safer from viruses and malware (NOT just because fewer viruses are written for them - they are inherently more resistant). Which magazine recommends them as top laptop and desktop choices.

This stuff about not being able to customise is a red herring. You don't need to go in and fix fundamental problems like PCs but there is plenty of scope to twiddle with your Mac. Changing the HDD and RAM are incredibly easy, for example, and there is loads of software available.

Owning a PC is like owning a Fiat - you better know a good mechanic or two and you wil need quite a few aftermarket repairs just to keep it working.

 

[surefire]

(NOT just because fewer viruses are written for them - they are inherently more resistant).

I don't want to start another Mac v PC thread, because the internet is full of them already, and in reality both machines are good, it just depends what you want to use them for and what you know already.

However, I would like to see something that backs this statement up, as I'm not convinced.
Especially as Apple tend to be a lot more secretive about the contents of their hotfixes than Microsoft generally are.

Back towards the original topic, if you only want to do the basics such as office functions and browsing, have you considered a non windows platform like Ubuntu?
Would do everything you need, is pretty stable and best of all is free!

 

[brendy]

Mac fanboys, all you have these days is the OS, everything else is standard fare. Gone are days of the PowerPC, classic etc when macs blew the doors off pcs.

 

[surefire]

Mac fanboys, all you have these days is the OS, everything else is standard fare. Gone are days of the PowerPC, classic etc when macs blew the doors off pcs.

Even under the bonnet, the OS isn't always what the Apple marketing department would have you believe.
What springs to mind is that it wasn't until Snow Leopard that Apple introduced buffer overflow protection, to reduce the OSs vulnerability. This had already been knocking round in windows for ages.

Again, I'm not saying one system is better than the other, just that Macs aren't the land of honey and nectar that Apple would like everyone to think they are.

 

[coolhand]

It's worth looking at PC World's refurbished stock.

Something like this PC

They come with 12 months warrenty and are as good as new.

 

[jammydodger]

I would always go down the custom fit route. Find all the bits you need and build it , or get someone who knows how to build it. Every part comes just as you want it then , no extra bits that are useless. No 1000gb HD that you're never going to need and decent graphics card to your spec etc etc

 

[richart]

Thanks for all your input. I can honestly say that i am now totally











CONFUSED