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Post by MartinB on Jan 23, 2004 21:49:25 GMT 1
It's about time I replaced my "steam driven" computer. I have just bought a digital camera and want to save the pictures to a " disk "
All this cd/dvd combo's, writers/rewriters I haven't got a clue.
Any suggestions as to what is best for me to look for?
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Post by Stevenelsonfanclub on Jan 23, 2004 21:52:46 GMT 1
I would look round places like PC world, check out the specs etc, decide what you need (i.e CD RW, processor speed etc) and then see what is best bet.
If you want lots of inclusive software etc and thats imnportant, then a PC world type of place is probably the best.
If you want a cheap custom-built PC a, go to a computer fair, give a few stall holders your specification and let them submit a price for it, thats by far the best way IMO
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Post by MRJPSHREW on Jan 23, 2004 21:55:07 GMT 1
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Post by MartinB on Jan 23, 2004 22:02:41 GMT 1
I would look round places like PC world, check out the specs etc, decide what you need (i.e CD RW, processor speed etc) and then see what is best bet. If you want lots of inclusive software etc and thats imnportant, then a PC world type of place is probably the best. If you want a cheap custom-built PC a, go to a computer fair, give a few stall holders your specification and let them submit a price for it, thats by far the best way IMO It's the specification bit I don't have a clue with.
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Post by Stevenelsonfanclub on Jan 23, 2004 22:04:43 GMT 1
Thats why you should go to PC world, to pick their brains.
You tell them what you want to do and they'll tell you what you need!
DO NOT agree to buy out from them, get them to write the spec down and go away to think about it!
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Post by Chris J on Jan 23, 2004 22:35:59 GMT 1
It's about time I replaced my "steam driven" computer. I have just bought a digital camera and want to save the pictures to a " disk " If it's digital media you want, buy a Mac. Great offers on iBooks and eMacs just now. Don't be put off by all the "can't get the software" bollox, and don't get fooled by trying to compare processor speeds - it's more complicated than that 9you don't want to know, trust me!) and I'd back my 800MHz iBook against a 2GHz Intel 4 any day. If you're connected with education in any way you can get discounts too
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Post by kickinpretty on Jan 23, 2004 23:01:32 GMT 1
Dont listen to any of them ;D
First of all what is your budget? You should always try and buy the highest spec machine you can as the speed of change in this industry is amazing.
Dell have some top offers on at the moment and their PC'S are second to none - Places like PC World generally supply machines with sub standard internals, any custom made machine by computer shops are generally also sub standard.
Give me your budget and a brief outline of what you currently use a PC for and also what you think you may use it for in the future and i will build you a real beauty for your money over on dells web site.
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Post by Pilch on Jan 24, 2004 2:36:58 GMT 1
i agree with kickin
but depending on what you already have just an upgrade may be a better bet
you can get a motherboard with graphics/sound & modem for as little as £35 a decent processor for not much more and maybe some memory for less than £20 chuck in a fan £5 and from £100 a decent upgrade could be got
imagine what you can get for £200
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Post by MartinB on Jan 24, 2004 8:21:08 GMT 1
Thanks everyone. Pilch, I wasn't joking when I said my current computer is steam driven. It is nearly five years old and I think if you upgraded it you would only have the outer casing left from the original bits Kickin I had been looking at the Dell website as it looked a good place to start. At the moment my computer is only really used for internet access (I have a seperate broadband modem from my isp), scanning documents, and doing things in word or excel. I am looking at the up grade as I want to use it for digitial photography. I want my photographs to be stored on separate "disks". I don't know whether this should be cd's or dvd's. I don't have the knowledge to know what is best. If it makes a difference the camera is 4m pixels. On the "might want to do list" is I do have a good quality digital camcorder. If it's possible it would be good to be able to edit my video's on the computer and put them on to dvd's. This is a "bit of a pipe dream" as I haven't got a clue if this is possible. This would only be worth doing if it could be done properly and it is not really important to me. I also don't expect this to work within my budget. My monitor, printer, scanner and modem are all fine and don't need replacing. Having said that if the computer came with a monitor I would use the new monitor. Having looked at the Dell website I suppose my initial thought on budget was I was looking at spending up to £800 certainly no more than £1000. I did find on their site a "stockroom" just selling base units but that appears to have be removed.
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Post by Stevenelsonfanclub on Jan 24, 2004 9:33:03 GMT 1
ust a word of caution on Dell machines, they are notoriously difficult (and expensive) buggers to upgrade in future!
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Post by MartinB on Jan 24, 2004 10:23:53 GMT 1
Thanks, don't have the knowledge or inclination to upgrade any computer, so that shouldn't be an issue for me. As you might have guessed with how old mine current computer is there are usually beyond upgrading by the time I don anything about it ;D
I hope your game is on and you have a good day today SNFC.
(I was really tempted to add "and a safe journey back from Halifax ;D ;D)
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Post by Stevenelsonfanclub on Jan 24, 2004 10:29:48 GMT 1
Cheers Martin, I've been absolutley neutral on how we will fare all week, this morning I am full of optimism! Who knows??
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Post by Mart-The-Shrew on Jan 24, 2004 11:18:37 GMT 1
Couple of suggestions.
Maybe buy a couple of PC mags - PC Pro comes to mind . They often bench test a dozen PCs in the same price range .
Also if you monitor is OK you might consider buying only the base unit (box part) and used the money saved to up your spec.
Dell's customer service sucks so if you get a dell then you'd better hope it doesn't go wrong !!!!!!!!!!
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Post by xcraigxx on Jan 24, 2004 12:53:33 GMT 1
Try buying Micro Computer Mart, a couple of hundred pages of the cheapest computers that you will find. Get a Mac if you want to use a computer for mainly graphics and videos otherwise stear clear. There is a reason why only 5% (I think) of the worlds computers are Macs.
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Post by kickinpretty on Jan 24, 2004 13:20:19 GMT 1
Ok MartinB... This link will take you to a right beauty of a machine, its highly upgradable and will be ideal for the uses and future uses that you require and its within budget at £929.20 incl VAT. Its from the small business section on Dells website as a similar machine on the personal / Home computing section would cost way more cash. You also get Microsft office 2003 standard. You will get many years of use from this machine as its so expandable;D Here she is commerce.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config/frameset.asp?s=ukbsd&l=en&m=gbp&c=604&n=4512&cu=ukbsd&v=d&cc=&ogn=&kcd=&ad=&mc=&rs=&cuid=&cg=&pch=1&pn=4512&demo=&gc=&sbc=ukbsd&co=&b=42701If you can stretch the boat out a little and want a truly amazing high end machine then i would definatly reccomend the following upgrades to the system, if you dont want a monitor then im sure you will be able to get a discount on the machine above and be able to afford these upgrades (I would def get the optical drive upgrade and the hard drive upgrade whatever you do). Hard Drive Upgrade 120GB (7200rpm) IDE Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst cache - Dell Recommends (+£40) Optical Drives upgrade 48x CD-Rom & 8x DVD+R\+RW (+£130) Soundcard upgrade Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Digital Sound Card (+£55) Video Card 128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Graphics Card with DVI Dual Monitor Support and TV - Out via S-Video (+£80) Hope this helps...Dell are the best machines out there, no doubt about it.
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Post by ProfessorPatPending on Jan 24, 2004 13:26:06 GMT 1
The Dell outlet site is also well worth a look It lists Dell kit returned during the money back period or returned as faulty and subsequently repaired, everything is sold with the usual full guarantee Savings are normally around the £200 mark www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfo
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Post by MartinB on Jan 24, 2004 15:15:19 GMT 1
Thanks Kickin and PPP
I looked at the Dell outlet site. This is the thing I had stumbled across before.
It had a machine like this for sale. This seems to match most of the things you were suggesting Kickin accept for the CD drive bit. As an example what do you think? SYSTEM SPECIFICATION Dimension 8300 (System Identifier. EE9MELA9) Dell Dimension 8300 Mini-Tower: Pentium ® 4 processor 3.0GHz with 800MHz system bus Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- System Price £1,353.69 Promotion Discount (£525.00) Discounted Price £828.69 Promotion End Date January 26 2004 06:00 AM Europe/London Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Memory: 1024MB (2x512) Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400MHz Floppy Drive: 1.44MB Floppy Drive Hard Disk Drive: 120GB 7200rpm Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache Video: 128MB DDR ATI Radeon™ 9800 Pro Graphics Card Modem: Dell 56k Data/Fax/Voice Modem Sound Card: Creative Labs SB Live 5.1 Sound Card DVD Drive: 4x/2.4x DVD+R/+RW 16x DVD Drive Software: Norton AntiVirus 2003 (90 Day Trial) Microsoft® Works® 7.0 Dell Movie Studio Plus MISC: SATA Cable for First SATA Hard Drive
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Post by kickinpretty on Jan 24, 2004 15:29:06 GMT 1
Sounds great - Go for it, the 8300 is a top machine and very upgradable, for that price you cant go wrong, i would upgrade the soundcard and CD/DVD drive though.
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Post by MartinB on Jan 24, 2004 16:33:22 GMT 1
The systems go very quicky on the Dell outlet site. At least I know what to look for now.
Thanks for everyones help
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Post by ProfessorPatPending on Jan 24, 2004 16:36:42 GMT 1
One more thing about the Dell outlet site, they charge £50 for delivery whereas their new kit is normally delivered free of charge
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Post by Dan F on Jan 24, 2004 17:19:05 GMT 1
Martin, check your private messages on here.
Ta,
Dan.
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