A little help :)

sgx.saint · 12 May 2007 at 16:16

Hello.

First post on here, although I usually buy my hardware from Overclockers, this is the first time I have used the forum.

At the moment, I am struggling to decide what to do regarding my new PC/Laptop which I intend to buy next week.

I currently have an Acer Laptop, which I have just sold as I wanted to upgrade to something a bit better.

The current laptop has:-

AMD Turion 64Bit - 2.0Ghz MK36
15.4 WXVGA, Crystalbrite TFT
512MB DDR2 - PC5300
60GB SATA HDD
DVD RW
802.11b/g Wifi

Now, after looking at various sites, including ****** which is another one of my favourite places to get hardware, the best value/performance ratio seems to be coming from Dell UK.

I've been using this website as this will find the cheapest configuration options on all Dell systems.

So, the laptop I have been looking at getting is this one.

Now my maximum budget is £470, although it would be nice to have some pocket change from this purchase.

The laptop linked above is exactly £470, if you untick the extra Dell Warranty Support.

Problem is that it it doesn't come with a Truelife screen, which I would probably want for my system. The other thing is, I think the Inspiron isn't the best looking laptop, and i've heard that its quite heavy.

Now, this laptop won't be seeing much travel action as it will mainly be stationed in my room at home. So, weight I guess isn't too much of an option.

But, whilst I was looking at that DMX Dimension website, I noticed that I could get the following Dell PC (E521) for £447. It has 2GB DDR2 PC5300 Memory, AMD® Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+, 320GB HDD SATAII, 19" Monitor TFT which is not bad for the money.

But there are a few things putting me off buying a Dell PC. Firstly, it makes me feel dirty lol, I always have built my PC's for many years. Secondly, I've heard the motherboards are rubbish, and upgrading them is a joke with only 2 PCI slots. Thirdly, having never owned a Dell PC, I am unsure of the quality/reliability.

I would normally go and invest the £470 in building up my own PC, but there is no way that I could come anywhere close to the spec of the above Dell without going way over budget.

So, back I start looking at Laptops, and thus I am stuck in this never ending circle, I just can't decide what to do.

Any advice, suggestions of information to help me make a decision is most appreciated.

Jaffa_Cake · 12 May 2007 at 16:35

Firstly, Welcome to the OcUK Forums!

I was, a while ago considering buying a Dell Laptop and it went well over my budget. With a somewhat 'what the hell' atitude I rang up their Sales dep and I was very surprised at the offer I was given.

I was offered to remove the OS, and replace it with Vista Basic which takes a ton off the price. You can just format the HDD and install your own OS which saved me £60 odd. You can then afford to get the 667Mhz ram and the UltraSharp screen.

Another offer I got was to replace the 2gb 667MHz ram with 1gb 667Mhz in a single 1gb stick. You can then buy another 1gb stick of 667MHz ram and fit it yourself saving another 20 quid they charge by buying the extra ram seperatly from the spares part of the dell site :-)

In the end they stripped off about £100 from the price on the site.

Hope this helps.

P.S. I have owned a dell, yes the mobo's do suck lol

. The laptops are very good however.

sgx.saint · 12 May 2007 at 16:46

Jaffa_Cake said:
Firstly, Welcome to the OcUK Forums!

I was, a while ago considering buying a Dell Laptop and it went well over my budget. With a somewhat 'what the hell' atitude I rang up their Sales dep and I was very surprised at the offer I was given.

I was offered to remove the OS, and replace it with Vista Basic which takes a ton off the price. You can just format the HDD and install your own OS which saved me £60 odd. You can then afford to get the 667Mhz ram and the UltraSharp screen.

Another offer I got was to replace the 2gb 667MHz ram with 1gb 667Mhz in a single 1gb stick. You can then buy another 1gb stick of 667MHz ram and fit it yourself saving another 20 quid they charge by buying the extra ram seperatly from the spares part of the dell site

In the end they stripped off about £100 from the price on the site.

Hope this helps.

P.S. I have owned a dell, yes the mobo's do suck lol . The laptops are very good however.

Hey!

Thanks for the welcome

I never thought of phoning them, I just made the assumption that it would be cheaper through their website. But based on what you have said, it might be worth firing off a call to them.

Although it's a pitty you can't remove the OS and things like that on the website, I've heard that the Sales department are quite hard sell, and also based in India?

Jaffa_Cake · 12 May 2007 at 16:49

sgx.saint said:
Although it's a pitty you can't remove the OS and things like that on the website, I've heard that the Sales department are quite hard sell, and also based in India?

The guy I spoke to was in Northern England somewhere, make it clear to them that you know what your talking about and they won't try to sell you things :-)

.

As far as I know they aren't based in India.

sgx.saint · 12 May 2007 at 16:56

Jaffa_Cake said:
The guy I spoke to was in Northern England somewhere, make it clear to them that you know what your talking about and they won't try to sell you things .

As far as I know they aren't based in India.

Northern England you say?

Might be near me then ........ might give them a call in a little while then, that is if there open on a Saturday.

Think you have put me off getting a Dell desktop anyway. It's just a pitty I can't build a system anywhere close to the Dell spec on the budget I have.

Teknobry · 12 May 2007 at 17:06

Why not build yourself a desktop if its going to be stationed in your room most of the time?

BTW, the graphics card with that dell laptop you were looking at is really really ****!!

sgx.saint · 12 May 2007 at 17:12

Yeah, I know the graphics are crap, but the laptop wouldn't be used for Gaming, so they would suit the purpose.

Although, I have just been thinking about selling my Xbox 360 on eBay and putting the extra cash towards building a brand new rig.

That way I can have my cake and eat it

pc-modd · 12 May 2007 at 17:19

That link should be removed

sgx.saint · 12 May 2007 at 17:20

pc-modd said:
That link should be removed

What link?

pc-modd · 12 May 2007 at 17:23

I've been using this website as this will find the cheapest configuration options on all Dell systems.

^^ that one.. links to other online stores are not allowed i dont think xD

sgx.saint · 12 May 2007 at 17:25

pc-modd said:
I've been using this website as this will find the cheapest configuration options on all Dell systems.

^^ that one.. links to other online stores are not allowed i dont think xD

The website itself is not a store, more of a comparison site, and the only store I linked to was Dell. But I only did this to show other forum users what configuration setup I was looking at buying.

I'll gladly remove it if it's against forum rules.

Teknobry · 12 May 2007 at 17:29

Teknobry · 12 May 2007 at 17:31

Oh, the motherboard will overclock that processor massively, so don't worry about the apparently lower speed

pc-modd · 12 May 2007 at 17:32

sgx.saint said:
The website itself is not a store, more of a comparison site, and the only store I linked to was Dell. But I only did this to show other forum users what configuration setup I was looking at buying.

I'll gladly remove it if it's against forum rules.

Just saying i posted links a few times didnt read the forum rules xD

Mattus · 12 May 2007 at 17:33

But if he's planning on staying on the right side of the law he'll need a Windows license for that..

Teknobry · 12 May 2007 at 17:34

Mattus said:
But if he's planning on staying on the right side of the law he'll need a Windows license for that..

DOH! knew I forgot summat...

B0ll0cks, be a rebel and get a cracked version, lol.

sgx.saint · 12 May 2007 at 17:40

Mattus said:
But if he's planning on staying on the right side of the law he'll need a Windows license for that..

Thanks for the suggested setup Teknobry.

I have decided that I am definitely flogging my Xbox 360 tonight on eBay, so I will have about £250 ontop of my £470, but as I say, I want some pocket change.

So, I think I will have a look at some components now, then post up my potential setups on here for you guys and gals to comment.

Oh, and the Windows Licence isn't an issue. I am a full time mature student studying a degree in computing and as a result we have access to something called MSAA (Microsoft Student Academic Alliance) where we can download all the Microsoft Operating Systems free, plus other Microsoft software.

Jaffa_Cake · 12 May 2007 at 17:52

Desktop is the way to go unless it HAS to be a laptop, sorry I didn't pick up on that earlier

sgx.saint · 12 May 2007 at 17:59

Jaffa_Cake said:
Desktop is the way to go unless it HAS to be a laptop, sorry I didn't pick up on that earlier

No worries, Jaffa, I probably didn't make myself clear anyway

I wasn't going to sell my 360 originally, and was going to keep it for gaming and use the laptop for everything else.

But, it makes more sense to sell it, and put the cash to building a very good system.

So say I have a budget of £600, any recommended setups? ... Highest spec possible for gaming etc.

Jaffa_Cake · 12 May 2007 at 18:02

sgx.saint said:
So say I have a budget of £600, any recommended setups? ... Highest spec possible for gaming etc.

Will you be overclocking (please say yes)? :rolleyes: