Cheap office PC

[Nightmare]

Hi

We have a very old PC that is getting beyond upgrades, one of the mobo ram slots has died so only has 4gb ram instead of 8gb which isn't helping the machine.

Could anyone recommend a resonable but cheap upgrade?

We only use the machine for emails and surfing the internet along with using office 365 so it doesn't need to be fancy, I would also like something we can use to backup the computer so unsure if a single HDD or two HDD NAS would be useful or something like a portable WD drive I can backup on and take home?

Wasn't sure if it would be cheaper to buy a ready built machine or build myself, I assume it would be better to aim for a machine that can run windows 11, currently using windows 10, unsure if I have to buy a new licence or can you upgrade it from 10 to 11?

Thanks.

 

[Deibu]

Do you have a budget in mind?

No one will be able to spec a system without one realistically.

 

[Avalon]

How about telling us what you have now? Cheap and reasonably powerful ex corp. desktops are plentiful if you want used? Backing up off-site is generally a good idea, but physically walking a backup around with you brings with it other concerns, how much data do you need to back up, and what does the existing backup strategy look like?

 

[Tetras]

Wasn't sure if it would be cheaper to buy a ready built machine or build myself

At the lower-end of the budget (e.g. £300-£500) it is very hard to build a PC that compares to what you can buy, especially if you need a Windows license.

I assume it would be better to aim for a machine that can run windows 11, currently using windows 10, unsure if I have to buy a new licence or can you upgrade it from 10 to 11?

You can upgrade from 10 to 11 freely and I'd recommend it just because official Windows 10 support runs out in October.

I would also like something we can use to backup the computer so unsure if a single HDD or two HDD NAS would be useful or something like a portable WD drive I can backup on and take home?

What kind of GB are we talking?

If it is only a few GB then the cheapest way is just to use onedrive, I think you get 5GB for free. Buying a NAS would be an expensive option if you plan on buying a cheap PC.

 

[13oots2]

If you want more storage, Google Drive costs me £1.59 per month for 100GB, a few pence less if you are VAT registered.