Solid Pre-Built Desktop around £450 all in

danrow_99 · 1 Dec 2006 at 18:44

Sorry for the boring question, but can anyone recommend a decent pre-built system, fairly future proof, difficult to break?
My next door neighbour has just started a beginners' computer course and wants to get something for emails, basic photo editing etc.
I reckon something with about 160GB\1024MB RAM\Wireless\17" LCD\DVD Writer\512MB Graphics would do, although I've lost track of what's going on in the CPU world recently, any suggestions?
All advice gratefully received.

Thanks in advance,

Dan.

CHUDS · 1 Dec 2006 at 19:05

for that price i would get a joiner in and get one the build a high quality from scratch...design it all yourself then

danrow_99 · 1 Dec 2006 at 19:15

CHUDS said:
for that price i would get a joiner in and get one the build a high quality from scratch...design it all yourself then

Thanks for that, I like building and messing around with my own systems, constantly tweaking, overclocking etc...
However, I don't want to be getting a call every few weeks to go and sort my next door neighbour's PC out, so just a fairly basic, robust system with a decent warranty would be ideal...

tom_e · 1 Dec 2006 at 19:19

unless any of the prebuilts on OcUK sound good then i dont think anyone will be able to help as they will probably need to mention shops who are competitors

CHUDS · 1 Dec 2006 at 19:24

you got a budget

tom_e · 1 Dec 2006 at 19:28

CHUDS said:
you got a budget

£450 all in

danrow_99 · 1 Dec 2006 at 20:10

blitz2163 said:
unless any of the prebuilts on OcUK sound good then i dont think anyone will be able to help as they will probably need to mention shops who are competitors

Is it OK to just mention the company who produces the systems (e.g. HP, Packard Bell), rather than a specific retailer? If OcUK sold such basic systems then fair enough, but they are not competing in the market for pre-built basic desktops so maybe that's OK?

I was looking at a system with Pentium D 820 processor, anyone know if this is decent? Does the D stand for Dual Core (I assume Dual Core is the way forwards)?

tom_e · 1 Dec 2006 at 20:21

if you just want a basic system the first few on here if you sort by price should be fine and should still be within budget once youve stuck an OS and monitor on there

GAMEfreak · 1 Dec 2006 at 20:25

@danrow

a) yes they are

b) does companies are OEM's so i think its fine anyway.

c) not sure to reccommend. i would say grab yourself a barebones and get the processor etc yourself. it makes more sense in my opinion, as you can tailor it to your needs. if its only photoshop in use 1gb ram and a 6200 (Non-TC) should do fine, in my opinion. I use Photoshop here on my 2.6ghz northwood celeron @ 2.99 ghz, and built-in 6100 and it more than does the job in my opinion.( i have 512mb only but its fine too.)

ArmyofHarmony · 1 Dec 2006 at 20:31

I was in the same situation as you, needed a quick solid PC since my laptop died...

i ended up getting convinced into getting the parts myself, and building it (well my friend said he'd do it... he was adament)

i had quite a few problems with it though, and right now the mobo is being RMAed

i found some good prebuilt ones at the usual electronic store sites... u know the ones

They are obviously crap, but will do the job

danrow_99 · 1 Dec 2006 at 21:08

Thanks for advice everyone, have found a decent enough HP system for 299 (without monitor):
Pentium D820, 1GB RAM, card reader, DVD RW,256MB GeForce 6200, XP Home, will grab a PCI wireless card and a reasonable 17" monitor.
Should do nicely!

All the best, thanks again, Dan.

GreenMint · 1 Dec 2006 at 21:09

danrow_99 said:
Thanks for that, I like building and messing around with my own systems, constantly tweaking, overclocking etc...
However, I don't want to be getting a call every few weeks to go and sort my next door neighbour's PC out, so just a fairly basic, robust system with a decent warranty would be ideal...

Best advice possible, i built one for my gf's uncle, have been getting calls every week for 2 years now!

danrow_99 · 1 Dec 2006 at 21:55

Ivan Drago said:
Best advice possible, i built one for my gf's uncle, have been getting calls every week for 2 years now!

He he, yep, I'm speaking from bitter experience too!!!

ajf · 2 Dec 2006 at 01:11

Not sure if I can suggest this but I just used a well known auction site to buy a PC from a well known PC manufacturer who sells 'refurbished' PCs there.

Got:
Athlon X2 4200
2GB RAM
160GB SATA HDD
SATA DVD R/W
256Mb ATI X1300
XP Home

for £370 delivered. Not going to set the world on fire but more than enough for what I wanted in the end.

Andrew