Student PC - £400

kae2

kae2

kae2

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Hi Guys 'n' Gals,

My other half is "going back to school" and her ailing laptop isn't comfortable or reliable enough for writing reports.

Literally starting from scratch, needing monitor, base unit etc.

Anyone know if you can buy Windows 7 and MS Office with a students card?

She will want to go and choose a keyboard and mouse herself so recommendations welcome, but they can be left out of the £400 budget.


Any reason why using this base unit and basic parts would not be a good idea?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-268-OK&groupid=43&catid=2385&subcat=

Also looking at a 20/22" monitor.

If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated, just want to make sure we get the best bang for buck on this low-cost system.

Thanks everyone!

Andy. :)
 
Hi there,

a spec suggestion here:

YOUR BASKET
1 x BenQ G2255 21.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £99.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x "Primo 510i" Intel H61 DDR3 Ready Barebones (Socket 1155) £69.98
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £56.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £43.99
1 x Avexir Blitz Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (AVD3U16000802G-2GW) £19.99
1 x Logitech MK120 Desktop Set (920-002552) £15.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £404.87 (includes shipping : FREE).



If space isn't a huge concern (e.g. 64 or 120gb is enough) then I'd possibly go for a small SSD instead.

Unfortunately they seem to have fewer student deals on software now as far as I'm aware. Depending on the place of study you may be able to get something cheaper/free.
 
Brilliant, thanks beejjacobs, that looks like a good package to get her started.

I'm still wary of SSD's so will probably stick with the traditional HD for now, especially as her data management isn't great and would easily fill 120gb's with "stuff".

Thanks again,

Andy.
 
£40 cashback on the monitor which you can put towards the OS. In the meantime you can use Win8 consumer preview. Even included a set of speakers, but if not needed you can upgrade the cpu.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung S23B550V 23" Widescreen LED MHL Monitor - Black **BTS £40 CASHBACK** £143.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £43.99
1 x Intel Celeron G540 2.50GHz Socket LGA 1155 Processor - Retail £39.95
1 x OcUK Imp MicroATX Tower Case (500w PSU) £29.99
1 x OcUK Value 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £26.99
1 x Creative A220 2.1 Speakers (51MF0400AA008) £25.99
1 x Logitech MK120 Desktop Set (920-002552) £15.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £403.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Thanks Idleman, but I really want this to be a setup and forget affair, I don't want to be reformatting it in the near future (and especially for an operating system I have no experience with).

Currently erring towards beejjacobs setup as it has everything in it, and I don't see any advantages with yours? (Please correct me if I'm wrong!).
 
The spec was just an alternative option, suffice for your needs. But it`s your money, you go with what you think is best.
 
kae2 said:
Thanks Idleman, but I really want this to be a setup and forget affair, I don't want to be reformatting it in the near future (and especially for an operating system I have no experience with).

Currently erring towards beejjacobs setup as it has everything in it, and I don't see any advantages with yours? (Please correct me if I'm wrong!).
Click to expand...

Idleman has used LED not LCD. LED monitors consume less power and it is a bigger screen. His mobo supports sataIII as well as USB3, the barebones Beej used doesnt support sataIII. I've used the G840 a lot in simple home office builds, it has a lot of poke for the price.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung S23B550V 23" Widescreen LED MHL Monitor - Black **BTS £40 CASHBACK** £143.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £56.99
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £43.99
1 x OcUK Imp MicroATX Tower Case (500w PSU) £29.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28.00
1 x Logitech MK120 Desktop Set (920-002552) £15.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £464.90 (includes shipping : FREE).



I included 8GB of RAM which is possibly overkill for her current needs but the mobo only has 2 RAM slots so expanding on 4GB would be troublesome. It's over £400 but remember you get the £40 back, as Beej said if you check with her college/uni she might be able to get a deal on the OS and office perhaps
 
 
If you have a student email (for example ends in .ac.uk) you can get windows 7 or office straight from Microsoft them selves at lower prices. I'm not sure if writing this violates ocuk forums rules but it helped me when I was at college
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x BenQ G2255 21.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £99.95
1 x AMD A8-3870K 3.00GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3870WNGXBOX) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £83.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) £43.99
1 x MSI A75MA-P35 AMD A75 (Socket FM1) DDR3 Motherboard ** FREE NEXUIZ GAME ** £43.99
1 x OcUK Imp MicroATX Tower Case (500w PSU) £29.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
Total : £433.88 (includes shipping : FREE).



Just a thought, AMD setup that would allow you to game occasionally, while getting decent FPS.

Get Samsung monitor with 40 quid cash back if you dont mind waiting a month for refund.
 
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