Computer advice needed please

[Murray 17]

Our computer is about 7 years old now and very slow.

I don't want to buy everything, just the tower. We don't play games or watch films etc but will want to watch video uploaded from our video camera. Other than that we use it for the internet, emails and word processing. Don't mind refurbished.

Can anyone suggest what I will need to get in terms of memory, hard drive, processor etc? Thanks.

 

[8ace]

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

 

[Murray 17]

If you're serious it takes up to 15 minutes to start up and get onto the internet.

Trying to think of a £1.49 joke for you but can't!

 

[ridda]

This will do the job for you.
CoolerMaster 5200x2, 2Gb, DVDRW, 512Mb GeForce 8100 Sli on eBay (end time 27-Jun-10 12:39:10 BST)

 

[8ace]

If you're serious it takes up to 15 minutes to start up and get onto the internet.

Trying to think of a £1.49 joke for you but can't!

Sorry was joking - it least we got that one out the way.
My laptop at home is at least 6 years old and it works fine.

 

[Husty]

Absolutely anything cheap and on the market will do those jobs these days.

AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 245 2.90GHz DDR2 System [] Value - Primo

There is one bargain but im sure there are others.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Apple

 

[madinthehead]

Ok.. few things to speed up in the meantime, move items from your desktop to another folder and create a desktop shortcut to the folder.. RAM is pretty cheap nowadays.. If possible just try adding more RAM.. Also, if it is slow starting up, I would see what is actually starting when it boots.. If using windows you have two options.. 1) Have a look in the start up folder from start menu programs and see if there is anything you can remove from starting automatically.. If you are little more IT literate, type msconfig into the run command and see if you can remove some other start up items.. How much space do you have on your hard drive? If this is low, then maybe you are not able to use all your virtual memory..Right click on my computer choose manage, have a look and see if you need to defrag your hard drive(s).. This should get you going for starters..

 

[scooter1]

If you decide to replace it, go for a branded PC. If you need to re-install windows at any time you should be able to find all the drivers for a branded PC pretty easily on the web, whereas one thats cobbled together by an independant may not be so easy.
And don't go to PC World, they're just shite...........

 

[ridda]

If you decide to replace it, go for a branded PC. If you need to re-install windows at any time you should be able to find all the drivers for a branded PC pretty easily on the web, whereas one thats cobbled together by an independant may not be so easy.
And don't go to PC World, they're just shite...........

Wrong they will still come with all the drivers, motherboard ect, so very easy to re-install windows, plus you wont get ripped of for it as you would for a branded PC, or better still build your own.

 

[steward 433]

Tesco £249 Compaq CQ5302UK Desktop PC (Intel Celeron Dual-Core, 3GB, 320GB, Windows 7 Home Premium) - Tesco.Direct

Brilliant and fast

Windows 7 loaded already

 

[beorhthelm]

If you're serious it takes up to 15 minutes to start up and get onto the internet.

DEFRAG! goto my computer, right click C: drive, select properties, then the tools tab then Defragment now. go and make the tea, fly a kite, carve a bench or somthing as it will take a while.

i bet i've just saved you the cost of a new computer. if you have *really* precious data (like accounts, the manuscript you're working on) then back upto USB stick just in case (though i've never had a problem with defraging in 15 years).

if you do still want somthing new, dont worry about spec, anything you get today will be far far better. decide a budget and stick to it. 2-300 is all you need spend on the box itself. that Coolermaster box looks pretty decent, also check PC world for ex-display bargins.

 

[BensGrandad]

DEFRAG! goto my computer, right click C: drive, select properties, then the tools tab then Defragment now. go and make the tea, fly a kite, carve a bench or somthing as it will take a while.

Defrag doesnt speed it up very much does it. Doesnt seem to have done so to mine and I defrag it quite regularly.

 

[ChapManiA]

I purchased my last base unit from Crystal Technology in Billingshurst.
Prices are very reasonable, any trouble and they are at the other end of the phone, not some call centre in India.

http://www.crystech.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CTL&Category_Code=SYS

 

[Hiney]

Novatech

Very helpful and you can buy 'barebones' bundles that you can build on yourself.

Excellent

 

[BensGrandad]

Have you asked somebody like hotlips69 on here what it would cost for him to replace the inside works of your existing one,. that is assuming you are reasonably local to Brighton.

 

[Murray 17]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll get working on my plan of action now

 

[KneeOn]

Defrag doesnt speed it up very much does it. Doesnt seem to have done so to mine and I defrag it quite regularly.

Incorrect.

Defragging will speed up your system considerably if done sparingly (once every two months).

For those who don't know, defragging puts all your files back together on the hard disk, for example one word document may actually be saved over the entire disk rather in an actual "block". Defragging reduces the movement that the disk needs to read files because they're closer together and reorganized.

HOwever doing it too much means your system is constantly adjusting to repositioned files.

If i were you i'd possibly invest in a netbook/nettop.

I'd recoment that 245 quid one from Tesco.

Generally speaking though 320gb hard drive, a 2.2ghz dual core and 1gb+ ram will suffice however go for as fast a processor you can since this is the hardest to upgrade. Then get as much ram as you can for your money.