OT: Where to buy a new PC?

[Fungus]

I'm looking to replace my tired old desktop, as it can't cope with photo (Lightroom) and HD video editing, and upgrading isn't practical. I don't use the PC for gaming. Budget around £800. Would love to build it myself, but prefer something that works!

PC Specialist and Chillblast seem to be the main contenders for configuring your own spec.

I've had several decent PCs from Evesham, but they went bust. Bad experiences put me off Mesh and Dell.

Are there any other on-line retailers anyone can suggest? Any good / bad experiences in the past year?

TIA.

 

[Telscombe Seagull]

I've used E-buyer and Scan in the past. Scan in particular were always ok with their machines, never had a problem and a fairly quick turnaround on orders

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

I got a pc from pc specialist about 7 years ago, still going strong now, not the quickest anymore but they build kit that lasts.

 

[dougdeep]

Dell

 

[Fungus]

Dell

Never ever again!

 

[Superphil]

Why not an iMac, you can run Windows on it with Bootcamp. You get a powerful bit of kit, very reliable, great screen, and if you fancy it, you can try using that OSX they all keep talking about.

 

[Kosmonaut]

Building a PC really is not difficult, I built mine without any experience or expertise, all the parts just fit together, and you save a lot of money in the process. A prebuilt PC bought new for £800 can probably be built yourself for about £500

 

[jgmcdee]

CyberPower is another one, although I haven't used them.

Keep you old monitor and other peripherals if you can, and £800 should buy you a decent enough spec machine. Make sure you buy an SSD and as much memory as you can afford.

 

[Stat Brother]

***hijack*** ***hijack***

and where to buy a cheap PC?

 

[Itman-dan]

You can get a decent machine for that price if you feel brave enough to build it yourself. It is quite easy to do now with alot of simple to follow guides. Ebuyer have always been good to me and are always reasonable on prices.

 

[Fungus]

I've used E-buyer and Scan in the past. Scan in particular were always ok with their machines, never had a problem and a fairly quick turnaround on orders

Ta. Will check them out, but don't think they are configurable?

I got a pc from pc specialist about 7 years ago, still going strong now, not the quickest anymore but they build kit that lasts.

Ta. Sounds like my kind of PC.

Building a PC really is not difficult, I built mine without any experience or expertise, all the parts just fit together, and you save a lot of money in the process. A prebuilt PC bought new for £800 can probably be built yourself for about £500

Ta. It may yet come to that! Would be interesting, but being retired I have so much other stuff to do.

CyberPower is another one, although I haven't used them.

Keep you old monitor and other peripherals if you can, and £800 should buy you a decent enough spec machine. Make sure you buy an SSD and as much memory as you can afford.

Ta. They're the ones I was trying to think of! Yeah, I have decent peripherals, but SSD and memory will depend on price.

 

[Telscombe Seagull]

Their 3xs range is configurable. select a base depending on the main aim then change it from there.

 

[Fungus]

Their 3xs range is configurable. select a base depending on the main aim then change it from there.

Gotcha, looks interesting. Have had components from them before.

 

[Fungus]

You can get a decent machine for that price if you feel brave enough to build it yourself. It is quite easy to do now with alot of simple to follow guides. Ebuyer have always been good to me and are always reasonable on prices.

Maybe I'll price up the components. Agree with you about Ebuyer. Trouble is, when I start researching these things, I get obsessed with the details and overloaded with information!

 

[beorhthelm]

Telscombe's idea is definatly the way forward. that way you can spec lots of memory and decent size SSD and cut back on GPU which you dont need alot of. as well as monitor, keyboard etc, reuse of old DVD drives saves a bit. unless you intend to sell/pass on the old machine, stick the HD in as a second drive for data, keeping the expensive SSD just for OS, apps and working data. leaves you with a half usful old pc but ebay or some student will still be able to find a home.

 

[happypig]

***hijack*** ***hijack***

and where to buy a cheap PC?

http://www.ebuyer.com/407538-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-1076

 

[Wardy]

I built my current PC. Brought the bits from eBuyer for just under £600 including Windows 7. Like others have said building it is not hard and there are loads of guides out there that talk you through the process. Took me about an hour to put together. Takes longer to install the Operating system, drivers and updates then to actually build it. If you want to know what I brought give me a shout and I will let you know.

Edit to add link to a decent guide for building it http://www.buildeasypc.com/category/build-pc/build-your-own-pc-step-by-step-guide.htm

 

[Husty]

Why not an iMac, you can run Windows on it with Bootcamp. You get a powerful bit of kit, very reliable, great screen, and if you fancy it, you can try using that OSX they all keep talking about.

He did mention his budget.

 

[Wardy]

Just to add if you are not sure if the bits you are buying are compatible then try http://pcpartpicker.com/ great for checking.

 

[Funnell]

Another vote for pc specialist, should be able to get something that meets your needs for considerably less than £800 since you wont be gaming. Is that £800 just on a tower + operating system?