Desktop PC reccomendations?

[stevo as b4]

Hi folks,

My PC is nearly 8years old now, and has been getting painfully slow despite my efforts to try and delete as many unused files and programs as possible.

I've decided that it's time for a new one, and i want to stay with a desktop, but i don't want a new fangle all in one PC. I have a budget of under £500 max, but closer to £400 would be preferable. I basically want a decent spec PC that will run as quick as possible within the limitations of the Broadband speed, which i don't feel has been the issue with my current PC's slow running.

Bearing in mind i would like the best and most up to date PC that i can get for my cash, there is the other critera of getting one suitable for my useage, and hopefully without any features that i don't want or need. All i need to be able to do, is access email, web browsing, download music, and occassionally films. I would like a DVD re-writer to burn movies onto disc, and i also use microsoft office packages for accounts etc. I don't need a fancy graphics card and i don't have any intention of using gaming facilites.

I was thinking of a 750GB-1TB hard drive, and a quad core Intel i5 processor?

I have a keyboard and monitor that i might later upgrade, but im just after the PC base unit for now. What would people reccomend brand wise, and what would i need ideally spec wise to do the things i want within my budget?

Any help or ideas on where to start looking would be really appreciated. I've heard good things about Acer stuff, and i got my Mum a Dell laptop last year which has been good too. Not sure what else i should be looking at though?

[panrider_uk]

Pretty much any PC you can buy today will do that little lot, I don't think you need to spend anywhere near £500.

Acer are good machines. Have sold plenty and never had a problem with them.

I'd also look at Lenovo, they often have machines at good prices.
Something like this would do nicely.

Mark
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Current bikes: Honda ST1100 Pan European. Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel

[0l0dom0l0]

I think your going way over the top. A 1TB hard drive and an i5 processor to access some emails and look at some internet pages?

To put it into perspective my laptop cost me about £400 4 years ago. It has a 1.6ghz processor, 2GB RAM (I upgraded the standard 1GB, cost me £30) and a 120GB hard drive.

It will run Counter strike Source at about 40-50FPS (which is very good for a 5 year old model) and will last me for a while yet. (oh it allows me to run a another display at 100hertz and 1600x1200 pixels.

I still have 60GB Hard Drive space left, and I am a 17 year old who spends most of my time on it and it does me fine.

Just go down to PC world and look at the deals they have on. You can pick up the computer and a HD screen with mouse keyboard and speakers for around what your looking to spend and thats going way above what you need.

Any PC off the shelf will do. Just make sure its got windows 7 and not vista. Vista was awful.

Edit: Just found this. Its got everything your after and comes with Microsoft office pre installed. Can't go wrong at that price either:

https://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-g5200uk-m-desktop-pc-with-20-monitor-07908228-pdt.html

Edit: Edit: Just looked at that hp one again. Bloody hell that's good value. Its probably last years model which is why its going to cheap. It has the better hard drive too. Blimey. Might talk to my dad lol.

[CaNsA]

My pc is fairly old, but all it does is sit there as a torrent client and media server.
I have about 2TB of storage in it, a mediocre gfx card with dual screens.

2GB ram and a Intel P4 2.80Ghz processor.
It does the job. I dont game on it much, hardly ever to be honest.

Get ur self a laptop and u can sit on the sofa with it. If you need to access your computer you can use remote desktop to do what you need to do.

Simples

[Black Knight]

[Seb]

Only tip I can add ontop of what's already been said is to avoid the atom based netbooks and nettops if your intending to watch any of those films. The ion based Atom dual cores are up to the job but they are still far and few between. Your budget is more than enough though, I routinely sell refurbished laptops for ~150 and upwards that would merrily do what you are asking.
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2010 Triumph 1050 Sprint ST

[Adam.I]

Just going to echo everyone else's thoughts. £500 should get you something mint for your rrequirements But getting an i5, I think, would be a bit excessive for just day-to-day use. I spent £500+ an a Sony Vaio with the following a few weeks ago:

4 GB Ram
250 GB HD
i3 2.4 Ghz

... And it is REALLY fast. Fastest machine I have had to date. It can handle anything you through at it. Start time is quick, sleep mode to fully functioning again takes one or two seconds. So £500 will get you more than what you require.
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Veni Vidi Vici

[stevo as b4]

Cheers guys for the info and reccomendations too! I have taken on board your thoughts and have decided that i don't need a particulary high spec machine tbh, and the bonus is that i can spend some of the cash on a nice big monitor and maybe even toward a smallish LED TV for the bedroom too.

The only thing is really is that i have space for a desktop, so a laptop doesn't really interest me, but i've decided that id like a space saving Desktop, ideally one thats around 1/2 the size of a traditional sized desk top tower unit. I've looked at a few makes and models, but i've just found out that a family member can get me a discount on Dell computer equipment, so i was wondering if the Inspirion 560S range with the compact base unit would be a good buy, or if i should go out and get a PC thats bundled with a nice 19-20" monitor as part of a package deal instead?

[Ste]

If buying from dell use quidco.

[0l0dom0l0]