Buyin a new PC!

[tidyant]

Hi all, i am just about ready to buy a new PC and would like some advice on which one to buy please. They are roughly the same price the first is from DELL the second PACKARD BELL (pcworld) Here are the specs for each :

Dell PC
AMD® Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core processor 5600+
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Incl Operating System Re-installation CD) - English
MCE to Vista Premium Upgrade on: www.dellvistaupgrade.productorder.com before 03/31/07
Basic Package, 3 Year At-Home Service
Dell™ 19" Value Flat Panel (E197FP) - UK/Irish
2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x1024] Memory
640GB Dual Hard Drive Non RAID (2x320GB - 7200rpm)
16x DVD +/- RW Drive
256MB ATI® Radeon® X1300 Pro graphics card
Accessories
Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ ADVANCED HD software
No Speakers
Dell Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard & Mouse Dell Wireless Bluetooth
Mouse Included in Wireless Keyboard and Mouse option
Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
No Modem
Services & Software
No Security/Anti-Virus Protection
Microsoft® Works 8 - English
No Photo Organising & Sharing Software/No Photo Editing Software
Also Includes
E521 Documentation with UK Power Cord
Adobe Reader 7.0.8 - English
List D01E17 Dimension E521
Dimension Order - UK
Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
Save £70 inc VAT
Dell Internet Order.
Free Upgrade to Microsoft Media Center from XP Home
Free Upgrade - 500GB (2x250GB) SATA - 640GB SATA (2x320GB) SATA - NO RAID
Network Assist 1.2 - 90day
Resource CD - contains Diagnostics and DriversCompatibility Alert

And

Features for this PACKARD BELL 2969

- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor
- 2.4GHz, 1GHz FSB, 4MB Cache
- Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
- 2GB DDR RAM
- 400GB Hard Disk Drive
- Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD RW Drive
- 256MB ATi Radeon X1600SE Graphics
- 802.11g Wireless Network Ready
- Vista Premium Ready
- 19" Widescreen TFT Monitor

Specification for this PACKARD BELL 2969

Processor Type Intel E6600 Processor
Clock-Speed 2.4GHz
Front Side BUS 1GHz
Cache 4 mb
Operating-System Windows XP Media Centre Edition
RAM Memory 2048 mb
Hard Disk Capacity 400 Gb
Optical Drive 1 Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer Drive
Plug In Removable Hard Drive No
Built-in Digital TV Tuner No
Remote Control No
802.11g Wireless Network Ready Yes
Graphics Memory 256mb mb
Graphics Description ATI Radeon X1600SE
Sound Card Onboard
Soundcard included No
Media Card Reader 15-in-1
Built-In HP Docking Station No
No of USB connections 12
No of PCI Slots 4
No. of Firewire Connections 1
Keyboard Yes
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse No
Mouse Yes
Weight 19 kg
Height 410 mm
Width 190 mm
Depth 410 mm
Network LAN On Board LAN
Software Titles Included MS Works 8.0

Thanks for any advice..

 

[dont do it it"ll hurt]

not to be funny i hope you get a good deal and what you want
but do you not know anyone that will build you a new pc mine was built by a friend and cost about half of what it's worth
just an idea to save you some pennies m8

 

[tidyant]

Yes mate i built my last 2 but with the big company's now selling them so cheap it isn't worth the hassle anymore.

 

[paz]

I was thinking of building my own pc but with prices falling so much i am not so sure now. your pc spec looks pretty good to me. I would go with the Dell.

 

[tidyant]

Yeah i have always had AMD based cpu's but the Intel 2 duo core have a very good reputation at the minute. The only thing that puts me off with dell is i have to wait 10 working days for it and i'm not very patient to be honest, and i have checked stock and can go and pick up the Packard bell first thing.

I have never really used an intel based system hence the post to get peeps point of view...

 

[cg010169]

There not bad specs but as the person said in the other post. All depends what u need the computer for. If it's just for going on the web and Office stuff then u could get away with a cheeper model.
I'm waiting till feb before getting my new computer.
I would rather see computers with the new windows running on it than get a vista through the post and you end up having some hardware problems. alot of companies aren't 100% about what will work with vista yet. so remember that if you decide to build it yourself.

I'm going to also wait for the quad chip to come down in price, it's only been out 2 months and is upto 3 times better than the dual core (depends what websites you read) Wanna try and build a HD computer cos then i can download stuff and run it through my tele.

 

[TheWakeUpCall]

I hate packard bell. Apart from that I dont really have an opinion on this. However if Dell are giving you the best deal for the money, i can't believe you're not doing it because you won't wait 10 days.

 

[reggie124]

hey mate, try to find out about MB first in both machine (Dell and BP). so if you need to update in future, then it worth buying

 

[little_pob]

hey mate, try to find out about MB first in both machine (Dell and BP). so if you need to update in future, then it worth buying

Dell and Packard Bell are renowned for using their own proprietary motherboards, which don't conform to the standard ATX screw layout (i.e. you cannot use the mobo in another computer and a standard ATX mobo won't fit in the case).

I was thinking of building my own pc but with prices falling so much i am not so sure now. your pc spec looks pretty good to me. I would go with the Dell.

The big companies have buying power, but screw you over on upgradability by using proprietary parts. The computer shop down the road, in an effort to compete yet still profit, uses cheap brands (cynical, I know). So I will always self build.

 

[GIO]

theses companies have a reputation of using parts that are hard to replace when there faulty encouraging people to go back to them to get them fixed,build ur own,its not hard and ull enjoy the satisfaction of doin it yourself and apart from that ull save money, also dont waste ur time taking out 3 years cover,when a pc is built it very rarely has a fault once its built and u get a years free at the beginning anyways.
if anything goes wrong with a pc its usually software orientated and u dont get cover for that,its only hardware cover, alot of people dont realise that.
gio

 

[cg010169]

if you thinking of going down the road of building the PC urself but don't know how.
Check out this website, it has a step by step guide with pictures on how to go about it.


http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/step/1/

 

[Dingodog]

I've allways had Dells, but now they have gone over to AMD processors....no thanks

 

[little_pob]

I've allways had Dells, but now they have gone over to AMD processors....no thanks

There is nowt wrong with AMD processors (these days), gone are the days of the buggy and massivly over-heating KM series of processors.

Granted AMD CPUs do still run a little warm compared to an Intel of the same clock speed, but will out perform that same chip (at least they did until Core 2 Duo came out, lol). A majority of gamers and enthusiasts have sworn by AMD CPUs for the last few years, because of their previous ability to out perform Intel, that they were cheaper (Intel have reduced their prices rather than AMD increasing theirs) and how easy the are to overclock.

However, recent benchmarks has shown an overclocked E6*** is able to out perform any AMD and even Intel's flagship Core 2 Duo Extreme Edition range, remaining stable whilst still using 'normal' heat sink + fan (a Zalman CPNS7700).

 

[chic_scotland]

I used to build my own but the cost saving unless you are building a top of the range is just not worth it now. Dell would be my prefered Option had one now for a year no problems good value for money and no I don't work for them

 

[maarksparky]

I would reckon, you biuld a PC yourself so it is easy to upgrade in the future.. besides that.. dells £329 offer is great.. I mean if you by the lcd monitor yourself its £149 but with the dell deal you get a printer, lcd monitor and a tower..

not bad...