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Help please. Where to buy home/office PC

ZimzammamZimzammam Posts: 158
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in PC & Mac Hardware and Software #1
Help and guidance needed. Other half is starting up as self employed (on his own no staff) and we need to replace our creaky Dell (running Windows xp), as it will not cope with me using it for the office side of things. Where is good to look? All we have locally (West Cornwall) is Currys, Staples, Maplin and the detestable PC World. We did venture into PC World about 2 weeks ago, the 'boy' lead us to a twelve hundred quid one and got very rude when we said we didn't quite have that budget as we need office printer etc too. Neither of us are particularly computer savvy, and don't know any techy friends. I am thinking that something of 8gb/2TB will last well for us? It would also need to be good for our 6 year old for home use too (she's not into gaming at the mo but I suppose that could change). Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • cmorriscmorris Posts: 6,157
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    #2
    Amazon or any online retailer
  • cmorriscmorris Posts: 6,157
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    #3
    Try this http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B5CTRMY?psc=1
  • gds1972gds1972 Posts: 6,613
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    #4
    Are you only planning to use it for word processing, spreadsheets and things? If so then most new PC's will happily do those tasks or are you looking to carry out more power hungry tasks such as video and photo editing as well?
  • Rick_DavisRick_Davis Posts: 1,104
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    #5
    If its going to be a predominately business unit, buy from Dell. You will get a more than capable unit for £400 or less.
  • ZimzammamZimzammam Posts: 158
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    #6
    Only cropping the odd family pic, not editing home movies or anything.
  • ZimzammamZimzammam Posts: 158
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    #7
    Will check out that link and Dell :)
  • StigStig Posts: 12,446
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    #8
    Zimzammam wrote: »
    Will check out that link and Dell :)

    Dell Outlet sell some great no-nonsense business PCs. If you wait until they are doing free delivery they are even better value.
  • oilmanoilman Posts: 4,529
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    #9
    If you can get to John Lewis you will find they have intelligeny staff and good service compared with the drones at PC world aka currys
  • jsmith99jsmith99 Posts: 20,382
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    #10
    If you can't get to John Lewis, then they'll deliver it within 5 working days - for free, over £50.

    Any problem, ring the helpline and they'll collect it again.
  • TheBigMTheBigM Posts: 13,125
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    #11
    John Lewis are very good but you may need to take in-store for any servicing.

    £400 is plenty for a desktop machine (perhaps consider getting a laptop so you have portability and then buy a screen to go with it for home use).

    I'd also recommend taking a look at Dell machines for their business warranties - they can do things like next business day repair in your own home. When you are running a business off this machine, you want any issues to be repaired pronto.

    When you have bought the machine, come back to this thread and ask for advice about software and getting a backup regimen going (losing files is the absolute worst thing for a business).
  • s2ks2k Posts: 7,417
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    #12
    Avoid the usual high street chains if you are in the market for a business-grade PC. Check out the business sections of Dell, HP and Lenovo. The build quality is generally a lot higher, you will have far more customization options and tend to get a decent warranty as standard. The last thing you want is to have a failed component and then be without a PC for a prolonged period of time whilst its shipped off to the unknown.
  • RobinOfLoxleyRobinOfLoxley Posts: 27,040
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    #13
    Even Home users should have a regular backup regime.

    USB 3.0, 1TB External HDDs can be had for £50-80 if you don't have one.

    If your old XP machine has a 320GB or larger HDD, you could use that in a USB caddy.
    (anything less is a bit small maybe)
    If you want Microsoft Office, budget for that. Otherwise, use a free suite such as LibreOffice which is pretty compatible and can load and save MS files.

    Mozilla Thunderbird is a good alternative to MS Outlook as an e-mail client.
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,594
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    #14
    If you need a lot of support then check if you have any local independent computer shops.

    Else check out Dell outlet.
  • JeffG1JeffG1 Posts: 15,267
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    #15
    Novatech may be worth a look. I have always got my desktops from them and am very happy with their service.

    Their technical support is pretty good too. Free delivery on most stuff.
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