New PC recommendations (1 Viewer)

Friends,

I am hoping to invest in a new PC in the near future (this old one is creaking!) primarily to continue my natural history photography, I'm not interested in the 'all singing all dancing' gizmos, just a straight forward machine (if one exists!!) at the best value for money available.

I need advice on a graphics card and would also appreciate your general suggestions on what company to buy the PC from...there is no advert better than word of mouth, and I value the advice of you fellow Bird-Forum members highly.

Hoping for suggestions,

Bill

I'm in a similar position myself and shall probable buy one from Tescos but then I don't have any special requirements, USB2 sockets and card reader built in is more important to me at the moment.

Mick

WHIMBREL said:

Friends,

I need advice on a graphics card and would also appreciate your general suggestions on what company to buy the PC from...there is no advert better than word of mouth, and I value the advice of you fellow Bird-Forum members highly.

Bill

Click to expand...

Go to Dell
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/desktops?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs
Select "choose" then "customise and buy" to create your own PC spec. going from component to component.
Medium and high spec PCs give you a choice of graphics cards
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000
256MB nVidia GeForce 7300 Turbocache graphics card
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro graphics card

Dell are good solid un-flashy PCs often used in offices. They are assembled in Ireland.

WHIMBREL said:

Friends,

I am hoping to invest in a new PC in the near future (this old one is creaking!) primarily to continue my natural history photography, I'm not interested in the 'all singing all dancing' gizmos, just a straight forward machine (if one exists!!) at the best value for money available.

I need advice on a graphics card and would also appreciate your general suggestions on what company to buy the PC from...there is no advert better than word of mouth, and I value the advice of you fellow Bird-Forum members highly.

Hoping for suggestions,

Bill

Click to expand...

Why not choose one of the latest Apple Mac laptops with an Intel processor. With the correct software you can run both Mac and Windows. Mac graphics are in my opinion superior to Windows. As for colour printing (in fact all photography), 'Aperture' is probably the finest program avavilable.

I'll second the Dell route. I have now bought 16 Dell PCs & laptops for family and friends !

I used to build PC for them, but now with Dell being so cheap and cost effectivbe (not the same really), I find it much easier to go this way.

Buy online, DONT ring them up - online gets a better price. The only down side is that their after sales service has deteriorated over the last 2 years.

Sub £500 inc delivery and VAT is a commonly achievable target, but watch out for special deals like double memory or a flat panel size upgrade FOC.

Happy hunting

baillieswells said:

Why not choose one of the latest Apple Mac laptops with an Intel processor. With the correct software you can run both Mac and Windows. Mac graphics are in my opinion superior to Windows. As for colour printing (in fact all photography), 'Aperture' is probably the finest program avavilable.

Click to expand...

I'll second this. Checkout the iMacs at the Apple website.

There's a few programs that will enable Windows apps to run on a Mac. I'm using Crossover with success for Mapmate.

Wickham said:

Go to Dell
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/desktops?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs
Select "choose" then "customise and buy" to create your own PC spec. going from component to component.
Medium and high spec PCs give you a choice of graphics cards
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000
256MB nVidia GeForce 7300 Turbocache graphics card
256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro graphics card

Dell are good solid un-flashy PCs often used in offices. They are assembled in Ireland.

Click to expand...

Thank you all for your suggestions, I've followed up on the links, Dell has just won a customer award in Computer Shopper magazine, this is a good recommendation in itself.

I'll do a little more searching on the web for a best Graphic Card buy, before deciding on a final choice.

Regards to you all,

Bill

I'm after a new computer as well but after all the teething probs with the P.C. I think the new imac will get my vote. Everything in the one place without a big box to kick on the floor. There again does anyone know better. Frank

For mainly photographic use, RAM is more important than graphics card performance

If you have a local (and reputable) P C repair shop they will usually build you exactly what you want so you are not paying for unwanted "gizmoes".

souterman said:

I'm after a new computer as well but after all the teething probs with the P.C. I think the new imac will get my vote. Everything in the one place without a big box to kick on the floor. There again does anyone know better. Frank

Click to expand...

We've had a succession of Macs and always loved them. Easy to set-up, easy to use and with a fraction of the problems that my pc-using friends seem to experience. Now that the cross-compatibility with pcs is so much better as well I don't know why everyone doesn't have them.

Helen

Helenelizabeth2 said:

Now that the cross-compatibility with pcs is so much better as well I don't know why everyone doesn't have them.

Helen

Click to expand...

Maybe because quite a bit of older software won't run on macs & people were familiar with using W*ndows at work. Also the cost could be a factor but you only get what you pay for.

The two main reasons I bought a mac was;

1) There are no known viruses
2) iLife is absolutely terrific, iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie & iDVD all integrated with no compatability issues.

That's not to say I haven't had problems 'tho. The latest update was a disaster for me & my 6 month old 20" 2GHZ Dual Processor iMac.

I can't praise John Lewis enough with their customer service & 2 year warranty.



Dave J

Beware Dell After Sales Service

WHIMBREL said:

Thank you all for your suggestions, I've followed up on the links, Dell has just won a customer award in Computer Shopper magazine, this is a good recommendation in itself.

I'll do a little more searching on the web for a best Graphic Card buy, before deciding on a final choice.

Regards to you all,

Bill

Click to expand...

Hi Bill

I very recently bought a Dell Dimension and have had an awful time getting it fixed after it went wrong.

There are number of problems if it goes wrong. If it goes wrong within 30 days you are guided via the phone choices to the hardware fix solution. Outside the 30 days to the software fix. This will cost you about £34. This is in addition to an 0870 number at about 8p a minute. They will tell you it is a local rate though (so why not 0845).

I kept getting the blue windows screen with various messages that windows had to close.This was before the 30 days. The first technician ran checks with me and diagnosed a faulty hard-drive. A new one was ordered, I waited all day for new one to arrive on delivery day, nothing arrived. Ring up to find out the dispatchers had cancelled the order as none in stock. So re-ordered
still no arrival so ring up again and this technician thinks he can fix the problem with a PC (not system) restore. This seems to work for a little while but then it all starts happening again. Ring up again this,technician thinks its a software fault, I mention a camera has been attached and the computer connects to the internet via a wired router. Apparently the windows blue screen is often caused by external hardware. He wants to pass me over to the software technical help and they will charge £34 to fix it. I say no thanks I'll get it seen at my local shop.

They diagnose faulty RAM. So I ring up Dell they run a diagnostic on it which says the memory is okay, and try to pass me over to the software tech support. I get back to my shop who reassure me the RAM definately failed. I ring up Dell and speak to the manager and threaten to take them to court if the memory is not replaced. They cave in and will replace the memory if I send a scanned copy of the shop's report. This is duly done and lo and behold the new memory has arrived the old memory returned to dell and it all appears to be working fine.

I now want to reclaim my shop's fee from Dell plus all the calls as they misdiagnosed the problem all along.

So I would recommend a computer built tested and repaired if necessary locally - I think it should be a lot less hassle if something goes wrong.

Did I mention that every time you ring dell they tell you you'll be receiving a customer survey questionairre by email? Well I've got mine and it won't be favourable. I'd take the customer award you mention with a pinch of salt.

So good luck and if you get a Dell I hope it doesn't go wrong!

@ Dipped,

Sorry to hear of your problems, hope you get them sorted to your satisfaction soon.

I got a Dell refunded (not merely replaced) well outside the 30 day period earlier this year.

I've also have a friend who a had replacement motherboard shipped for free, well outside the three year warranty period.

A lot of it is about the avenues you take and the methods you use; same as anywhere else - go about it the right way and it should be pretty straightforward to sort out.

Dell have a very good online forum and an online help system (both based out of the www.dell.com site), run by techies who are very capable - unfortunately, their offshore phone support system isn't all that it should be (similar with all companies that now use cheaper staffing options).


I'd buy Dell again for basic machines, they're pretty good value - don't upgrade anything until you've checked prices on the market - that's where they have a big mark-up. Better to shop around for any extra's.


My Dell is over 5 years old, it's a laptop and I've had no real problems with it; if I need any help, the US support forum is my first port of call.

Cheers,

Andy.

dipped said:

Hi Bill

I very recently bought a Dell Dimension and have had an awful time getting it fixed after it went wrong.

There are number of problems if it goes wrong. If it goes wrong within 30 days you are guided via the phone choices to the hardware fix solution. Outside the 30 days to the software fix. This will cost you about £34. This is in addition to an 0870 number at about 8p a minute. They will tell you it is a local rate though (so why not 0845).

I kept getting the blue windows screen with various messages that windows had to close.This was before the 30 days. The first technician ran checks with me and diagnosed a faulty hard-drive. A new one was ordered, I waited all day for new one to arrive on delivery day, nothing arrived. Ring up to find out the dispatchers had cancelled the order as none in stock. So re-ordered
still no arrival so ring up again and this technician thinks he can fix the problem with a PC (not system) restore. This seems to work for a little while but then it all starts happening again. Ring up again this,technician thinks its a software fault, I mention a camera has been attached and the computer connects to the internet via a wired router. Apparently the windows blue screen is often caused by external hardware. He wants to pass me over to the software technical help and they will charge £34 to fix it. I say no thanks I'll get it seen at my local shop.

They diagnose faulty RAM. So I ring up Dell they run a diagnostic on it which says the memory is okay, and try to pass me over to the software tech support. I get back to my shop who reassure me the RAM definately failed. I ring up Dell and speak to the manager and threaten to take them to court if the memory is not replaced. They cave in and will replace the memory if I send a scanned copy of the shop's report. This is duly done and lo and behold the new memory has arrived the old memory returned to dell and it all appears to be working fine.

I now want to reclaim my shop's fee from Dell plus all the calls as they misdiagnosed the problem all along.

So I would recommend a computer built tested and repaired if necessary locally - I think it should be a lot less hassle if something goes wrong.

Did I mention that every time you ring dell they tell you you'll be receiving a customer survey questionairre by email? Well I've got mine and it won't be favourable. I'd take the customer award you mention with a pinch of salt.

So good luck and if you get a Dell I hope it doesn't go wrong!

Click to expand...

Dipped,

I'm sorry to hear about your problems with Dell, not a very pleasant experience.

I have compared Dell with several other companies and in particular with a company from Yorkshire called www.pcspecialists.co.uk and I'm inclined towards the latter at present, they seem to have a good product choice at very competive prices....has anyone purchased from them?

Bill.

PS. Click 1st link Custom Build yourself a New Computer.