Hi Guys,

I dont normally post in here as i am not technically minded when it comes to electronics,

My dilema is, my desktop pc is coming to the end of its life 4 years old, its slowing down, randomly crashing and noisy so i have decided for a change.

My dilema -

i have won £500 of vouchers through my work these can either be used in, Comet, PC World or Currys,

i am still undecided whether to go for:

another desktop pc,

a decent laptop,

or a mac

my budget is about £300 on top of the £500 vouchers for either store, any help would be much much appreciated,

my pc use is mainly for :

Web browsing,

Downloading music

Playing music

Uploading some photos

Watching the odd Video

Storing lots of music (15k songs+) and videos/films 200+

As a said please help as i have no preference to either a desktop, laptop or a mac

Thanks

Rob

Everyone I know who has a mac wouldn't even look at anything else, and since it's not going to be used as a 'business machine' by the looks of things, I'd be inclined to jump that way too, in your shoes!

You get much better value for money if you buy a tower rather than a laptop. It really depends whether or not you want to use it at a desk or on your lap?

If your considering a mac have you thought about an iMac? Its smaller, quieter and is really designed for the home user. There are lots of arguments for an against each one :P

If you want something you can use in front of the telly get a laptop. If you want something you can upgrade and don't mind sitting at a desk get a tower, if you want something smart, stylish with a small footprint and no clutter get an iMac :P

Oh and if your after a mac, its certainly worth looking here first: http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTE2ODI

I'm a dedicated laptop owner and appreciate the mobility so I would choose that, and never above a 15" screen. If you only watch the "odd" video (really odd or just a little bit kinky? ) you shouldn't miss a bigger screen.

I guess macs are fine if/when you're used to them, but you can get the same specs (processor speed, RAM, disk space) much cheaper if you stick to a pc. And for your preferences there are lots of freeware programs for the pc, too.

I browsed through pcworlds website. Since I have good experience of Dell machines, the Dell 1545 at £430 looks nice: Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 (2GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB Cache), 3GB RAM, 250GB HDD. Add £55 for an external HDD and you can store another 250 GB of vids/music.

I've got an expensive year coming up next year - going to be buying a new desktop machine (if windows 7 is out..?), and a mac... not sure about if the mac will be a laptop or not yet though...

Desktop PC imho, you will get more for your money and it will be (brand dependent) be easy to upgrade over time so you are not in the position of chucking it on the scrap heap in a couple of years, and it will have more "horsepower" to run current and upcoming apps and games.

I have got a Mac and a PC, you get more for your money with a PC, and laptops are to "disposable" because short of upgrading the RAM after a period of time there's nothing much else you can do.

Rob,

TBH honest its going to be down to personal taste. You need to think whether you want to be sat at a desk or whether you would like portability to carry out your computing needs now and in the future. How have you found the desktop in the last four years? Could you carry out the same functions on a laptop? Would you want too?

Looking at your usage list i wouldnt say that there was any task there that was hugely dependant on a mega fast processor or huge amounts of RAM (No video editing listed etc). All that is required is a reasonable size hard drive for storage of your music and video.

If you do decide to go down the route of a laptop/notebook then try get one with a dual core processor and as much RAM as possible. Remember though that dependant on the model RAM can always be upgraded as can a Hard Drive in a notebook. Unfortunately other components, like the CPU can be harder to upgrade and sometimes impossible.

Unfortunately i have no experience of current MAC's so canot comment on them but i believe it would be possible for you to pick up a decent laptop/notebook that would be suitable for your needs without having to spend an extra £300.

Whether you will though is another question.

EDIT: I have just realised that i have put all my views across on notebooks and not desktop. I myself have two notebooks but in no way would i rule out buying another desktop. You have experience of a desktop from the last four years so you'll no what it feels like.

Edited 17 February, 200917 yr by Guest

Desktop will give you better value for money & is probably the way to go if you are only using it at home.

Having said that a laptop can be more 'sociable' for home use; you can sit with the family rather than with your back to them.

As regards PC or Mac, given what you are using it for I would go with a Mac but then I am a Mac user myself. PC or Mac is something you could argue forever. With that in mind I would just follow your gut instinct.

Hi

For £800 you could get a desktop that is far too powerful for your needs, although probably more future proof. But heres a new idea.....

Why not get a £600 desktop AND one of the small Netbooks so you have the option of mobility as well. Data on each could easily be shared if required.

OR, depending on what your circumstances are, a Media PC, so you can use the PC as your full home entertainment system. All your music and films on one place, freeview tuner and DTV...........

Steve

As above, you could get a very capable tower and a lerge screen for the value of your vouchers, and if you still wanted to spend the £300 then a reasonable laptop for browsing etc separate.