Our 6 year old PC base unit has just packed up so need a new one ASAP as my mum uses it to process the wages for my dads business.

Any ideas or recomendations?

I was into computers about 5 years ago but have lost touch and dont really know what to look for anymore?

Uses:

Microsoft Sage

Word Processing

Storing digital photos

Email and web

Wont be used for gaming or watching movies, or even listening to music, so not important.

But needs to have a large hard drive and possibly 2 disc drives.

We dont need screen, printer etc just the base unit.

Any ideas folks?

ideally under £200

If you're not gaming or doing any heavy multitasking then you should be fine with a basic Core2Duo or AMD Athlon X2 Dual core machine, with about 2GB RAM. I think thats about basic standard these days. You'll also probably easily find one with a 500GB HDD but alot of places will let you upgrade to 1TB. Either that or they're damn easy to add in these days with the introduction of SATA. Sames goes for the disk drive if you can't find one with 2.

Also another pointer... i don't know what the availability of windows XP units is these days so if you have to get a Vista one, you could probably do with an extra GB of RAM.

Hope that helps.. I normally build gaming machines so im sure someone will tell me if im wrong!!!

http://www.crystech.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CTL&Category_Code=SYS

That might be a good place to start looking....

The novatech bundles are pretty good value for money.

£140 for a barebones system (AMD dual core with 2GB RAM), + £40 for 500GB HDD + £15 for optical drive. That's under £200

Depending on how you are for space etc, you might find something basic and small in a mini-ITX form factor would do and could sit under a monitor.

Dual core intel jobby, 2GB of RAM and a decent 1TB HDD plus an external HDD for backup such that it can be moved to another location.

They are relatively cheap, and in terms of your above comment, when a new keyboard/mouse combo is £20 and a good LCD is £200, unless your old ones are not that old and in good condition it might be worth upgrading from something a couple of years old. (Just MHO though)

The novatech bundles are pretty good value for money.

£140 for a barebones system (AMD dual core with 2GB RAM), + £40 for 500GB HDD + £15 for optical drive. That's under £200

Another vote for novatech ...very helpful people and close to you as well ..store in Cardiff

Vista runs reasonably well with 2gb RAM, but having 4gb it runs a lot smoother, however if using 4gb RAM you will need a 64bit OS. If running 32 bit apps this may be an issue as some (not all) have issues.

Not a massive fan of Vista but if there is no option I guess I'll go with it.

Just bought a new keyboard and we have an optical mouse and an LG LCD (4:3) so just sticking with them.

I did look at Novatech, thanks for the link.

The novatech bundles are pretty good value for money.

£140 for a barebones system (AMD dual core with 2GB RAM), + £40 for 500GB HDD + £15 for optical drive. That's under £200

How hard is it to get a barebones up and running do I need to buy an O/S?

With the barebones you will need HDD etc, put it all together and then you should buy an OEM licence for the OS of your choice.

Personally if you can wait, then I'd be making do somehow and getting windows 7 rather than going with Vista.

when is windows 7 out?

we cant really make do as my mum needs the PC to do the payroll.

It keeps crashing at random points and restarting with "recovered from a serious error".

TBH not really arsed about operating system, would rather it ran XP than anything else.

Dont need the gimmicks of Vista as its purely going to act as a media server for my PS3, a workstation and a web browser.

what about this and then "obtaining" a copy of XP?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173622

How hard is it to install an OS onto a computer without one?

PC World Business do a range of XP machines and some are pretty cheap. I know it’s unfashionable to mention PCW, but I have bought from their Business side before and found they were pretty good value. Strangely the Laptop I bought was about £250 cheaper from them than it was from the opposite side of the same store (and I include the VAT in that). They only stipulated that I pick it up the next day

At £189:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/business/4x_vostro_220st/fs.aspx?refid=4x_vostro_220st&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1

or the same without the slim case and a standard desktop at £159:

Find a Laptop, Desktop, Server, Printer, Software, Service or Monitor at Dell.

Both include vista home basic, so that should be enough of an OS to work just fine for you

If you want more Vista home premium is a £10 upgrade in the customise section. If you take this £10 option that enters you into the window 7 upgrade programme too, which is nice as you would not have to buy that either

I'd say they are pretty good machines especially as the price includes an OS and if you want to go up past the 160GB Hard disk, a 250GB is again only a £10 upgrade.

HTH

Edited 7 October, 200916 yr by cheezemonkhai

go the linux route, use ubuntu, costs nowt

go the linux route, use ubuntu, costs nowt

Apart from having to find new software to do all your tasks and train people how to use it.

At £189:

Find a Laptop, Desktop, Server, Printer, Software, Service or Monitor at Dell.

or the same without the slim case and a standard desktop at £159:

Find a Laptop, Desktop, Server, Printer, Software, Service or Monitor at Dell.

Both include vista home basic, so that should be enough of an OS to work just fine for you

If you want more Vista home premium is a £10 upgrade in the customise section. If you take this £10 option that enters you into the window 7 upgrade programme too, which is nice as you would not have to buy that either

I'd say they are pretty good machines especially as the price includes an OS and if you want to go up past the 160GB Hard disk, a 250GB is again only a £10 upgrade.

HTH

What he said - IMO the first sensible post in this thread.

If you need a basic PC right now that a business is reliant on , you want something that comes off the shelf , ready to go with no messing around.

There's no point in buying a barebones machine and add-ons , then having to faff around finding and installing an operating system. It may save you ten quid (probably won't though) but that's totally insignificant compared to the hassle involved when you could be buying a nice cheap Dell.

Novatech get my vote .

I have to say that having built a novatech bare bones system, I would question the quality of some of the parts in the cheapest bundles.

The one I built had the RAM going back for replacement, a new heatsink/fan required after the bearings failed and the fan stalled and a motherboard of a fairly low specification for the CPU it handled.

Also IMHO you won't get cheaper than that Dell deal with an OS.

Will 1gb be enough to run Vista or should I stump up £20 for the 2 gb?

Also I cannot see the £10 upgrade option for Vista only to Vista Business which is £55?

Will 1gb be enough to run Vista or should I stump up £20 for the 2 gb?

Also I cannot see the £10 upgrade option for Vista only to Vista Business which is £55?

I'd go with two if you don't want too be hangin around waiting for it to catch up with you. It will work with one, but it will be better with two.

Based on what you said your going to use it for - Why buy new?

Buy some P4 jobbie off ebay for like £50,you dont need to spend more!

New has a warranty and will last for a good few years. That plus it needs to turn up working.

To the OP.

2GB or more for Vista IMHO, worth the extra now to save pain later.

This is showing on the 220 and 220s for me.

Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic with Service Pack 1, 32-bit - English [included in Price]

Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 32-bit - English [add £10.00]

Genuine Windows Vista® Business with Service Pack 1, 32-bit - English [add £55.00]

Dell Recommended

Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate with Service Pack 1, 32-bit - English [add £95.00]

+ more

If you have a problem, then give Dell sales a call and I'm sure they will be able to sort you out.

nope £10 option doesnt show for me... typical

Just give them a call. 0844 444 3911

Edited 12 October, 200916 yr by cheezemonkhai

when is windows 7 out?

A week tomorrow (22nd October) been running the release candidate and must admit it is a lot lot better than vista.

Think microsoft have finally got it right with windows 7 (and about time aswell)

Just thought I pre-ordered it and the dam post strikes are on the 22nd october arent they (bloody royal mail) unless they get delivered by another courier.

Did you manage to order a complete system?