Buying a new desktop......

[Gonzo]

Well, the 5-and-a-half year-old laptop has finally expired so I'll be needing a new machine.

I'm after a bit of advice, mainly about the company / brand rather than spec. I don't do games or major data / graphics stuff, but mainly do documents, music, photos, t'interweb and probably a bit of (CAD hobby not business) for the missus.

I'm on a tight budget and need to get a base unit, keyboard, mouse and monitor for £400 - £450.

I'm after any recommendations re brands to go for and brands to avoid. I don't mind learning about a lesser-known company if it comes highly recommended and reliability and after-sales service are top of the wish list. A call centre a little close to home than the planet Zarg would be useful.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

Simon

 

[Bear]

Hewlett Packard pc and monitor from Comet £449.99 the pair. Monitor appears to be their stock code 389196 (model A6525+) and base unit 470821 (model FL230AA-HPA). 2.4GHz twin-core Athlon, 3GB of memory and 500GB of disk. Bought last November so they might have a few left. All seems to work as well as Vista allows.

 

[D6]

acer, cheap but very good

 

[Loiq]

mate of mine works at Stawberry global they sell HP Compaq with XP business user software so it's a Vista downgrade and are very good I think.

about £500 plus monitor if you need one PM and I let you have his details they are business use only but I'm sure they'll do a deal for CC or BACS payment.