'Puters.

[Jono]

'Puter Help?

My son (12), has asked that for his one Xmas present this year he would like a computer, nothing else. Sounded like an easy one 'till I started looking into it. He wants it for gaming mostly, but will use it to help out with homework etc. Frankly I'm baffled by the choice out there not being up to date with it all. So can anyone recommend what system would best suit, I'm presuming pentium 4 and have been told I would need a good graphics card for games etc. Is around ?450 a reasonable expectation, less would be good. So any computer wizz's out there with ideas and where best to go to purchase I will be eternally grateful. Thanks. :bow: :bow: :bow:

 

[solorider]

go to www.dell.co.uk and have a look,dell have a good customer back up and have been going for years so should be a safe bet,they have loads of offers at the moment so well worth a look

 

[Jono]

Had a look at there site, a tad expensive for me. Looked at a gaming compuer and added it up to ?855

 

[ianrobbo1]

nip down your local puter repair shop, most small villiages and towns have one, tell yer man exactly what you want and how much you want to pay 9 times out of 10 he will sort you out exactly what you need AND if it goes tits up you drag it back to him to sort!! that way your not paying for some numpty to "build"!! something you dont really need, for a fortune with some poxy after sales service, :dunno:

 

[americanexpress]

Had a look at there site, a tad expensive for me. Looked at a gaming compuer and added it up to ?855

Evesham Micros quite reasonable prices, good aftersales service too

 

[R2B2]

I was about to say exactly the same as Ian. Your local guys will buils what you want. Ok, it's not mainstream kit they use but it's practical, value, and you have some backup on the doorstep.

Just get a bit of help to make sure you get what you need if you're not an expert like most of us.

 

[Rods]

ditto the last two posts. a chap at work (i'm a musician) is into his computers, and he built mine for me for ?250, including mouse keyboad, but not monitor (which you'll be able to pick up cheap anyway - i got mine for nothing from a mate).

 

[Jono]

Thanks chaps, local shops it is then, how much easier were train sets and action men! :bang:

 

[Pugwash]

They do some good PC's on Novatech.co.uk too. I use them for components quite often, but they also sell barebones PC's with the motherboard, processor and ram all in the case. You then add drives and monitor to taste. It's a better way to get what you actually want if you don't know enough to build you own from scratch.

p.s. I just spent ?400 to upgrade mine to an Athlon 64 3500+ with 1GB of DDR3200 ram and an ATI X800GTO graphics card on an nForce4 motherboard. It plays Battlefield 2 nicely. You'd only have to add monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive, dvd drive and case to this to have a high spec games pc.

 

[DB on CBR1100XX]

p.s. I just spent ?400 to upgrade mine to an Athlon 64 3500+ with 1GB of DDR3200 ram and an ATI X800GTO graphics card on an nForce4 motherboard. It plays Battlefield 2 nicely. You'd only have to add monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive, dvd drive and case to this to have a high spec games pc.

If anyone can actually translate this for the poor boy............................

 

[Pugwash]

It plays Battlefield 2 nicely. Any kid should understand that. :yo:

 

[Centaur]

Thanks chaps, local shops it is then, how much easier were train sets and action men! :bang:

Jono, you have a good one in Winsford next to the Flamin Wok....can't think of their name at the moment....Al T Ziemer rules!

 

[Rods]

p.s. I just spent ?400 to upgrade mine to an Athlon 64 3500+ with 1GB of DDR3200 ram and an ATI X800GTO graphics card on an nForce4 motherboard. It plays Battlefield 2 nicely. You'd only have to add monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive, dvd drive and case to this to have a high spec games pc.

translation = :bow: :yo:

 

[Bubba]

Dell are OK but their Tech support line only operates between 09:00 - 17:00 Monday to Friday and they can be pretty pricey, catalogue prices dont always include VAT or delivery. Worth checking out the "previously enjoyed" section, 2nd hand prices are pretty reasonable.
Gateway are still running, tok me by suprise, thought they went bust a while back. You can get them through Comet.
PCWorld is good for the budget end of the market PROVIDING you donat ask the staff anything more technical than how to tie a shoelace. Even then, check what shoes they have on, if they are Velco, walk away!
Failing that, check the for sale section in your local paper.

 

[Pugwash]

Perhaps not ideal for crimbo presents, but I bought our kids a "refurbished" PC from http://www.bigpockets.co.uk
It was a nicely spec'd PC for ?300 including vat & delivery, and just needed a monitor. Only problem was the version of XP already installed on it was slightly broken from having previous hardware removed, so I put a clean copy on.

 

[DB on CBR1100XX]

IMHO and experience

..............your local little compuer shop would be the place to go - low prices and staffed by geeks who breathe this stuff.

I'm the IT manager for our Dental Practice and we've used Dell, PCWorld and our local chappie in the past - We're just about to upgrade our 15 station network and who won the hardware bid ? - Mr Local, and it wasn't just price alone or, perhaps, even price at all - It was good old fashioned knowledge, service and backup capabilites............and the fact he's 150yds away - You can stuff your '4 hours onsite' response bollox - He's 60 seconds away.