Computer Help - Have I been shafted?

[Camble]

Hello,
I have just got a new computer from a friend of my Dad's who is supposed to be a "gadget" man etc etc.

He told my Dad that it has all of the best hardware, but today when I was talking to a guy from PC World he told me otherwise and that I had been fooled.

It's a custom built PC, it has 3.00GB of DDR2 memory, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+, NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT graphics card, Windows XP, 250GB HDD and we have agreed to pay £350.

I need the computer everyday for my Graphic work (graphic designer) so I need a good machine that is up to the job.

Can anyone help me please before I hand the money over?

Cheers
Liam

 

[jenic]

Seems expensive.

The processor is quite old now, memory isn't much if your doing graphic work, HDD isnt too large, OS is old (but still a good OS, I'd have xp over vista or 7 any day).

What graphics card does it have? And does it include a nice display which is bumping the price up?

 

[Camble]

Seems expensive.

The processor is quite old now, memory isn't much if your doing graphic work, HDD isnt too large, OS is old (but still a good OS, I'd have xp over vista or 7 any day).

What graphics card does it have? And does it include a nice display which is bumping the price up?

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT graphics card dude, I'd rather spend a little more and get a much better one before we blow the money on some old piece of sh*t.

It's in a clear case with sh*tty LEDs which I bet he thinks is worth a lot.

 

[Rob]

Does sound a little dated, but I'm not massively up to date on laptops since buying a MBP.

 

[jenic]

This looks nice for a little more. http://www.cclonline.com/product/26...ems/CCL-Excel-Advantage-System-/CCL-AMD-HIGH/

Not sure where else to shop for a pre built PC but I'd avoid the likes of PCWorld imo

Since your a graphics designer have you considered an iMac? Since a nice high-res display isn't going to be cheap, it might be worth considering. Start at about £900 if you know a student

 

[Camble]

Haha I know a student very well...myself

I was thinking about getting one but I cba spending so much money on one!

I'd be looking to spend around £400 on a machine, if I could get a monitor for a little bit more I'd be made up!

 

[Adam.]

Check the Dell outlet. You could get a machine that would blow that out the water for not much more.

 

[Camble]

Check the Dell outlet. You could get a machine that would blow that out the water for not much more.

Any you can recommend buddy? I have no idea when it comes to this!

 

[jenic]

The thing is, its inevitable that you will be using a Mac sooner rather than later when going into that industry. Its probably worth getting onboard now, and buying an iMac for £900. Rather than a desktop for say £400, OS for £70 and display for £200, your not that far off! And in 3 years time when the warrantys up it'll still be worth loads when a pc would be worthless.

 

[Rob]

As much as you sound like a preacher girlsname, I couldn't agree more.

If you're already in industry, surely you've seen that it's one filled with apple machines?

 

[Camble]

The thing is, its inevitable that you will be using a Mac sooner rather than later when going into that industry. Its probably worth getting onboard now, and buying an iMac for £900. Rather than a desktop for say £400, OS for £70 and display for £200, your not that far off! And in 3 years time when the warrantys up it'll still be worth loads when a pc would be worthless.

I'd love to get one dude, but at the moment I've not got the money to spend on one
I could do with getting a good desktop machine, that I can keep in my house and I'll probably invest in an iMac when I go back to uni.

 

[Revels]

Buy once. Buy properly. By fruit.

 

[Silent_Scone]

That machine he sold you is worth 250 at a push. Go throw it at him.

 

[Christopher]

iMac. Even a three year-old one will do.

If you're serious about your career, invest in decent equipment. Trust me.

 

[Sym0n]

Buy once. Buy properly. By fruit.

Bi fruit?
Bye fruit?

All so confusing.

But anyway, if you're a graphics designer I'm quite frankly stunned that you haven't immediately gone for a fruit based PC...I only do light post processing and video editing and detest using a Windows PC to do it.

 

[st3ve]

Definitely don't buy that system, your paying silly money for very old hardware.

Visit OverclockersUK, they have a "Build your own system" thing on their site which is a step by step way to customise the internals and buy it already built ready to go from them.

I've just had a little play and managed to get a decent spec system for £460, they go cheaper but the hardware isn't as good.

You'll only get best value for money if you build your own system though, which I recommend you do.

 

[Revels]

Made by fruit. Obviously

 

[Addicted]

job done - it's a list i was preparing for my girlfriend!


edit: just realised it's the very very old list i made and there's no gfx card, apologies - i'll see if i can find the updated list (her price limit was ~£450)