Home Computing initiative Evesham help..

[Stuart.Atkinson]

I have the oportunity to get a pc as part of this, but just wondered if anyone else has had any experience with this?

they have given me about 12 options, from pcs to media pc's with lcd tvs, to laptops.

question is, is this really what its cracked up to be? seems like some good deals to me.

one example im lookin at, is a
athlon 64 x2 3800+
xp home
1 gig dual chan 400 mhz
200 gig sata
256 ata radeon x800gt pci express
19" viewsonic vx912 pure digital dvi monitor
dvd rom 16x
multiformat dual 16x layer writer etc
nvidia 7.1 surrond sound (onboard)
creative p5800 5.1 speakers
cordelss mouse and keyboard
xpider case

comes with usual software office 2003, ms works etc and bullgard anti virus and firewall

ok so it comes out of my wages for 3 years and a final payment of 10-30 squid to keep it, but for £23 less a month, is this a steal ?

other option os a home entertainment system
32" lcd teletxt tv
p4 630 HT 3ghz 2 mg cache
xp media centre remote & analogue / digital tv tuner
512 dual cannel,
200 gig sata
dvd dual layer write
cordelss mouse keyboard
v93 modem

£36 a month

what do you guys think??? it says we can upgrade the system at any time, but if we have to return the unit due to problems we had to put it back to basics.

 

[unofficialPete]

No expert so I'll bump this but I have bought an external HDD from evesham and they seemed very good, also got a few catalogues which seem to have very reasonable priced systems with good warranty options..

 

[dk]

i have my laptop on HCI from work and bought a £1800 sony laptop wich will end up costing me £950 after the 3 years so I think HCI is an amazing deal, no VAT and the money comes out of your salary before tax so means you pay VERY little!

Machines sound good, what prices are they not on the HCI scheme?

The best deal on a PC I have seen recently is this one which i actually purchased in the end as it was too good to miss

Features for this PACKARD BELL IXTREME GOLD MC 2107

- Intel Pentium 4 Processor D830 (Dual core)
- 3.0GHz, 800MHz FSB - 1024Mb DDR RAM - 500Gb Hard Disk Drive - DVD and DVD-RW Drive - 256Mb ATI X600 DVI Graphics - Wireless Keyboard + Mouse - Built-in TV Tuner + Remote Control - Windows XP Media Center Operating-System - 19" TFT Flat Panel Monitor
Specification for this PACKARD BELL IXTREME GOLD MC 2107

Processor Type Intel Pentium 4 Processor D830 (Dual core)
Clock-Speed 3.0GHz Front Side BUS 800MHz Operating-System Windows XP Media Center RAM Memory 1024 mb Hard Disk Capacity 500 Gb Optical Drive 1 DVD Drive and DVD Re-writer Plug In Removable Hard Drive No Built-in TV Tuner Yes Built-in Digital TV Tuner No Remote Control Yes 802.11g Wireless Network Ready No Graphics Memory 256 mb Graphics Description ATI X600 DVI Sound Card Onboard Soundcard included No Speakers Included Yes Media Card Reader 15-in-1 Built-In HP Docking Station No No of USB connections 6 No of PCI Slots 3 Keyboard Yes Wireless Keyboard and Mouse No Mouse Yes Weight 19 kg Height 410 mm Width 190 mm Depth 410 mm Software Titles Included WORKS 8.0
All that for £669!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have just looked on the pcworld website again and its now disappeared and in its place is exactly the same PC with a different brand monitor (samsung) and its up at £1219 so looks like i bought it at the right time!!

 

[® Andy]

HCI looks good due to the salary sacrifice approach they use making it pre-tax ... but I didn't think you actually owned the computer at the end? So more like a inland revenue supported computer leasing scheme!?

 

[Ambo]

Got mine on HCI. Won't technicially own it until the end of the agreement when I pay a £60 fee to keep it or send it back! They've never had one back! It's done like this to make it a lease scheme and therefore set it against tax......

 

[dk]

exactly, once you pay the final releasing fee (which is nominal) you keep it but after 3 years you will no doubt just want to go for a new one anyway.

great scheme

 

[McBunny]

ours is done through pc shithole grrr

 

[Rasclart]

We got a Toshiba Laptop through missus work.

Works out about £14 a month or something. Good deal

 

[Stuart.Atkinson]

cool, cheers all. now all i got to do is decide which one ?

 

[ViolentJ]

HCI is a great idea - never even thought about it before.

Already passed the info to my boss to see if we can get that going here. I don't really need a new machine but I hear a lot of guys talking about a new machine and how they can't afford one!

 

[Stuart.Atkinson]

Our company is getting all the discounts as well as many others, through a company called "youatwork" seems pritty good, and doesnt cost us anything !
We get 5% discount at dixons etc and many more !

 

[martynh]

We have the same thing through Evesham, guy at work went for the media centre PC with LCD TV, he's had probs with the LCD screen but Evesham are sorting it out no prob.

Might take a look at this, fed up with trying to mod my PC on a budget!

 

[Stuart.Atkinson]

media pc looks impressive, but ive decided to go for the dual core 64 athlon.
This will be the 1st computer i havent built myself LOL ! works out cheaper getting this than having the hassel of building it etc.