what`s the best deal on a full pc system for£350-£400?

Question

i`ve seen good deals from time computers but have heard they dont have a very good reputation?

Answer 1

I agree Dell is great....but you are not getting a very good system. I used to work for Dell and that price...gets you something very basic.. I would go up to about 550 or up....that would be a better intermediate one. Best of luck

Answer 2

hey build your own i did it.. its not as hard as it looks. buy a tower base with all the power plugs etc. already in it.. you will have the spaces for cd drives etc.. buy a hardrive for about 60 quid for an internal 120gb drive. memory sticks cheap you can get a 512mb for about 25 quid buy the motherboard secure it in the places marked *motherboards* about 70 quid. then wire it all up on most new tower bases the motherboard area has labels so you know exactly where you are plugging things in. and a tft montor for about 70 quid s/h... for all the custom bits and bobs i found this site. www.microdirect.co.uk. its cheap. and good quality.. youll get a much much much better pc than the crap you buy in shops

Answer 3

I have heard that Time just are interested in your money... I wouldnt go there. Your best bet would be HP... (see ebuyer) a tad more expensive but I have also heard they use cheap components, hence why they are cheap.

Answer 4

Either buy from Dell, or if you're lucky and have a mate who genuinely knows what they're doing, ask if they'll help build one. Its not as easy as it looks, you have to be careful to protect the chip from any sources of static for starters. You have to know which components go together when you buy them.

Are there any courses near you on 'build your pwn pc'? Thats another good way to do it.

But bottom line is that the big manufacturers like Dell gat massive discounts for buying on bulk, and the price at which you can buy your components you're not going to save much money. With Dell you get a warranty; with self build if you fry your motherboard you have to go buy a new one.

You won't get a pc that plays games or edits video on your budget, but you'll be able to surf the web and does other stuff with not too much problem. Just don't get a Celeron!

You might be able to save a few quid by buying a CRT monitor instead of a flatscreen. And you also need a decent desk and chair which bumps the price up.

Don't spend any money on security software or an office suite, you can get all that as legal freeware. Here's a few usefull addresses;



You need to install one firewall.

The Windows firewall doesn't stop malware on your pc from dialling out. Both these firewalls are free



for personal use and stop unwanted incoming and outgoing traffic.

http://www.zonelabs.com Zone Alarm firewall

http://www.comodogroup.com/ - Comodo security suite.



Shields Up security site;

https://www.grc.com - check your firewall works

http://www.grc.com/optout.htm - grc anti spyware program and info.



http://www.mozilla.com/ Firefox web browser

http://www.opera.com/ Opera web browser

Instal both these web browsers, turn off javascript on one and use that browser for vising unknown



websites. They don't support Active X so thats one less way for problems to get on your pc.



You need to install one anti virus;

http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1 AVG anti virus or

http://www.avast.com - Avast Antivirus



You need all three anti spyware programs;

http://www.ewido.net - AVG(Ewido) anti trojan.

http://www.lavasoft.com - Ad-Aware SE Personal anti adware

http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search and Destroy anti spyware



And these are useful utilities;

http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm - The Spyware Warrior site identifies fake anti



spyware programs.

http://www.ccleaner.com Cr*pcleaner Registry cleaner and privacy tool

http://www.mailwasher.net/ -spam filter

Winpatrol is a handy utility that tracks cookies on your pc and stops unwanted changes to your



startup folder.

http://www.winpatrol.com

Spywareblaster works with Internet Explorer and Firefox. It won't uninstall spyware that is already on



your pc, but it will prevent hijacks and other malicious changes to your browser.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com

http://www.siteadvisor.com -Site Advisor warns about malware on sites you are about to visit.



Remember to update and run all of you anti malware programs at least once a week.



http://www.sys-shield.com - AbsoluteShield File Shredder

http://heidi.ie/eraser - Eraser file shredder

http://www.openoffice.org - freeware office suite

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ -Audacity music tool.

http://www.ejay.com - music making program

http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/ -Paint.net Paint with layers.

http://www.irfanview.com - useful graphics tool

http://www.download.com/Deep-Paint/3000-2191_4-10398243.html - Deep Paint

http://www.gimp.org - Like Photoshop 7

http://www.inkscape.org - vector image tool

http://www.wantedfonts.com - more fonts than you can shake a stick at

Answer 5

Dell do great deals.