WOW! Talk about a bargain PC.

[damian_steele]

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product....33bd12cc6ffffe

P4 2.6Ghz PC System with a TFT Monitor and 1 GB Memory.

£200!

[timebase]

This is one reason why I always build my own puters...
OK, so the cpu and mem are quite useable and this would be suitable for someone who wants a ready-built unit for general use.

The unit is used...it has a very small , old type hard drive, the graphics card is about 5-6 years old (64MB)...and sellers have a glut of 15" TFT's as lots of peeps are going for 19" these days (the prices have tumbled)...mouse, keyboard and psu lead not included. Best to buy ur own, anyway.

My next puter would be something like...

3.4GHz cpu...£150
1.5GB ram...£150 or less
200GB sata hard drive...£65
PCI-express mobo...£60-£90 ...buy cheapies at ur peril
500W high quality psu...£65
nvidia 7950 graphics card £250-300
Tai Chi case £160...only if I win the lotto, though...

all prices are ish and will prob come down in the next few months. I'm using a 22" crt monitor atm but will prob get a 20" TFT when it blows up...

So yes, Damian...it's ok for a general purpose ready-built pc.

[jarremachine]

That IS a bargain and it has double the size GB HDD than mine, lol!

And why is it, when you get a HDD, you cannot use the full percentage of that HDD!?!?

What I mean is, if I added another 20GB HDD, I cannot seem to use it's full capacity of 20GB, where a small percentage is unusable, say 1.5%, this is the same problem on the OH's PC too. Is it us or are we being ripped off from HDD manufacturers

[h1r3z]

That IS a bargain and it has double the size GB HDD than mine, lol!

And why is it, when you get a HDD, you cannot use the full percentage of that HDD!?!?

What I mean is, if I added another 20GB HDD, I cannot seem to use it's full capacity of 20GB, where a small percentage is unusable, say 1.5%, this is the same problem on the OH's PC too. Is it us or are we being ripped off from HDD manufacturers

I think it's due to a certain amount being used for partitions, fat table & boot sectors etc.
There will be an expert along with an in-depth explanation shortly

[jarremachine]

I think it's due to a certain amount being used for partitions, fat table & boot sectors etc.
There will be an expert along with an in-depth explanation shortly

Well thank you for that S. I don't think I could cope with an indepth explanation tho', lol!

[dragonmist]

If I had the knowhow Frank, I would build my own PC's. Unfortunately I don't so I will have to buy from a shop or on-line. Not the one that rhymes with hell though. My grandson wants a machine he can play games on. Mine is under 2 years old, but can't keep up with modern games. The one he had his eye on was £1,700, so he can dream on. My PC has only 256 MB RAM. I really need to upgrade it, but I don't think adding more memory plus a better graphics card would be worth the expense. I need 2 PC's with good graphics cards, at least 1 GB RAM, and quiet fans. The fan on this one gets on my nerves. Looks like an expensive bit of shopping. I can see he will get a reasonable PC, and I'll just add to the RAM on this one - and resist kicking it every time the fan cuts in.

[timebase]

If I had the knowhow Frank, I would build my own PC's. Unfortunately I don't so I will have to buy from a shop or on-line. Not the one that rhymes with hell though. My grandson wants a machine he can play games on. Mine is under 2 years old, but can't keep up with modern games. The one he had his eye on was £1,700, so he can dream on. My PC has only 256 MB RAM. I really need to upgrade it, but I don't think adding more memory plus a better graphics card would be worth the expense. I need 2 PC's with good graphics cards, at least 1 GB RAM, and quiet fans. The fan on this one gets on my nerves. Looks like an expensive bit of shopping. I can see he will get a reasonable PC, and I'll just add to the RAM on this one - and resist kicking it every time the fan cuts in.

hi Beryl...hope u r well...if you add up all the prices which I quoted above and double check with ebuyer, you can build a really fast games machine for about £800. Prices change so you have to check just b4 buying.
BTW...a bit pointless going for dual-core atm as you need the software to be able to use it which isn't around yet.
3.2GHz cpu's are not a bad price now.Building a pc takes about an hour or so but installing loads of software can take forever ...best to be lean and mean...
...and of course , when u buy a pc with the software already installed, it's disaster when you need to reinstall and u don't have a disk.That's where an image of the installation on a dvd is a lifesaver.
pm 4 further on this, Beryl.

[dragonmist]

My first on was 8 MB RAM. I could just about retrieve emails with that. Windows 95. I quite liked Windows 95.
The next was 128 MB. A Friday night job, built by a father and son partnership out of date bits and pieces bought at computer fairs. The tower was the best bit about it. It also had dodgy XP installed. After 30 days Microsh*t cut it off. Apparently I should have been receiving warnings from Micros**t, but the the son had hacked in so I didn't get the warnings. I went to take it back, and they had done a runner. I got it reloaded with XP Pro but the graphics card was cr*p.
Thanks to a 3 number Lottery Hotpick coming up I bought this one. This one is 256 MB. HP but dated. I do like the HP System. If you get a real problem you can reformat the "workings" to factory standard without losing your files and documents.
I spent 10 years assembling computers from PCB's to the finished product. They weighed a ton. I wouldn't know where to start now. The components are much smaller and more powerful.

[timebase]

...pmsl...I liked that, Beryl...
I either back files up on dvd or transfer them to a HDD caddy of which I have about 4 with 120GB drives in or there abouts. Reinstalling is then less of a prob...not forgetting any emails etc.

Trouble with upgrading with a new AGP graphics card, they are not cheap except for the nvidia 6600 series which are ok and u may need a beefier psu and more memory. Prob best to save up and go for a PCI-express mobo and gfx card.

[dragonmist]

Trouble with upgrading with a new AGP graphics card, they are not cheap except for the nvidia 6600 series which are ok and u may need a beefier psu and more memory. Prob best to save up and go for a PCI-express mobo and gfx card.

Ho Hum .... It would be better to save up for 2 new PC's. At least they would work. I always forget to back up stuff ...... which is why the HP system suits me. I have one of those pendrive things. It's still in it's packet. Never put off until tomorrow anything that can be put off till next week. I can always think of better things to do with my time.