Which PC for £500

I'm after a new PC. I only use it for browsing the net and for pics really so have budgeted upto £500 for a desktop package (base and monitor).

Main requirements is value for money and reliability. Absolute computer noob so really could do with some advice as to which make is good and which to avoid i.e Mesh, Dell, HP, Acer, Compaq, etc...

Would rather go for new than used.

I hear Apple Macintosh are going to be big...

for 500 i'd get a second hand iBook, if you're dead keen in windows you can install it, otherwise perhaps give os x a go?

(let's not make this a mac vs pc thread now. my recomendation is based on reliability. I think macs are far more reliable than pc's, even if they run windows)

use Dell. They do good deals and have good customer support if something should go wrong.

for 500 i'd get a second hand iBook, if you're dead keen in windows you can install it, otherwise perhaps give os x a go?

(let's not make this a mac vs pc thread now. my recomendation is based on reliability. I think macs are far more reliable than pc's, even if they run windows)

apple laptops are woefully unreliable. I'd not recommend one.
Besides for £500 desktops provide much more power for the money.

Presuming this is a hardware-only cost, you can spec a pretty nice (Athlon quadcore, 4G RAM, Iiyama 22" TFT) machine for less than £500 at http://pcspecialist.co.uk - I've used them in the past and their builds are very decent. If you need Windows, unfortunately that blows about 20% of your budget. This is one of the many reasons why Ubuntu is such a good and shiny thing.

http://welcome.hp.com/gms/uk/en/hho/desktops.html

Dell

And what ever you do dont go PC World.

This ^

My mac recently crashed and i bought an Lenovo G550 for around £550.
(it's a laptop, but may be worth a look)

http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=19525

Got my PC from Chillblast a couple of years ago, much different system to this, but mine has served me well and their service was first rate.

http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=19525

Got my PC from Chillblast a couple of years ago, much different system to this, but mine has served me well and their service was first rate.

Looks a good site, that. Shame there's no custom build option though.

Protip for PC buyers: shedloads of RAM makes a lot more difference to perceived performance than faster CPUs (with a few exceptions for oddball workloads like games and some kinds of bulk processing). The moment you have to hit the disk, the CPU is taking milliseconds rather than nanoseconds to get what it needs, which is an inconvenient million times longer.

As long as you are running a 64bit version of the OS.
Running a 32bit OS with more than ~3gb RAM installed is pointless.

Oh and hard drives are slow yet still need to be accessed so buy a fast 10,000RPM drive or an SSD.

Since this is being discussed: which PC, desktop or laptop, for less than 300?

As long as you are running a 64bit version of the OS.
Running a 32bit OS with more than ~3gb RAM installed is pointless.

Oh and hard drives are slow yet still need to be accessed so buy a fast 10,000RPM drive or an SSD.

Indeed. Always 64bit unless you're on a netbook or something.

The key thing with hard drives is only to have to access the buggers once, which means no memory pressure, ever. I find 2x7200rpm SATAs in a mirror is pretty good. Doubled read speed and losing a drive doesn't involve reinstalling the machine. Most Linux distros will do the setup for this in the installer now, too.

Since this is being discussed: which PC, desktop or laptop, for less than 300?

If you're including a monitor in that, you're only leaving about £200 for the PC itself. Maybe something based on the Intel boards with the dual-core Atom chips soldered on. They'll take 2GB or more of RAM, have (non-3D) built in graphics and cases/PSUs for them are cheap too.

Indeed. Always 64bit unless you're on a netbook or something.
The key thing with hard drives is only to have to access the buggers once, which means no memory pressure, ever. I find 2x7200rpm SATAs in a mirror is pretty good. Doubled read speed and losing a drive doesn't involve reinstalling the machine. Most Linux distros will do the setup for this in the installer now, too.

It depends what you're doing. Some things require read/write hdd access often and the ram you have doesn't help (Visual Studio is always doing compilation and shit in the background, writing to the drive). So, once you've maxed the RAM for your OS, get a fast hdd. Mirroring doubles your drive cost. I'd rather a fast drive with good backup routine but I can see the advantage of mirroring for uptime. I'll soon have VB's old desktop and at some point will probably move to SSD for the speed but we shall see.. mmm.. speed..

If you're including a monitor in that, you're only leaving about £200 for the PC itself. Maybe something based on the Intel boards with the dual-core Atom chips soldered on. They'll take 2GB or more of RAM, have (non-3D) built in graphics and cases/PSUs for them are cheap too.

Do they have computer swap meets over here.. where you pick up grey imports and can then build your own machine on the cheap? Used to do that in Melbourne.

If you're including a monitor in that, you're only leaving about £200 for the PC itself. Maybe something based on the Intel boards with the dual-core Atom chips soldered on. They'll take 2GB or more of RAM, have (non-3D) built in graphics and cases/PSUs for them are cheap too.

Thanks; unfortunately I don't really know what any of that means. If it was a bike I was asking after I would be the person who doesn't know what a bottom bracket is, possibly not even what a saddle is. And I would not know that some bikes were steel and others aluminium.
Basically I want someone who knws what they are talking about and understands what I am looking for to say, here, this is the OTP for you. I don't mind if I end up with a Langster, a Fuji or a Pompino as long as I can get from A to B. I just don't want to end up with a Unipak.
All I want it to do is surf the net, upload pics and, if possible, music too. No need for any graphics or games or anything else really.

build your own PC. Awesome satisfaction and cheaper too.

unless you're particularly into PC video games or have a windows/apple programme you use a lot, get something without an installed OS then get Linux.. It's free, constantly updated and can do pretty much everything you'll need without much fuss.

Build my own PC? I am guessing that is a jokey reference to people being told not to buy an OTP?
Let me explain: I do not know what a cache is. I do not know what Linux is. I only found out today that there is a difference between having Windows XP and using Windows 7 or whatever it is that popped up after my computer crashed. I thought they were the same. Is it becoming clear how little I know? And, really, I don't even want to know, not right now anyway. I just want a computer that will do the very basic things I need and not cost much money.

this sounds like a conversation I have with lucas daily..........
you excel at people+roads+bikes though Im sure.

unless you're particularly into PC video games or have a windows/apple programme you use a lot, get something without an installed OS then get Linux.. It's free, constantly updated and can do pretty much everything you'll need without much fuss.

in my eperience Linux is a good OS but needs a hands on approach and a link to the Linux forum for help, which is often. So many niggles that are non existent in Win7.

Build my own PC? I am guessing that is a jokey reference to people being told not to buy an OTP?
Let me explain: I do not know what a cache is. I do not know what Linux is. I only found out today that there is a difference between having Windows XP and using Windows 7 or whatever it is that popped up after my computer crashed. I thought they were the same. Is it becoming clear how little I know? And, really, I don't even want to know, not right now anyway. I just want a computer that will do the very basic things I need and not cost much money.

laptop it is then. Laptops do basic very well (nowdays for £300 it often can do much more) and have the added bonus of being portable and use much less electricity.