Replacement Computer

My home computer is a 1GHz Dell with 512MB RAM (don't laugh) running WinXP! It's done its bit but is 5 years old and needs replacing.

Unfortunately, all the new Dells are sold with Vista and I am conservative in my habits; XP works and does everything I need, so why change other than to keep Mr Gates in the manner to which he is accustomed?

This PC is a 3.2GHz with 1GB RAM which is more than adequate although the HDD is probably too slow. I think it is a SATA.

I need the Internet, MS Office and that's about it. No games - as I don't have the time.

Any suggestions, please? I haven't been keeping an eye on processors etc, so you might have to explain! Is it worth trying XP Pro or XP Media?

Grateful for advice...

Litotes (but it's well past my bedtime now....)

 

Although almost all PCs come with Vista, there would be nothing stopping you putting XP home on a new one though. If you bought one of the cheaper ones running something like Vista Basic and then put XP on it it would run a fair bit faster. I'm assuming that you have an XP installation disk for your current computer though.
SATA is the faster of the available hard disk types, the other is PATA which is likely to be what you have in your existing PC. If that is the case you will need to get a disk made up with the SATA drivers on it for XP, when you go to install it will ask if you want to install any SCSI or RAID drivers, you will need to use this disk then, or get a geek to do it.
The PC you describe sounds like it would happily run XP. Unfortunately it will crawl with Vista on it. Unless you're planning on joining a windows domain or have any use for more advanced networking tools I would stick with XP home. I have not had any experience of Media Centre so I could not say on that one. To keep it running fast I would personally advise (though there will be others who disagree) avoiding Norton or McAfee antivirus. Instead go for something a bit more lightweight like Clamwin, which is free. Also Ghostwall as a firewall, also free. They tend to do their job and not slow your system down.
I hope the above is of use to you.

 

^ blinded, sorry mate my eyes can't read your story.

Litotes, I thought DELL were bringing out models with the option of your OS of choice?

If I scored a new machine now it would have some kind of Linux/Ubuntu as the primary OS.

Then WinXP on a second drive for games and MS$ dependent programmes not available for Linux.

At start-up, there would be the option to enter either OS.

That will be my next machine but yes, sorry to sidetrack; I'm sure I read somewhere Dell were offering you an optional OS.

 

There are also plenty of sites that will let you "configure a system", so you can take their baseline system and choose the OS you like.



The System below is one from http://www.yoyotech.co.uk



The base system started at £148.49, but i added and swapped out a few bits. I added a new monitor and Keyboard/mouse etc, which you may not need.



Yoyotech Amd Primate Zero
Was £366.26 ex. vat
Now £ 358.93 ex. vat
£421.74 inc. vat



Cases: Antec NSK4000 Mini Tower case without PSU Black/Silver

Powersupply: Ezcool 550W P4 Super Silent Power supply Supports 24 pin eATX for Socket 775 mainboards

AMD Motherboard: Abit NF-M2S SKT AM2 DDR2, SATA2, GLAN, Audio Motherboard

AMD CPU: AMD AM2 Sempron 3600 Manila Core 2.0GHz CPU Retail

PC Memory: OCZ 1GB 667Mhz PC5400 DDR2 Value Series Memory

Desktop Hard Drive: Hitachi T7K250 160GB 7200rpm 8MB Cache SATA II Hard Drive

CD/DVD RW: Pioneer DVR-112DBK Black 18X DVD +/-R/RW DL - oem

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home OEM Inc Service Pack 2

TFT Monitors: Dell E207WFP, 20.1" Widescreen TFT, VGA/DVI, 1680x1050, 5 ms, 800:1, 300 cd/m2, Black Monitor

Desktop: Logitech® Cordless Desktop® EX 110




TangoSix, with all due respect, in all the posts that I have shared with you, you have never posted a spec and price for a full machine you are selling, for others to comment on. This makes me nervous and wonder why? At the end of the day, most of the people on this site dont have anything to sell, they are offering advice and opinion based on their experiences. You are obviosuly a seller and therefore not neccesarily unbiased. Could I ask you to stand up and be counted and post a system equivalent to the one above for example, and your prioce for the system?

 

Thanks, Guys!

I have looked for Dell machines with XP installed but couldn't find any. I recall that they planned to offer those machines for a short while only.

As for the XP master disks, I have Dell machines so the cabs are always on the hidden partition - and I have never had to use them (touch wood...)!

I will investigate those sites, thank you!

Litotes

 

A lot of PC maufacturers refuse to ship Vista and still use XP. But I suggest this is an ideal time to switch to Linux. Dell do them too.

 

IIRC Microsoft have ceased producing both retail and OEM copies of XP, which means at some point the supply will dry up - once PC manufacturers use up the last of their licences that's it. Also seem to recall that Dell were originally only going to allow business' to continue to buy XP, but popular pressure etc... Still only a matter of time though.
One thing to remember - if you did buy a PC, even a cheap one, that has Vista, then you've already paid the man, even if you install XP.
On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with Vista, unless you have older printers/scanners/etc you rely on, or really want to use the BBC TV iPlayer. At least with Vista you're future proofed for a bit. Oh, and it is more secure (not saying much I know).

 

Hi Litotes, have a look at this site,

http://www.scan.co.uk/

add all you want to your account till your happy,
then print it out and take the list to who ever you want
and ask for a better quote.

Ps if your buying an operating system for any computer
be it Xp or Vista buy a hard drive at the same time then
ask for an 'OEM' copy of the operating system and youll
find it's about a 1/3 of the full retail cost.
OEM=Original equipment manufacturer, IE You build PC's for a living.

 

I am not suggesting you advertise, what I am suggesting is that when some one asks for a system and you ask them to PM you, you must have a system in mind for their needs, and I wonder why you are not willing to put that in the public domain for others to comment on.

The problem I have with your approach is that it appears shady (excuse me if its not) Often the people on here asking for advice do not know a lot about what they are asking (otherwise they wouldnt be asking). If I or any of the other frequent posters recommend or quote cr@p, there is always some one who will correct me, but you take them behind close doors and for all I know you could be telling them that an old style PCI graphics card is still a good value option (which I seem to recall you said in a thread a few months ago), now the uninitiated might not realise the difference between PCI and PCI-e (about 8 years or so) and quite happily take your suggested system expecting something more than they really get.
All I want is a bit of transparency. If your systems are as good as the ones others have advised, dont be afraid to say so, but if they are not, dont expect people like me to give you an easy ride

 

My appologies about the PCI card, that was someone else
http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=75445/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=15.html

However, back on topic. I agree your personal conversatioins are your own, but as I said what I disapprove of is your methods. people come on here asking for advice and links, most of us give it openly and link sites we think will be useful. However one of your common replies is "PM me" which to me comes across as "I will only tell you in private! so of course my first question is "Why?" and given that you have admited your are a retailer, this deepens my suspicions. Sorry but thats the way it is. As for trying to turn my argument back on me by saying "I am sure they have the wit to look else where.", thats what the insurance salesman said when he was trying to rip my Granny off. As I said, if your prices are that good, what have you got to hide?

 

So why don't you two take it to pm's then you can send pictures of your willys and compare size then scratch each others eyes out to your hearts content.


/Fukcing yawn

 

* Edited because I dont know why I bothered replying