Cool
Heres my 2cents worth regarding purchasing a new system
1. If you can build your own.. it isnt as hard as you think
2. Get off your lazy fat behind and build your own youll enjoy it
3. Go get yourself a cup of coffee, and accept that you really should build it yourself
4. Never buy your parts from a retail outlet like PC world who exist on the high street.. save your money buy your parts online..
5. Never buy your system brand NEW.. always buy it from cancelled orders etc using online sources like ebay shops of GOOD firms.. even Dell have an ebay shop for great systems if you really must buy a system whole
http://outlet.dell.com/Emea_Dfo/EuDispatcher?country=GBR&target=InventoryPage&lob_constraint=INSP
6. Dont be fooled into thinking the processor is the most important option in your rig.. IT ISNT! your best bet is save money, go for a relatively good spec but your main concern is MEMORY!!! always make sure the memory is the best you can buy (PS try to stick to the same memory make and model if buying several units)
7. The blue screen of death is usually a memory failure issue,
8. If your super smart and you buy a second user system for peanuts, make sure the DRIVE is ALWAYS brand new
9. You dont need to go to Windows Vista XP is absolutely fine because it has good bug fixes now and is stable.... You can use Linux operating system but you wont be playing many games on that system if thats your bag.
10. Do you really need a Laptop?.... really? at around triple the price?... R you sure?... think again.. you cant easily add two or three screens and the heat generated inside means components mean time before failure (MTBF) are shortened drastically
11. Dont be tempted by some obscure virus checkers.. go for top notch and dump the rest... anyone who really truely needs to break into your system and is capable will probably do so inspite of virus checkers
12. Make sure though you seek a good Spyware detector... most spyware detectors bundled with virus checkers are not really all that robust... youll probably need to use two if your worried about intrusion/hacking
11. make sure you switch off services in windows like telnet or remote assistance or entry into your system will be like taking candy from a child.
13. For those of you who do not understand how a computer works.. this is all you need to know:
memory is like your desk at work.. the bigger it is the more books you can spread on it and the quicker you can grab them and work with many open pages..simple
Hard Drive is simply your chest of draws that store your books
The cpu is your IQ, but remember what good is a smart guy with a huge project to work on and a 2x2 inch tabletop? Also a clever guy and a moderately clever guy will not necessarily give you unlike results to simple questions.. (CPU speed is overrated)
Motherboard.. is simply the 1st and second floor of your house holding up everything so it works together
Power supply self explanatory but these days for PCs your looking at a minimum requirement of 400watts output..anything less and the more things you add, the more likely you will have problems..like phantom reboots..
14 screens your looking for TFT LCD screen with high brightness bit most importantly a low response time e.g. 12ms or less..definitely single figures if your looing to play games.. try not to cut corners here.. eventually poor quality here will irritate you or reduce the clarity of your experience, best monitors are made by Eizo, because they also make units for medical purposes
summary:
Build yourself youll learn stuff and be able to fix problems later
Dont cut coners with hard drives buy new,
memory must be large, 2GB min
CPU speed, look for 2GB upward or cutting edge.... bleeding edge speed isnt worth it.. (and sometimes the only difference between some CPU models is the speed they are set at, you will most likely be able to increase the clock speed anyway... its just that you may need a bigger heat sink to cope with the extra heat... thats all..
Choose your screen well, avoid obscure 3rd party brands
just my 2cents..
Paul
