Windle Poons
7th Oct 2004, 16:14
With my ageing PC beginning to struggle with the software loaded onto it, and having upgraded it to the limit of the motherboard, I decided a few months ago that it was time to buy a new one.
After a bit of research I found a company called PCSpecialist.co.uk (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk) who seemed to be offering a very good deal (for the UK that is). In the end I spec'd and bought a machine and have had it for about 3 months now. I am extremely impressed with it, and in case the subject/company had not come up before, I thought I'd attach the spec and price. I would be interested to know if anyone else has used the company, found a better deal in the UK (although I'm not sure I want to know now) and their thoughts.
CPU - Intel Pentium 4 @ 3.4 ghz 800mhz FSB + HTT + 512k cache
Memory - 2048 mb DDR400 PC3200
Motherboard - ASUS dual DDR, S-ATA, 8X AGP, 5 PCI, 800mhz FSB
Graphics Card - 256mb Radeon X800XT (Platinum edition) + DVI etc.
Sound Card - Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1
Hard Drives - 1 * 120gb and 1 * 80gb S-ATA @ 7200rpm with 8mb cache
Optical Drives - 16X DVD ROM with 48X CD ROM (combined) and 52X 32X 52X CD writer (I have an external DVD +-R +-RW drive)
Network - 10/100 network card
Power supply - 550W PSU + 120mm fan + 19.2dBA CPU Cooler
Other stuff
Microsoft XP Home
Floppy drive (for old times sake)
56k modem
Internal 7 in 1 memory card reader
Four port USB 2.0 card, (8 total - 2 internal & 2 on front)
Three port firewire card
High end 17" TFT monitor
Logitech cordless desktop optical keyboard and mouse
TV card with TV/Teletext/Radio/Remote and scheduled recording
1 year RTB warranty
Bundled with loads of freeware and other non-mainstream software.
Total price for the lot was £1615 including VAT, whilst Dell wanted £2300 for almost exactly the same spec. I should add that with Dell I would have received Microsoft Works 7.0 included in the price!
As said I am extremely impressed with the machine. It took about 7-10 days to build and deliver the machine, once the money had cleared to their account. The only negative comments I have are that you can't pay with a credit card, and with so many fans cooling the system it can be noisy(ish) when they all kick in together.
Although I could have posted this sooner I wanted to give the system a couple of months of hard work to see if it fell over, or in any way proved less than as expected. I use a lot of graphics software which eats up the RAM, but this machine handles loads of RAM intensive software at the same time. It is quite happy running Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash MX2004 and Dreamweaver at the same time.
I have had cause to call the company once, but that was my own fault when I made a hash of installing a third hard drive with a second operating system. They were more than helpful, given it was my own error, and I had everything sorted with 10-15 minutes.
I suppose I should add for the cynics that I am in no way connected with the company, but if you are looking for a new system, then it's worth checking out what price they can do it for.
WP.
After a bit of research I found a company called PCSpecialist.co.uk (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk) who seemed to be offering a very good deal (for the UK that is). In the end I spec'd and bought a machine and have had it for about 3 months now. I am extremely impressed with it, and in case the subject/company had not come up before, I thought I'd attach the spec and price. I would be interested to know if anyone else has used the company, found a better deal in the UK (although I'm not sure I want to know now) and their thoughts.
CPU - Intel Pentium 4 @ 3.4 ghz 800mhz FSB + HTT + 512k cache
Memory - 2048 mb DDR400 PC3200
Motherboard - ASUS dual DDR, S-ATA, 8X AGP, 5 PCI, 800mhz FSB
Graphics Card - 256mb Radeon X800XT (Platinum edition) + DVI etc.
Sound Card - Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1
Hard Drives - 1 * 120gb and 1 * 80gb S-ATA @ 7200rpm with 8mb cache
Optical Drives - 16X DVD ROM with 48X CD ROM (combined) and 52X 32X 52X CD writer (I have an external DVD +-R +-RW drive)
Network - 10/100 network card
Power supply - 550W PSU + 120mm fan + 19.2dBA CPU Cooler
Other stuff
Microsoft XP Home
Floppy drive (for old times sake)
56k modem
Internal 7 in 1 memory card reader
Four port USB 2.0 card, (8 total - 2 internal & 2 on front)
Three port firewire card
High end 17" TFT monitor
Logitech cordless desktop optical keyboard and mouse
TV card with TV/Teletext/Radio/Remote and scheduled recording
1 year RTB warranty
Bundled with loads of freeware and other non-mainstream software.
Total price for the lot was £1615 including VAT, whilst Dell wanted £2300 for almost exactly the same spec. I should add that with Dell I would have received Microsoft Works 7.0 included in the price!
As said I am extremely impressed with the machine. It took about 7-10 days to build and deliver the machine, once the money had cleared to their account. The only negative comments I have are that you can't pay with a credit card, and with so many fans cooling the system it can be noisy(ish) when they all kick in together.
Although I could have posted this sooner I wanted to give the system a couple of months of hard work to see if it fell over, or in any way proved less than as expected. I use a lot of graphics software which eats up the RAM, but this machine handles loads of RAM intensive software at the same time. It is quite happy running Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash MX2004 and Dreamweaver at the same time.
I have had cause to call the company once, but that was my own fault when I made a hash of installing a third hard drive with a second operating system. They were more than helpful, given it was my own error, and I had everything sorted with 10-15 minutes.
I suppose I should add for the cynics that I am in no way connected with the company, but if you are looking for a new system, then it's worth checking out what price they can do it for.
WP.