Eglu Go With 2m Run For Sale

[hillfamily]

My Mother wants to get a new computer but she doesn't know what make to get or where to get it from. She is mentioning words like a Dell computer or buying one from P C World...to which I just shuddered

 

I have not heard good things about Dell and personal experience of PC World, when purchasing computers for DS and DD in the past, will not permit me to ever set foot in that place again.

 

I'm a Mac user and have been for years (purchased from either John Lewis or Apple) so I'm not much use on the advice front as Mum doesn't want a Mac.

 

I suggested she look at the John Lewis website but, they don't seem to have many makes in stock that meet her requirements - price and hard drive size (wants to spend about £500-£600 and wants a 1TB hard drive for all her language CDs and Photos)

 

So if anyone has any recommendations I would be very grateful

[Cinnamon]

I would have suggested John Lewis too, but maybe you need to go to a store?

[Cooks]

I bought my laptop from Comet and I found them very helpful he even told me not to buy a more expensive laptop than this one that I ahd my eye on as it wasn't as good.

 

I ahve bought from pc world before and have the same opinion as you. Thats also if you can get served.

 

You need Couperman or Fred I think.. they are normally great with putery things (I made a word!!)

[abwsco]

We've had no problems at all with Dell

[Patricia W]

I've got a Dell and love it. But the purpose I use it for may be totally different to your Mum's. She really needs some advice from a neutral source - and not from someone trying to sell her something.

 

At this point however, I am stumped! Maybe someone else may have suggestions for a neutral source of advice?

 

Tricia

[docsquid]

The problem with Dell is that they tend to use components that aren't common in other computers e.g. often use their own memory chips. This makes upgrading difficult, as their own branded memory is expensive and that's the only one you can use.

 

I did have several Dells and they were no problem until you want to upgrade any of the components, and then you end up giving up and buying a new PC.

 

I now have and Acer and it has been excellent. And it has standard components, so if I want more memory, a faster processor or so on, I can upgrade it.

 

BTW 1TB is a huge disc. Is she sure she needs that much? I've got thousands and thousands of photos and a lot of music and can't fill even half that space.

[Busybird]

It is cheaper to buy direct from Dell on line if you know what you want. If you neeed advice then we have found John Lewis excellent for other techy items. Once you have made up your mind what you want check out the on line offers.

 

We have just ordered a Dell Inspiron 560 MT for £450. It has a 640GB hard drive which is ample for general use. We have two external hard drives with TB capacity that we use for the weekly backups. We also hold our photos and music backed up on a Buffalo drive.

 

OH is a computer consultant so needs to be able to run client software from home. We have bought Dell computers for years. We used to upgrade when they became museum pieces and the modern operating systems ran too slowly on the old processors. Recently (last 5 years or so) we have had to upgrade because the old computer has died. We therefore think that build quality has deteriorated. For the money, capacity, capability and so on, Dell still offers value. Just make sure that you do regular backups!

[Guest]

I used Dell and bought online, building a laptop to my own specification. I think their site is absolutely brilliant for this because it guides you through the options, explaining what they are and why you may or may not want them.

 

I used Dell because so many trusted people on Omlet recommended them!

 

My laptop is over two years old now and I have had no problems with it. It is on for about 12 hours every day.

[chickric]

We have just ordered a Dell Inspiron 560 MT for £450.

 

We got that exact model just after Christmas, did lots of research and couldn't beat Dell for price and spec, the only one that came close was Medion from Aldi, but thats pot luck as to when they are available. Very good computer although its mainly used for Farmville

[hillfamily]

 

BTW 1TB is a huge disc. Is she sure she needs that much? I've got thousands and thousands of photos and a lot of music and can't fill even half that space.

 

I have tried to persuade Mum that she really doesn't need this much space...she only uses her computer for the internet, emails, writing a few letters, storing her photos and putting all her language cds on so she can put them on her ipod.

 

Thank you for all your advice so far...I'll let Mum know

[Happy chickens!]

We have had a number of Dells and been very happy - had terrible trouble with Acer though, so wouldn't use them again, their cust service left a lot to be desired!

[WarrensWorld]

We have a Dell desktop and a Dell laptop. The desktop is 6 years old never had a problem changed the monitor from 17" to 21" and upgraded the memory.

We'll probably upgrade the desktop later this year, it will be another Dell.

[..lay a little egg for me]

OH contacted Dell when he was thinking about getting a new PC. In the end he decided against it, but they rang up and sent mail shots very intensively for, it seemed, years afterwards. It was a real pain to be having to put them off all the time. So, my only comment is don't let her contact Dell until she is sure they are a serious contender!

[Daphne]

I work for myself and rely on my computer 100%. I've had 3 Dells in past 8 years (2 desktops and a laptop) - because I wanted to upgrade/travel with it, not because they broke. However, I did manage to break the hard disk on the first one, but they sent me a free replacement immediately and talked me through its installation. That gave me confidence to buy from them again - I've found their tech support to be very good. I also had to use PCWorld to get all the data back (and the moral of the story is BACK UP all the time!) and although this was a bit painful it did work in the end and I was sooooooo grateful; it was a work lifesaver. I still buy printers/mice etc from them - its convenient for me.

[majorbloodnock]

I hesitate before replying here, since I cannot claim to be in an entirely disinterested position. However, my intention is to do my best to ignore that partiality.

 

If you look at the various independent reviews on the Internet, for several years running the laptops with the best reliability record have been Sony and Toshiba. This is not just initial statistics based on what percentage of new laptops are returned as faulty on delivery, but also the extended stats of faults over the first three years of life. Hewlett Packard, once regarded as a rock solid choice, are now well down the rankings, and Apple and Dell are pretty much slap bang in the middle.

 

I should also say that, unless you choose a real bargain basement cut-price, substandard quality Friday afternoon lemon, you're unlikely to be running more of a risk than if you were buying any other piece of electrical equipment (such as a hi-fi, for instance). Moreover, all the well-known names have a vested interest in maintaining their appearance, so are all generally pretty well set up for dealing with the problems that will inevitably occasionally occur.

 

Basically, the maxim of getting what you pay for generally holds true.

[Cooks]

ooh my lappy is a Toshiba!

[BarbaraJ]

Mines an Acer but i don't demand much of a computer so cheap was good(insurance replacement too). Also helps to have a brother working in computer forensics if anything drastic happens he can usually find most of my files when i can't even turn the laptop on after pouring tea all over it

[missuscluck]

Heavy Dell user here. Never had a computer that is not Dell, although we have just inherited a Compaq which is rubbish and has issues regarding buying bits for upgrades. We have maxed it out now regards memory upgrades.

 

Have had two Dell desktops for work both of which have been no trouble and I have a Dell desktop at home which has been fine for the last 5 years and I have just had it upgraded with new memory (not from Dell) and hooked it up to an external hard drive and its fine.

 

No experiance of their laptops though. I really fancy one of those lovley coloured ones. But which colour would you pick?? Im such a 'girl'

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

 

Basically, the maxim of getting what you pay for generally holds true.

 

No it doesn't!

 

Being married to an uber-geek and having been forced to hang out with ridiculously knowledgeable IT geeks, I now know that what you pay for is often the brand rather than quality components. If you know what you are looking for and can buy online, you'll see shop-oriented brands often mark up by at least a third for the general populace. Over the counter IT is actually often a total swizz.

 

That said, if Mother is an IT ingenue, it's worth sending her to a shop to sort her out and having her pay the extra to avoid turning yourself into an eternal IT helpdesk rather than her beloved offspring.

[majorbloodnock]

 

Basically, the maxim of getting what you pay for generally holds true.

 

No it doesn't!

 

Being married to an uber-geek and having been forced to hang out with ridiculously knowledgeable IT geeks, I now know that what you pay for is often the brand rather than quality components. If you know what you are looking for and can buy online, you'll see shop-oriented brands often mark up by at least a third for the general populace. Over the counter IT is actually often a total swizz.

 

Whilst I'll agree that there are exceptions, the major brands are more expensive for a reason. The computer market is highly competitive, and if any major player decides to price their products high without any other justification, they lose market share. Some companies like to compete on price, so will cut corners as much as their good name will allow in order to still achieve a profit. Other companies prefer to compete on quality and/or features, in the full knowledge that this will stop their products from winning any price wars.

 

I'm happy to admit that it's possible to pay through the nose with a high street retailer and still get worse value than if you bought a better product cheaper online. However, even in said retailer, their cheaper offerings are cheaper for a reason. My post was intending to discuss differences between brands, not where they're bought, and in that context I stand by what I said. However, I'll agree that high street retailers manage to get away with surprising mark-ups no matter what they're selling (I can't remember the last time I saw some meat in a supermarket where I'd be prepared to spend the price on its label).

[earthmam1]

We bought a Compaq from PC world and I have 3 words to say DONT DONT DONT

 

sue

[Chucky1]

Agree with everyone else - Don't go to PC World.

 

My last PC before this was a Dell - it still works fine and only replaced it because it was a bit tired (like me) and Win 95.

 

Replaced it with this HP laptop from John Lewis - all great so far but its VISTA

 

Best of luck

[Couperwife]

we have purchased from Dell, and have found them fine,

 

however, we do geta lot of mail from them, both electronic and paper, having said that, a lot of companies really need the business at the moment - so I assume you have to expect it

 

we didnt get the most expensive laptop, nor the cheapest, the most expensive doesnt necessarily mean quality, some "value" brands give a lot better product than the "best" (for example - skoda are known to make better cars than Audi - according to topgear )

 

if your mum wants a basic laptop for email and surfing, then she should be able to get just that - for a very reasonable price.

 

hope this helps - ive probably repeated what others have already said - but hey

 

cathy

x

[grracee]

We've always had Dell computers and always found them very good ones. We've only just replaced our old Dell computer as it was abit old (had it for at least 6 years!) but we passed it on to someone in the family and it's still going brilliantly.

I've also got a Dell Inspirion 1525, which when i brought it had a 500gb hard drive which is enough space for me, hardly used any of it and i have loads of my pictures, i-tunes etc on there. I've had the laptop now just over a year and had no probs at all with it.

Previously had an acer laptop and to be honest didn't like it that much, but it's still going... yet again with another family member.

Our family desktop PC has receently been replaced (from the old dell) to a HP w1907v, brought from PC World... can't say we had any problems with them as a store.

Luckily my dad is quite brainy in the computer department so he'll normally know all the 'stuff' i don't, he's always been a dell fan too so after all my rambling, i would recommened a Dell!

[Woodcat]

hey

 

I had a sony vaio for ages and if she is prepared to pay their prices i would really recomend them as i had it for 5 years and it's still working though i have upgraded. It didn't have enough memory and some other issues like that but i have passed it on to my cousin who is using it perfectly happy. I upgraded to a dell simply because i couldn't afford what i wanted with a sony and i'm really happy with them. I haven't had huge amounts of email or through the door stuff but i'm always very careful to tick the i never wish to hear of you again in a million years box. I was really nervous about the whole thing as there are so many horror stories but it was great, turned up perfectly and was very easy to set going.

 

 

I wouldn't touch Pc world with a barge poll. I've never managed to buy something in there without either a row or having to take it back.

 

I'd also second the she doesn't need that much memory i've got a huge music collection that runs to multiple thousands of songs plus i'd estimate at least a thousand photos plus all my school and univercity work etc and i've still got about 350 of 490 gb left.

 

If she ends up going for something like an Hp or a named brand like that it would be worth looking at the manufacturers site because you get more for your money that way.