PC desktop recomendation

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Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 11:04 am Post subject: PC desktop recomendation

I need to sort out a new PC to be used for work. So, nothing that powerful but something reliable and something that will last.

We currently use a Lenovo but they don't seem to offer any good deals at the moment. Ideally I want a 3yr+ in home warranty as I've found over the years PCs that are sold with a long warranty last longer.

OS is not important as I may upgrade to Windows 10 at some point. (Does 10 come in various flavours like 7, i.e. Home, Professional etc?)

A bit of a rummage has found this from Misco, which seems reasonable:

HP ProDesk 400 G1 Small Form Factor / Intel Core i7-4790 / 4GB RAM / 500GB HDD / SM DVD writer / Windows 8.1 Pro downgraded to Windows 7 Professional / 5 year OS NBD warranty / Desktop PC bundle

The memory looks a little small but apart from that it seems reasonable for ï¿½420. Anyone have any other recommendations of a desktop or place to look?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 11:09 am Post subject: Re: PC desktop recomendation

Treacodactyl wrote:

OS is not important as I may upgrade to Windows 10 at some point. (Does 10 come in various flavours like 7, i.e. Home, Professional etc?)

Nope. It's just 10 then you add (or mainly remove) bits to customize it to your satisfaction.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 11:45 am Post subject:

my hp lappy has been very reliable for 8 years

it might be worth finding out if you can up the ram(some have space on the mb and a few quid will add a lot,some dont accept extra ram even in the same slot)

is 500g big enough for the hd.this machine has 500g split into on two disks one for the os and one for data .the os one is nearly full of vista and the other is over half full.im not sure how big 10 starts at but knowing microsoft it will get bigger over the lifetime of the machine.how big the data store needs to be depends on what you do ,numbers and words are pretty small,visual stuff can get huge quite quickly and library of research materials seem to grow like topsy especially if you need them in multiple formats.

the cpu seems adequate for "normal"stuff but might struggle with raw to hd video editing or gaming (in your work "rests")if you do either you probably need a faster cpu and lots more ram

is it quiet in use,a noisy fanheater is a distraction from work(online reviews might answer that)

it seems like a decent value machine for an office pooter and should be fine with the usual office stuff ,excel ,word etc etc

allowing for a dedicated external hd as an auto run backup might avoid any issues with the rather small single hd in the box ,a tb is around ï¿½50 these days

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 2:03 pm Post subject:
Prefer hp or acer to lenovo

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4630
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 6:39 pm Post subject:

Acer are fine*, Windows 10 is good, I think it does come in different flavours because there was some stuff that my upgrade (domestic version) wouldn't access? But not anything I needed so I didn't bother to remember

*they come with a crapload of pre-loaded software that I instantly delete, so just be aware of some set-up time.

Now there's a thought, can I update my stored PC (windows vista iirc) to Windows 10 too?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 6:56 pm Post subject:

NorthernMonkeyGirl wrote:

Now there's a thought, can I update my stored PC (windows vista iirc) to Windows 10 too?

'Sonly free for 7 & 8 afaik.

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4630
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 7:02 pm Post subject:
Bugger. Any free Windows 7 upgrades out there?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 8:58 pm Post subject:
there is a way to do it from an empty formatted drive ,saw it online somewhere .probably by looking for can one upgrade from vista

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 9:49 pm Post subject:
You could get a win 7 upgrade disk on ebay

GrahamH

Joined: 23 May 2015
Posts: 523

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 15 11:05 pm Post subject:

I'm happy with Windows 7. Below is part of an article about Windows 10....
Here are the main gripes about Windows 10:

1) It shares your personal information by default. Windows sends Microsoft everything you say to Cortana. It also collects your name and nickname, your recent calendar events, the names of the people in your appointments, and information about your contacts. You can turn it off, but it will take 13 privacy screens to do so.

2) It borrows bandwidth from your personal internet connection. It's a feature called Windows Update Delivery Optimization, and it's actually a potentially brilliant way to help Windows 10 users update their PCs faster by connecting to millions of different people instead of just Microsoft. But Microsoft isn't upfront with customers about it. To turn it off, you'll have to navigate to a submenu ("Choose how updates are delivered") of a submenu ("Advanced options") within the settings app.

3) It can share your wireless password with your friends. It is a new feature call WiFi Sense. Microsoft enables WiFi sense by default on Windows 10, it doesn't share your networks by default -- you have to choose to do that.

4) Even if you disable data sharing, it will still send info to Microsoft. Even if you disable Cortana and bing searches, typing anything in the start menu will send info to Microsoft.

5) It can scan for counterfeit games. "We may automatically check your version of the software and download software updates or configuration changes, including those that prevent you from accessing the Services, playing counterfeit games, or using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices."

Falstaff

Joined: 27 May 2009
Posts: 1014

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 15 12:42 am Post subject:

GrahamH wrote:

Bugger

Wot's to do on linux ?

GrahamH

Joined: 23 May 2015
Posts: 523

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 15 1:38 am Post subject:

Just because something is a new version it doesn't mean it's better. Windows 8 is a case in point. As a business Microsoft has to keep pushing new products.
Most of the US military runs XP; it works for their systems.
I am used to Windows 7 and it handles all the software I currently use so I see no reason to change.
As in the pyramids, the first was the best built. The original Windows due to BG and PA's writing was a brilliant piece of work. Later editions were and are a lot loser and take up more and more space.
Are the new PCs shipping with 10 yet?
I have no preference for brands of PC so would chose first on processor speed then software/OS followed by warranty.
Upgrades of storage is fairly cheap so in my view is not that important.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 15 7:28 am Post subject:
The CPU and disk space will be more than ample for the intended use. RAM should be fine but it does have a free slot. Windows 7 will be used for the foreseeable future as it's a business PC so we'll use the the business use. I can't find any better deals so the only thing to worry about is reliability and the noise. Both of which I think we'll have to take a gamble on.

Shane

Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 3467
Location: Doha. Is hot.

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 15 7:34 am Post subject:

GrahamH wrote:

My main gripe is that when I updated from Windows 7 to Windows 10 it only loaded the start menu and Cortana thingy for one out of the four users that use the desktop, so the start button / Windows key doesn't work for three of us. A quick search on Google shows that this is a known issue and the only fix is a complete reinstall, which means having to reinstall all files and applications, which is going to take me ages. If I'd known about that I wouldn't have bothered with the upgrade, and currently have no intention of upgrading the laptop.

Royal PITA.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 15 11:53 pm Post subject:
when i eventually need to upgrade this lappy it will get the linux treatment.the very idea of bing searches and nanny bill watching over my every move makes me shudder having used the linux machine for "research in a hostile environment" it does seem quite robust and with a few bits of tweeking that direction might be the way to go for every day use as well.

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