New PC

[Timbo]

I don't mind refurbished/cheapo PCs for a back up ( I have two old laptops for this) - but my work relies on a good PC and my time is too valuable to valuable to spend messing around with IT stuff, so I reckon you need to spend £800 to have something worthy of the importance of the task.

I like the Dell all in ones - many of the advantages of a laptop and none of the disadvantages. You cannot update them easily but who updates computers nowadays? They don't take up much space. Portable hard drives are cheap for back ups (though I recommend a cloud backup too) and you can plug in any other peripheral you need.

Desktop Computers

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Completely hate all-in-ones - they are always based on laptop hardware and compromised in performance due to space inside / heat management and what a power brick can supply, as well as always having crap quality screens. If one component fails within you throw the whole thing away.

I also disagree that £800 needs to be spent on a performance desktop PC. £500 would buy you a decent base unit and 2 x24" monitors which can be recycled to the next base unit when needed

 

[Bogweevil]

Completely hate all-in-ones - they are always based on laptop hardware and compromised in performance due to space inside / heat management and what a power brick can supply, as well as always having crap quality screens. If one component fails within you throw the whole thing away.

I also disagree that £800 needs to be spent on a performance desktop PC. £500 would buy you a decent base unit and 2 x24" monitors which can be recycled to the next base unit when needed

All good points but long experience of faffing around with cheap machines has convinced me of the value of getting something really good that are a joy to use, seldom fail and that can run comprehensive security and anti-virus software in the background with no reduction in performance.

My employer spends £700+ on tower units for every employee - that is the baseline for professional users.

 

[ollie989898]

Don't ever buy anything from fudging Dell and certainly not an all in one. You won't ever upgrade or repair the thing. You need a regular tower case that you can change components in. You cannot go wrong with people like Overclockers UK or Novatech. Ring them up, tell them what you need then post the spec they suggest. Those of us in the know will tell you if its good to go or not. You want to spent £500-600 in reality and buy a decent mouse, keyboard and monitors after that. The tripe you see shipped with a typical consumer PC is bilge.

 

[Timbo]

My employer spends £700+ on tower units for every employee - that is the baseline for professional users.

I dont dispute that, but i bet he doesnt spend £700+ on all-in-ones...

 

[J B]

...... so I reckon you need to spend £800 to have something worthy of the importance of the task.

£800, on a desktop - I'd want two for that money!!!

 

[Bogweevil]

No one bothers with upgrading nowadays - you just buy a new PC when later technology offers some advantages - I reckon that is whenever you get four times as much performance as the existing machi9ne - every four years roughly, it is worth upgrading. However PCs are so good now I don't think I will ever upgrade again for my office based software.

As for my employer, she buys HP units that come with all the security/antivirus/remote management software installed - ransomeware, viruses and hackers could sink the business overnight.

I have found Dell well made for the price - if you have the money buy something as good as you can afford. Cheapo PCs will do the job but after years of hard grind I don't want to notice the hardware, I want it seamless and responsive.

 

[Steevo]

All good points but long experience of faffing around with cheap machines has convinced me of the value of getting something really good that are a joy to use, seldom fail and that can run comprehensive security and anti-virus software in the background with no reduction in performance.

My employer spends £700+ on tower units for every employee - that is the baseline for professional users.

This is my experience. Always bought a budget £300/400 machine and kept it for however long. Effort of swapping all the stuf over to a new machine put me off buying a new machine so kept going with that for 5-6yrs. Last year splashed out and paid £750+vat on a new one specced sensibly but solidly. I can’t see a need to upgrade it for 6-8 years at least. I can’t believe I hobbled on with my old machine so long, it was so painful compared to the breeze of the new machine. So much less hassle and time wasted now.

Cheap can be false economy in the long run.

 

[ollie989898]

Ultimately, a PC case and good quality PSU will live for years. You can change out the motherboard and CPU and the rest very readily if these main components are sound. I have a high quality case and Power supply that I fully intend to retain when I upgrade my PC in the future. It really is very straight forward to build a computer these days. Start with the right form factor case, buy a good quality mobo and you go from there.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Ultimately, a PC case and good quality PSU will live for years. You can change out the motherboard and CPU and the rest very readily if these main components are sound. I have a high quality case and Power supply that I fully intend to retain when I upgrade my PC in the future. It really is very straight forward to build a computer these days. Start with the right form factor case, buy a good quality mobo and you go from there.

Only if you are a bit of a tech nerd. Swapping a hard disc or adding memory is ok for many folk but installing a new motherboard and graphics card means having to reinstall Windows, re-license it, restore all your files and update all the drivers. Most folk aren't up to doing that.

We ran a refurb Fujitsu Siemens PC (£450) for 7 years which was perfectly adequate. We've now run our refurb 2009 27" core i7 iMac (£1500) for 11 years (mostly running Windows 10) and it's got a bit longer in it yet. Both have been good value. I use CAD and GIS too.

The Mac screen was a revelation though. Our next office computer might be a Mac or a PC but it WILL have a high res 27" monitor.

 

[computerbeing]

You can get a desktop PC with an i5 processor (7th gen and above), 250GB SSD and 8GB Ram. The motherboard should have build in graphics card. That should be around £300-£350. Then a good branded screen for 23" or above for about £100. As for a printer a monochrome laser printer would have very low ink consumption and most are fast and reliable. Again around £100.

 

[farmerm]

Ultimately, a PC case and good quality PSU will live for years. You can change out the motherboard and CPU and the rest very readily if these main components are sound. I have a high quality case and Power supply that I fully intend to retain when I upgrade my PC in the future. It really is very straight forward to build a computer these days. Start with the right form factor case, buy a good quality mobo and you go from ther

Whilst a PC case and PSU will last for years generally so will the motherboard and CPU. For the average home office user it just aint worth buggering about with upgrading motherboards and CPUs. Put a new engine in an old landrover and it is still an old landrover.

 

[Highland Mule]

That's a really interesting hobby! I think I could be a farmer too, but for now, I have another hobby. It's computer games, and even though it's not as useful as growing vegetables, playing csgo and getting <removed link> is way easier and more entertaining, so I like it. But I think one day I'll settle down and buy a plot of land too.

Presumably spamming fora is one of your hobbies too?

 

[wanton dwarf]

The Mac screen was a revelation though. Our next office computer might be a Mac or a PC but it WILL have a high res 27" monitor.

I'd advise buying a High Resolution TV instead - currently using a 32 inch TV.

You'll probably get better value for your money and have the option of using the latest tech to watch TV or internet resources.

In either case check the input/output ports to ensure you can get the resolution you want, they support sound and the screen is capable of a high refresh rate. I would suggest around 100hz plus - 60hz is harder on your eyes.

I'll probably upgrade to 50 inch screen, 4k and 120-144hz - when I can buy a decent graphics card.

 

[TimJericco]

The TV is now very difficult to find exactly 100 Hz to 32 inches.