Best place to buy PCs?

[Jeremy]

Can anyone suggest a good place (on-line or otherwise) to buy a desktop PC? Somewhere that charges a reasonable price, uses decent quality components, is flexible on the spec, and doesn't clutter up the machine with junk you don't need. Oh... and I'm not interested in building my own!

[mockney piers]

tbh, I just went with Dell (online) last time. They're very configurable and pretty reasonable, and the service is pretty good.

I've built before, best for cost, terrible for hassle and support.

I've gone premium, brilliant piece of kit, beautifully built, but will still go obsolete just as quick for the extra grand or so.

I've bought cheap from small online suppliers and far too much hassle getting anything done when things go wrong (for instance, I had a faulty CPU in one).

So for my last one eneded up plumping for Dell because its easy, and been very happy with the end result. Good piece of quad core, hyperthreaded kit (Core i7), been very reliable, all for 700 notes (they start about 300 odd i think; dell, not i7 stuff).

[Marmora Man]

Apple.

My Apple Mac is now 8 years old, has had a memory upgrade but is otherwise still very very good, speedy and capable (and has never been hit by a virus). Cost per year is, arguably, better than any Windows based PC where a change every 4 years seems about par.

[peterstorm1985]

Dell online for me too - you only get what you want and after 7 years trouble free use, adding extra memory as increased demands required was dead easy (although small fingers useful). Useful help pages written by intelligent humans. Only time I've ever needed support they were really helpful (especially as the problem wasn't their kit but a cheap printer I'd bought.)

[*Bob*]

Peter, whilst you're here - can you settle an argument?

Have you, or have you not - named yourself in honour of Millets own-brand outdoor camping range?

[Ms_Lilith]

Ebuyer.com is a good website to check out online for computers.

You could also check if you haven't done so already, and know the exact computer model you want, the google shopping section and compare the retailers to see who is offering it at the cheaper price.

[Jeremy]

MM - I knew somebody would suggest a Mac. I actually have a macbook which I use for music, but I want to keep the installation clean... so I need something else for everyday use. I'm not considering another one, the price is pretty outrageous, and I do specifically want to run Windows software.

MP - cheers, but I'm not keen on Dell. Maybe because I've only previously bought from the budget range, but I found the build quality was dubious. And just as importantly, it was pre-installed with various trial versions and a load of other shite that I didn't want. At all.

[mockney piers]

Fair enough Jeremy, I've heard similar complaints from others.

I think the XPS range has better build quality, perhaps using some of that bought-in alienware expertise, and is fine, though it is all a bit small, hot and plasticky after my beautful (now dead) pre Dell buyout alienware PC.

Also the install was pretty clean, just vista 64-bit, and that was about it. There was no dodgy dell malsoftware, hell there wasn't even office (still isn't it) and certainly none of those annoying trial versions of everything.

But I'm not doing a sales pitch, just saying my experience with them was pretty good.

[Jeremy]

Thanks, I will check out the Dell XPS range with an open mind.

[nashoi]

I know you said you weren't interested in building your own, but how about a custom build? I got mine from these guys years ago. All brand name components assembled to your spec and excellent customer service (at least it was when I bought). Dell are an easy option, but they do seem to have slipped in customer surveys of late and anecdotally speaking, two members of my family have had component failure problems with them on three different computers.

[ratty]

I will be buying Dell in the next week or two. Will report back on how it goes if ya like?

[matthew123]

I bought a Dell about 4 years ago.. and it's quite noisy, and almost from the start I've had blue screen problems at start up. Sometimes I have to restart it a few times before it finally logs in (no problem once logged in)... that is probably down to software I have installed.

From my experience I'd recommend you purchase by telephone (but beforehand work out exactly what you want online) as I managed to get an extra 2 or 3 hundred off online price. At end of call show your disappointment with the price they have quoted... they'll ask what is your budget and will then consider it with their Superior before coming back with a reduced price... or at least that is how I got my discount. Whereas when I'd bought a laptop online a few years earlier their Sales rang me a few days later asking whether I wanted to upgrade which meant my order had not gone straight to the production line and so delaying delivery.

[derbyean]

I have a Dell and has run without fault for four years, then a virus did it in, so I had to have another hard drive.

That has made it much faster and almost silent running again for about a hundred and twenty quid.

I paid a company to do it.

[Jeremy]

ratty - yes please, let me know how it goes. I'm particularly interested to hear what rubbish comes pre-installed.

matthew123 - thanks for the tip.