My laptop is starting to really struggle since the last W10 update to the point where it's unusable for about 10 minutes after switching it on. It's over 8 years old now so time to get a replacement.
As I only use it on the dining table these days I may as well go for a desktop setup. Is the go-to still Dell? Looking to spend around £500 or so but can go a bit higher if it gets me better value. Just needs to do normal browsing and the occasional bit of video editing. Could do with it pretty quickly too as I'll be applying for loads of jobs in the next few weeks, hence why getting the old girl up and running again isn't really an option as any downtime could be an issue. Will need the full setup as I don't have a monitor, keyboard etc.
A few places will do a normal custom build for about £25, so select components, add windows license (that's a hundred quid or so on it's own, but you can get a gray market one for about a tenner). I've chosen a really cheap monitor and mouse too, to keep price down.
This quick build includes windows and comes fully built:
Customised CCL Alpha AMD Range
AMD Ryzen 3 3100 3.6GHz 4 Core (Socket AM4) CPU
CCL Choice 8GB (1x 8GB) 2400MHz DDR4 RAM
Gigabyte A320M-H AMD Socket AM4 Motherboard
CCL Choice DVD Writer Optical Drive
CiT Classic Midi Case - Black
Microsoft Windows 10 Home - 64-Bit DVD (OEM)
3 Year Collect & Return warranty
Adata Ultimate SU630 240GB 2.5" SATA SSD
TP-Link Archer T4E 1200Mbps PCI Express WiFi
1.8m UK Plug to C13 Mains Lead - BlackDelivery Available
CCL Code: SYSCONFIG621956
£478.01 £478.01AOC E2270SWDN 21.5" Full HD LED Monitor
Priority Delivery Available
CCL Code: MON3690
£64.97 £64.97Builder USB Keyboard and Mouse Combo Set (UK)
Priority Delivery Available
CCL Code: KBD1268
£5.41 £5.41Total: £548.39
Other options might be cheaper elsewhere, but that's the kind of build I'd be looking at as a starting point.
Although, thinking about it, if you can cope with a laptop and the limitations that brings, this is arguably a better deal:
It's £430, which will give you £70 to buy a monitor and a mouse/kb out of your budget, so you can duel screen it when at home or take the laptop with you. Screen and mouse/keyboard are important though, as they are how you interact with the PC, if you can up the budget to £600ish, you could have a very nice home office system indeed, but £500 really is pushing it for a full set up with full price windows, monitor, mouse and keyboard.
Just get the best 'gaming pc' for your budget from somewhere like 3B Systems. Job done.
Well worth backing up your data and trying a fresh install of Windows. You can create a bootable USB stick to reinstall Windows if you go to the Microsoft website.
Also, how much disk space do you have free? When Windows upgrade to a new version, it backs up the old version in case you need to roll it back. That takes up a big chunk of disk space. If you run Disk Cleanup, you can clean out all the old junk like that.
Other possible problems are the cooling fans blocked with dust, and a failing HDD. An SSD and a fresh install of Win10 is the cure for the latter.
Data is already backed up, only done once a month as docs etc are stored on Google Docs or on an external hard drive. Loads of free disc space and the hard drive is only 2 years old and is a SSD. Might try the fresh install though, although the computer is behaving fine right now (typing on it) but seems to be hit-and-miss on each startup. The next time I switch it on it might be completely unresponsive or work for a while then become slow and freeze. I think it's just old and worn out, its had a hard life to be fair.
Oh and definitely looking at pre-built desktops, no custom builds etc. Just want something that works out of the box.
You can create a Win10 installation disk from this link:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10
If it were me, I'd try wiping it and starting from scratch to see if that helps. Cleaning out the cooling fans is another simple thing to try.
I got a cheap-ish refurbed HP desktop a couple of years ago for £200-odd. I5 2500, GT 1030 DDR5, 8GB ram, 500GB HDD, 50cm widescreen monitor, keyboard and mouse. There are bargains to be had if you're happy with a refurbed one.
edit- I did a fresh install of Win 10 on my 8 year old laptop and it's as bad as it was before I wiped it. Meh.
As said above - if it has a mechanical HDD, pull it out and put it in a caddy, then slot in an SSD and install windows 10 onto that - you should see a dramatic performance improvement.
Seriously, the current laptop has had it. I've fixed the lagginess by deleting the latest W10 updates, basically it's running at it's limit. I already have a SSD, maximum RAM I can fit in it, a 9 month old clean W10 install and it's squeaky clean inside dust-wise. The mousepad hasn't worked for years (got a wireless one), the battery only lasts 20 mins and really struggles with playing YouTube. I'll keep it as a backup or a Zwift slave but it really needs to be replaced.
I've found 2 on the Dell site that seem to fit what I want:
and:
Both come with a 23" monitor so seem good value to my amateur eyes. Delivery would be 2 weeks away so if anyone knows which is the best value (ie is it worth the extra for the I5 processor and smaller form tower) or are there better value deals out there? Really don#t want to have to do loads of job applications on my phone if the laptop keels over and I then have to rush out to the shops and buy whatever is available at short notice!
Got fed up of the laptop constantly freezing and crashing so pulled the plug on a Dell seeing as everywhere else seems to be out of stock of everything. The one I linked to above went out of stock between then and now so gone for the next one up, £50 more but it has the 10th Gen I5 processor. Came to just under £700 with a discount code and should be here by early next week.