[Closed] PC World, Are they the Halfords or the Screwfix of the PC world ?

Are PC World like Halfords, lots of useless tat sold by numpties with the occasional gem (Boardman) ?

Pretty much exactly that, yes. However, branded kit is branded kit, HP is good stuff.

I like PCW as a place to go and manhandle goods before purchase. Also, somewhat surprisingly, their Business wing have always been very good to deal with (or were back in PCWBD days anyway).

Halfords have redeeming qualities compared to PC World. Not at all like Screwfix, as their prices aren't all that competitive.

They sometimes have a good deal on, if they do take the computer take no extra warranty or crappy AV software in with the sale. Pay and they get out of there.

Are you a technical numpty who's going to cock up his own computer then expect lots of help and hand-holding afterwards? Probably not the best choice if so.

If you're buying a branded PC from there, you're happy with the spec and can support yourself (or call up the manufacturer for it), no reason not to shop there, as long as you avoid the extended warranties.

I like PCW as a place to go and manhandle goods before purchase.

if they do take the computer take no extra warranty or crappy AV

Good point, well made.

The correct answer to "would you like McAfee AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, a three year warranty, a 3G dongle and a copy of FIFA 09 with that sir?" is "would you like a good, hard kick in the manparts?"

Are you [s]a technical numpty who's going to cock up his own computer then expect lots of help and hand-holding afterwards?[/s] elfin?

I wouldn't touch em with your thing, let alone my own, but yes great for that touchy feeley moment.
Heard of too many ppl who've paid too much for some very basic repairs, and the kit they sell (as with all large retails who 'stock' kit) it 'tends' to be behind the time spec wise and expensive with it.

Go look find the spec you want/need ,then save your money & buy from Dell*. 😉

*Other online retailers are available

I bought a reconditioned laptop of the web from them and it blue screened a couple of times. I took it back into the shop and they refunded me no questions asked.

Seemed pretty good service to me.

I like PCW as a place to go and manhandle goods before purchase from somewhere else

You know, I originally wrote that, then remembered that the last netbook we bought came from there so wouldn't strictly be true.

My Daughters laptop was from PCW, bought during one of there Bank Holiday sales so had a silly discount deal. It was a very recent model and was the cheapest by far, they do keep a mixture of new stuff and old you just have to check the prices but you do that with anything surely?

Wow, 10 replies in 8 minutes.
You can't beat a mountain bike forum for IT advice. 😛

Yeah, I'd heard before that PC World and the like make their money from the ad ons.
I'll stick with AVG free and take a chance without the extended warranty.
I was thinking if I bought it, I might upgrade to 4GB of ram, which would probably immediately invalidate the warranty anyway.

Thinking of getting a new computer as this one is getting slower and slower.

That's a bit like saying "I'm thinking of getting a new car, this one's getting low on oil." Computers don't generally get slower due to physical problems, have you considered a wipe and reinstall?

how does this one from PC World look ?

It's a good brand but not a particularly stellar spec. If you want it for day to day office and spodding duties it should be fine. Personally, I'd be looking for 4Gb and a Core processor these days.

Cougar +1 - missed the obvious fact you don't need a new PC in my haste to be rude about PCW.

I'll stick with AVG free

Personally I'd say more like Halfords, but what large outfit don't pile them high and sell them cheap??? That said I did buy a Compaq lap top from them 7 years ago and it's still working, give or take 300 re-formats, hours and hours of dithering and multiple viruses.

The Mac I bought two years ago has been faultless, never had to hit ctrl+alt+delete once and works about three times as fast, wouldn't entertain a windows PC ever again....

Get MSE instead - that's actually better than anything you can pay money for.

Have your +1 back, sir.

AVG used to be the best, but it's got progressively more annoying since version 7.5.

Actually,

this one is getting slower and slower.

I'll stick with AVG free

These two statements may not be wholly unrelated.

That said I did buy a Compaq lap top from them 7 years ago .....The Mac I bought two years ago has been faultless......works about three times as fast

Hmmm! I wonder why?

I was thinking if I bought it, I might upgrade to 4GB of ram, which would probably immediately invalidate the warranty anyway.

PCs are supposed to be user upgradable. I'm not aware of any manufacturer that does this, and I used to work at Time Computers.

Hmmm! I wonder why?

Is it cuz it is white?

I see your problem, the "W" and "S" keys are very close together aren't they.

Hmmm, so there might be a connection between running slow and AVG free then ?
My old PC ran fine with AVG free, I did wonder if it was just a coincidence that this one got significantly slower round about the same time I installed AVG. The hard drive got full to about 99% arout then as well, which I thought was the cause of it slowing down. I deleted a load of stuff and got it down to about 85%, but it never really speeded up again.

I bought this computer second hand with no Windows disc.
If I had a disc I would probably try a reinstall to see if that cured it.
I just thought buying something a bit more modern would be an easier way to do it.

If your PC is getting slow, it's possibly due to the raft of Microsoft upgrades they've been issuing.

Getting a bit more memory in your existing PC may get it fast again.

All you need to know about PC World is contain within the Gary Glitter saga. He took his PC in for repair and they looked through his hard drive. You may well say 'good job too', but I wonder how many other hard drives they've looked through? Your bank accounts, personal photos, names and addresses? TBH I was shocked they stayed in business after that, but the general public aren't the most discerning bunch sometimes.

In my personal opinion they are pretty darn rubbish, CCL or similar type shops are much better.

Tend to give better service and have a better know how too! Ontop of that if you are wanting slight upgrades to an off the shelf spec PC they will probably fit you the parts for a small fee.

He took his PC in for repair and they looked through his hard drive.

I'd wager that PCW are far from unusual in this practice either.

I bought this computer second hand with no Windows disc.

Ah. It's a shame you're not NorthWestTrailquestsGraham or I'd have offered to do it for you. Is there an OEM licence sticker on it or anything?

PCWorld are the Screw[b]You[/b] of the PC world.

There's a little Intel sticker and a Windows sticker on the front and that's it. No licence numbers anywhere.

A couple of other things I've noticed that started at the same time as the hard drive got full and I installed AVG.
Quite often, when I open a new tab or window, the bottom inch or so of the window is black. If I minimize then maximise it then fills the whole screen as it should.
Almost every time I shut down, I get the "Windows needs to install something or other, click here to shut down without installing".
I've also noticed that AVG spends a lot of time updating and, when it does, everything else slows down.

Sounds like it needs a wipe and reinstall.

If you're near Nottingham and are a computer numpty I may be able to help with that.

What flavour of Windows? It sounds a lot like a clean install would help.

It's a shame you're not NorthWestTrailquestsGraham

All you need to know about PC World is contain within the Gary Glitter saga. He took his PC in for repair and they looked through his hard drive.

You can get revealers that will show your windows key, you then can download XP and use the key. If you're feeling brave.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/SoftKey-Revealer.shtml

It's a bit more complicated than that, because activating XP post-install is a minefield these days. Safest way is to copy the activation file (wpa.dbl) from system32 before you wipe it.

I did a similar rebuild relatively recently and found out the hard way that MS have nobbled activation over the Internet. When I rang them, they refused to help even though I had a valid OEM licence because I'd used my own media rather than the disc that came with the PC ..oO

I've always found the issue to be to locate a copy of Xp that accepts your key.

Any students in the family, who can allow you to buy (original) [url= http://www.software4students.co.uk/Microsoft_Office_2010-software.aspx?gclid=CNLN7ILHxKkCFYpA4Qod5goaEQ ]cheap software?[/url]

Mmmmmhhh will investigate Cougar's suggestion.

It's a bit more complicated than that, because activating XP post-install is a minefield these days. Safest way is to copy the activation file (wpa.dbl) from system32 before you wipe it.

Been awhile but it's the method I used in the past, might have been before activation was introduced though.

ohhh will investigate Cougar suggestion.

If it's XP Pro rather than Home, you might want to google "XP SLP" for another vaguely legitimate approach too.

Been awhile but it's the method I used in the past, might have been before activation was introduced though.

XP has required activation from day 1, it's not something that was introduced later (IIRC anyway). OEMs can pre-activate their installations so that the end user doesn't have to (and corporate versions don't require activation), which might be what you're thinking of.

Whilst most PCW are like Halfords, the one in Brentford had a really knowledgeable bloke ever (as long as it was linux).
Generally - avoid unless the deal is great (my HP Laserjet was 50-ish quid BNIB).

XP has required activation from day 1, it's not something that was introduced later (IIRC anyway).

Hmmm maybe my memory is fuzzy and it's been a lot longer than XP days. The linking to hardware bit is newish though.

"All you need to know about PC World is contain within the Gary Glitter saga. He took his PC in for repair and they looked through his hard drive."

Amen to that.

just get a dell?

As for the Gary Glitter thing, I've alway maintained the shop had to no right to investigate the contents of his HDD & should have been sued under data protection legislation for actually disclosing it (unless there a legal president why they should).
Though I would totally agree, he got what he deserved

Repairing a PC does not mean you have access to private data IMO - obviously you can do, but that no reason to do it.

After find my m8's piccy's of his missues* (getting undressed - I don't know if it went further, as I stopped looking) I decided never to look at ppl private moments again, as they are just that, private.

* I was bored, I wasn't looking for anything.

Graham

Don't go near PC world, they're rubbish! Charge way too much for everything, and the service is diabolical.

HP machines are a bit overpriced and underspecced in general too, and often only HP parts will fit too, so if upgrading RAM or other components, you need to buy expensive HP stuff.

You'd do better with one of these...

[url] http://www.ebuyer.com/product/251310 [/url]

And a copy of windows for about £60... Will save you about £70 and have similar performance (better actually, it has more RAM!)

If you see muddypuddle again any time soon, thank her for the chain at 5am. I couldn't find her later on to give her some money for it, I have emailed her though... Will pop some cash her way.

hould have been sued under data protection legislation for actually disclosing it (unless there a legal president why they should).

Yup there is. Comes under a crime being committed, I suppose they could have kept quiet about it though as that's way better than grassing on someone.