Proposed new system, what do you think?

For what you have listed I would say you would need to spend no where near that money.

Still, I'll have a quick look......

Thanks Messiah.

That seems to be the consensus.

As long as i have decent connections to a monitor (ok im no gamer but i look at it a lot) and the tv if i decide to use media centre with my tv then im happy graphics wise, and someone pointed out that i could then get a lesser power supply. As i hope i said above, the monitor will be changed anyway.

 

Given your usage, I'd recommend that you get the cheapest PC you can find. Look for ones on offer from someone like PC World. These tend to be getting a little bit long in the tooth in relation to the latest models.....but that not going affect you.

The key thing to work out is the inputs / outputs you want.....although you can add cards later. Plenty of RAM is good, especially for Vista. And I like to get big HDDs. They don't tend to cost much anyway.

It's probably worth being a little more picky if you're buying a monitor as these don't tend to suffer the same rate of obsolescence that PCs do, so you'll keep the monitor over several base unit ungrades/replacements.

once you have setup, and you have a spare £90 .... have a close look at these M-Audio Studiophile AV40 desktop speakers .... I will be getting a pair at the end of the month for one of my home pc's (for spotify) ....

have not heard them, but many seem to be happy ...

Thanks PJ. Thing is, im still struggling to see where i could save a lot. I dont want something thats going to feel slower than my current pc (i did that last time as i was talked into something i shouldnt have been through my naivety). Also, the cards seem to do what i want at a reasonable price...dont they? Tho someone on another forum has said that gfx card is  considered a donkey, i suspect tthis is the opinion of gamers. And id prefer to do as little as i can with it once ive got it. Sorry, i seem more argumentative than i mean to i think.

Get a Mac

My wife uses an NC10 netbook for browsing and music. Compared to my PC it's really weedy....but it's got more than enough oomph for the use we make of it.

What do you have right now? It must be as old as the hills if the performance is impacted my web browsing and music! If it's fairly new, it's more likely an issue with the OS, software generally or the network.

XP seems to grind to a halt over time if you don't perform routine maintenance and keep on top of the myriad processes that seem to accumulate over time. Over zealous security can also bog down a PC until it runs like a dog.

Clearly, slow performance with browsing is more likely to be a network issue rather than the PC itself.

al7478:

T..... someone on another forum has said that gfx card is  considered a donkey.....

Given your stated use, a donkey is what you are after.

PJPro:

....What do you have right now?....

Doh! Just seen your signature. It would appear that your Dell should be more than capable for your needs.

Although if you're still keen to upgrade, how about something like this for £400 ish? This has oomph to spare.

Of course if you want something nice, and can afford it, go for a mac. I haven't but I'd like to. You might get lucky and bag a secondhand mini mac on ebay for a good price.

al7478:

Oh, I'll probably get a much smaller hdd as ill never fill 1TB.

Heh, where have I heard that before! If you're going to be putting all your music on there, in lossless or uncompressed or you start getting into 24-bit downloads you might come to regret that comment! 

Hard drives are cheap, doesn't seem to make sense to skimp on that.

Given your stated use, a Mac's not a bad idea...

i'm with the others on this one, a calculator on steroids should have enough ooomph for web browsing.  not in a million years would i spend that much on a pc for what you want it for.

why not just back up stuff you need, and then re-format and re-install xp?

then don't install anything you don't need - instant faster pc in a lot of cases.

 

JohnDuncan:

Given your stated use, a Mac's not a bad idea...

But very pricey. 1K is pushing it as it is, which is part the reason for my post.*

Would a £400ish machine feel sluggish compared to mine?

EDIT * under £800 would be nice.

al7478:

But very pricey. 1K is pushing it as it is, which is part the reason for my post.

Acknowledged and withdrawn.

al7478:

Would a £400ish machine feel sluggish compared to mine?

It would probably kick your PC's butt, if it's any more than a couple of years old.

Read this.

Thanks JD yes mine is over 3.5 years old.

If i could easily do 12-1500 on it (like, er, my speakers, once id replced one of the leads with a longer one, plus p&p) without breaking sweat, id seriously consider a mac, but right now id not be able to consider more than a low spec mac mini, i think...

EDIT yes vaguely familiar with whatsits law (ive blinked siince i opened the link). But my (i know, unanswerable, often) question is always "but will it feel better"?