Cyprus Hector

gas0line Thank you for your advice.

With the new iMac due to go on sale in December 12, does anyone consider the Mac to be a good way to go for a not to savvy user like myself? It's the "it just works' tag that attracts me.

I've read such mixed reviews that I'm undecided on the upgrade. I'm seriously thinking of just buying an iMac when the new models are on sale in December.

I recently upgraded my graphics card to the ATI Radeon HD 5850 which got an excellent review in PCPro magazine. There has just been an upgrade to the 6 series you may want to check out. The card is big and just fitted into my HP 6360 desktop PC. Have a look at Graphics cards | Reviews | PC Pro

Thanks for that advice. I rather fancy the Dell u3011 but very expensive(£1299 on Amazon) or the 2711 (£700) which is somewhat cheaper. Are they worth the money? Should I wait for improved models?

I went into BestBuy today but the monitor section was sparse to say the least. I spoke to one of the 'Geek Squad' and his response was that the reason for lack of monitors was simply that most people simply bought a TV as a monitor as he had done. There was no market for plain monitors. I assume he is correct. Is there any point in buying a plain monitor or is a decent HD TV just as good?

"I have dual Dells" Would you recommend them? How do you find having 2 monitors in practice? Is it 'how did I manage before?' Appreciate your comments.

PC Pro magazine (pcpro.co.uk) ran an article on graphics cards in it's November 2010 issue. I bought a new ATI Radeon 1Gb HD 5850 card it recommended as a result. £229 PCWorld online.

What would you buy around £400?

There is much discussion on what spec for a PC but little on monitors. I don't mind paying extra for good quality because it usually worth it in the end.

Did that work?

I'm currently using a LG 22" TV as a monitor and it's fine. I've bought a new i7 HP Win7 Home PC which has HDMI & Blueray player, upgraded the graphics card (to a Radeon HD 5850) and now fancy having 2 monitors. I'm retired so do play with my PC rather a lot for surfing, learning on how to use a PC i.e. Lynda.com, email, photo & video editing, Office 2010 documents, games (Call of Duty) etc Trouble is, looking at what monitor to buy is very confusing. I'm looking for a good quality 24" or larger monitor, hdmi & dv-i connections that will be the biz for what I want to use it for including playing blueray movies, games, video editing etc. What specifications, makes etc should I go for? Really appreciate any views, advice.

I wonder if your HDMI socket is working correctly. May be worth getting that checked out. I have a TV as a monitor and use the HDMI cable from my PC to that. I didn't play around with my bios settings nor have I altered Win 7 to 2 monitors as I only use the one. When I want to watch TV I simply use the input button on my TV remote to change from HDMI to TV or DTV.

How have you got on? Wondered if you have found the solution.

Thanks for that I've done as suggested but it still doesn't like my copy of Office although I have had it validated by phone so I know it's genuine. I really don't think Microsoft has got a grip on this.