cbrmatt Posted January 27, 2014 Posted January 27, 2014 Hi, My question is... which would be my best option to keep cost to a minimum, have my pc upgraded or just buy a referbished tower ? This is what i have at the moment: DELL model no. DHP windows xp professional version 2002 service pack 3 intel® pentium® 4cpu 2.60GHz 2.59GHz, 512MB of RAM It doesnt have WiFi and i can not get a dongle to work..... i need wifi ! It doesnt have a CD DVD writer.... I need one ! I want it to be fairly good at muti tasking and would like to be able to edit videos/photos without too much buffering. I think thats it.... so what are my options and which would be most cost effective ? Thanks for your help in advance. Regards, Matt :confused: Quote
KenB Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Hi Matt The system that you have at the moment is rather dated. 512 MB RAM - no wonder you get buffering :) I can't think of one good reason why you should upgrade this system. XP is not going to be supported by Microsoft from April 2014. You will not get any more security updates and your machine will, over time, become more vulnerable. Anti-Virus companies are not supporting XP either. Some have extended their support to 2015 / 16 but eventually this will die out too. You could add more RAM. Probably up to 2 GB - depends on what your motherboard will support. You could add an internal PCI Wireless Card You could add a DVD CD ROM You could look at upgrading to Win 7 but there is no guarantee that your hardware will be compatible and the cost of a Win7 disk is about £80 Admittedly ( without the Win7 disk ) this would be a cheaper option but at the end of the day you will still have an outdated, unsupported machine. If you can afford it I would look around for a Windows 7 machine. Stay away from Vista as this will be going the same way as XP - and Win 7 is a better operating system. One thing - if you do go for a refurbished machine - make sure that the operating system is genuine and legal. Just my thoughts - others here may be able to provide other options. Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
cbrmatt Posted January 28, 2014 Author Posted January 28, 2014 Thanks kenb, thats very helpful. i dont have a clue about this stuff. Didnt realise xp was so dated. Ill start looking for a new machine. Thanks again. :) Quote
KenB Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Hi Matt Yes XP is dated now. Nothing wrong with the OS as such - but not getting critical updates etc could cause problems later. Also with this machine the 512 MB RAM dates it - it has been around a long time. Upgrading is not financial sense. I would be tempted to keep the machine - especially if there is nothing wrong with it - but you will notice the difference when you get a Win7 machine with more RAM and a faster processor. Just a further note: Win 7 comes with 32 bit or 64 bit option. 32 bit systems will only recognise up to 4GB RAM 64 bit systems can utilise considerably more. A 64 bit version of Win 7 is the better option if you can get it. Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
cockpheasant Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Hello Matt. After the help that I had from this forum I decided also to go for a refurb. I found a supplier offering such machines with a good spec who were accredited microsoft agents. The unit has turned out to be excellent value, will take windows 8 later and the price was less than £150.00. If you are interested, Email me and I shall send you a link. Quote
cockpheasant Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 One other thing Matt, a usb wifi plug in dongle was just £6.99 and very easy to set up Quote
KenB Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Hi cockpheasant Email me and I shall send you a link. If they provided a good service then post the link here :) Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
cockpheasant Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 OK Ken.....Company is Bargain*hardware (3419) on Ebay uk. Offering refurb Dell Win 7 home premium 32bit. 6.8 Ghz dual core 4GB ram with ATI radeon graphics card at £149.99 with free courier carriage. A DVD RW can be adde for a further £15.00 Regards, John Quote
KenB Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 I have just Googled .....Bargain*hardware ebay .......and the prices look very competitive. :) Quote There is an email going around offering processed pork - gelatin - and salt in a can ......this is simply SPAM !! MiniToolBoxNetwork TestWireless Test
Starbuck Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Company is Bargain*hardware (3419) on Ebay uk. Offering refurb Dell Win 7 home premium 32bit. 6.8 Ghz dual core 4GB ram with ATI radeon graphics card at £149.99 with free courier carriage. A DVD RW can be adde for a further £15.00 Regards, Actually i was looking at this one last week for the wife. Need something to replace her old Win XP machine. You can't go far wrong for that price. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141065265646?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 Quote Member of:UNITE
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