Tarion

Hi everyone. Just looking for some help/advice. My laptop recently died, and I'm looking to get myself a new Desktop. My PC is mostly a media centre, with heavy internet use, and moderate gaming. I've got ~£700 to spend, in the purchasing of a new laptop. I'd rather not build my own, as I lack the skills and the knowledge.

Through some internet searching, I came across this, which seems a stunning offer, for the price.

Packard Bell 2711

Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache
Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
2048MB RAM Memory
320GB Hard Drive
Dual Layer DVD ReWriter Drive
256MB NVidia GeForce 8500 Graphics
Built-In TV Tuner + Remote Control
15-in-1 Media Card Reader
22" Widescreen LG TFT Monitor

Link at PC world.

Anyway, the main point of this thread:
1. Does anyone have anything to say about that as a PC? Is it lacking in anything that would be required by my needs as outlined above? Does it have any known flaws, etc.
2. Packard Bell - I've heard mostly bad things online. Poor customer service as well as something that seemed to imply they're neither upgradeable, nor easily fixed. Then again, I've not found anything modern. Is this all still true? Am I safe shopping with them?

Many thanks. My money (And a good chunk of my time) is in your hands.

Kilauea

Well, I can't speak much of Packard Bell, but I can say that prebuilt systems are always hard to upgrade and to fix because the manufacturers use the cheapest part they can possibly find and they also tend to use proprietary mobos which aren't available to regular customers(I think). The PSU will only deliver enough power for what is in the computer, nothing for a video card upgrade for instance.

As for that system, its not bad, but the GPU is sub par for playing any recent games(recent would be 2 years old), so it wouldn't work well for moderate gaming.

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5½ years old rig ?
P4 1.7Ghz
MSI MS-6547E
768mb RAM
ATI Radeon 7200
40Gb Seagate HDD w/ Xp
7Gb Maxtor HDD w/ Linux
TigerPlus 300 Watt PSU (never heard of such company)
Broken LG CD-rom drive that seems to work sometimes

Tarion

Hmm... OK, thanks. So, assuming I've got the jargon right (It's been a long time since I looked at hardware, so I'm rusty ), GPU is my Graphics card, right? And I won't be able to upgrade it, without getting a new PSU? I'm guessing that'll be equally hard to upgrade, probably depending on my replacing something else

Well, it's a step up over what I've had recently (A significant step up ) but I'll take that into account.

johnb35

In my opinion, I would stay away from Packard Bell. If you are wanting a prebuilt computer then you are better off staying with the most common brand names like Hp, Dell, etc... But if you are really looking for something that is upgradeable later on, look into building your own system. Most of the time you spend less money building your own and you get the joy of knowing how to build it and having it work on first bootup

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Motherboard - Asus P5B-E
CPU - E6600
Memory - 2GB Corsair XMS2 (2x 1gb)
Graphics - x1650 pro 256mb
Hard Drives - 250GB WD and 250GB Samsung in Raid 1
DVD Drive - Lite-On
DVD Burner - Lite-On
Power Supply - Ultra 425 watt - upgrading to at least 550-600 Watt
22" Acer widescreen AL2216WBD

oscaryu1

Hmm... how much is $700 in US?

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Tarion

$1400. But you have to bear in mind that PC's over here are much pricier than those in the US. A lot of that is due to the recent changes in the exchange rate - Not too long ago, it would have been closer to $1000. Still, a lot more than you guys would be paying.

Which is another question - What would I have to do to import a computer? The PSU complicates things

oscaryu1

Gotta friend in the States? That would help lots.

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