[phillpower2]

I would have to say that the HDD does appear to be of use no more 

 

Couple of tips for purchasing a new desktop, make sure that it has 8GB of Ram and at least a 2GHz dual or quad core processor, preferably quad as it will give you headroom for more demanding future software, for Photoshop an add on video card would be best but nothing too fancy, a DVD  drive for installing and burning disks and finally avoid SFF (small form factor) computers as they are notoriously difficult to upgrade, use none standard size and shape power supplies + they tend to run hot because of the limited space inside the case trapping the hot air.

 

If you see any computers that interest you post a link and we will gladly take a look at the specs for you.

[Advertisements]

Well there are specialists are available in market for HDD Recovery in UK and they will help you too with your problem of data recovery too.

[belfast2014]

Well there are specialists are available in market for HDD Recovery in UK and they will help you too with your problem of data recovery too.

[parrot feet]

Thanks for the tips. I am after just a tower as I have a monitor keyboard and mouse. Granted they are old but I can upgrade in time. My budget is £300. I would prefer windows 7 as I've never used 8, but I guess that'll be phased out. The are a few options on Amazon at 4gb memory, with space to upgrade to 8 when I have a few more pennies.

I did find this one, which seams very impressive spec wise, it has 8 GB RAM, 1TB HDD and a quad processor. Annoyingly it seems a mini unit. What do you think? It comes with a funny bit of software which I would just uninstall. (I say impressive, I mean compared to what I'm used to i.e. 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD and core i3 330m).

http://www.pcworld.c...-pdt.html#cat-0

Edited by parrot feet, 19 February 2015 - 11:26 AM.

[phillpower2]

Poor CPU, PSU, and case (including cooling) but for the price not bad at all 

 

Offline now shortly until Saturday PM due to work commitments I`m afraid 

[parrot feet]

Who knew it was so hard looking for a PC, there's loads to choose from. Sticking to my budget of 300, I have narrowed it down to 3, I will pick one of these as I am probably overlooking now! Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

1. (New) HP 110-352na /win8/AMD A6-5200/8GB RAM/1TB HDD/AMD Radeon HD 8400
2. (Refurb) HP Pavilion 500-242ea /win8/AMD A8-5500/6GB RAM/1TB HDD/AMD Radeon HD 7560D + R5 235 dual
3. (Like new) Zoostorm 7877-0411 /win8/AMD A10-5700/12GB RAM/2TB HDD/AMD Radeon HD 7660D

Number 1 is a new one from PC world for £329, a safe option. Number 2 is a refurb from PC world for £279. What's your opinion on buying a refurb? it still comes with a 1 year warranty. Number 3 is really tempting, but perhaps a bit over spec for me? Its on Amazon warehouse for £283 and lists a couple of scratches on the case as its fault, which won't bother me if the spec is impressive. Considering the windows 7 version new is nearly £500, this is my front runner, but just want to make sure I'm not missing anything!

[phillpower2]

Can you post links for the above computers please.

 

I personally would not recommend anything that has been used and then refurbished and so would particularly like to take a close look at the item description for the Zoostorm.

[parrot feet]

This is the zoostorm. Its on Amazon marketplace as a returned item, but only lists the faults as a scratched case, which I can live with for the spec ...

http://www.amazon.co...customerReviews

[phillpower2]

That is a very good spec for the price + as the computer is offered by amazon you can be more confident that any after sales service that you may need will be taken care of.

 

Something that does not detract from the spec or cost but I did note the following;

 

 

Software

All Zoostorm Home PCs are ready to network out of the box and are pre-installed with Windows 8. On top of this, Zoostorm has pre-loaded the following software/ apps:

• MS Security Essentials -- Use Microsoft Security Essentials to help guard against viruses, spyware and other malicious software. It provides real-time protection for your home PC.

 

 

Please see information provided courtesy of admin here

[parrot feet]

Thanks for pointing that out. After days of deliberating I have ordered the zoostorm. I will be installing Norton, so I will uninstall the MS security essentials as suggested. Of the three, this was the cheapest and highest spec, so I thought is worth a try!

I got in touch with Amazon, and while they couldn't elaborate on the condition, I was informed that if it wasn't what I expected, I could return it free of charge. It could be a warehouse damaged item, in which case it is just repackaged. Or it could be customer return, and possibly used. There are a couple of negative reviews which say the fan is too noisy, so maybe its one of these customers. Other reviews point out that it is a known issue and easily fixed.

Either way is there any way to find out to what extent a computer has been used, a log for example? If it has been used, I would like to know how much and if it's worth keeping it.

[Plastic Nev]

Speccy will give you a fairly good idea of how many hours the hard drive has run for in number of times it has been turned on and number of hours total time it has run for. Even brand new there will be some power on counts and time due to the installation of the operating system and perhaps any subsequent testing, though it shouldn't add up to more than a half a day maximum.

[parrot feet]

Well the new PC has arrived and after a little play, it seems OK, just has an issue loading windows. But as it's now off topic with this post, I will start a separate topic about it. A huge thank you to phillpower, lots of very helpful advise to get me through the whole laptop drop issue.

I guess that's this topic resolved. Do I need to do anything? I will happily write a summary if needed.

[phillpower2]

You are most welcome and thank you for concluding your present topic