Page 1 of rate this bargain - desktop pc

im in 2 minds as to whether to go for the below or wait till the next Aldi offer. Please let me know whether this is worth going for...

there are 2 PCs on the toys r us site - one being £100 more and the only diff i can see is an extra 50Gb. Is that worth £100 more?

£999
Description

Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz HT (512KB cache) - Latest Hyper-Threading technology to enable you to multitask like never before!
512MB fast dual channel DDR RAM
160GB hard disk drive
56K V.90 Data/Fax/Modem
Multiformat DVD Re-Writer, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 24x CD-R, 16x CD-RW plus separate 16x DVD ROM drive
3.5" floppy disk drive
17" TFT monitor
256MB DDR RAM, nVidia GeForce FX5200 with DVI-I, DX9, TV Out and Video In, 8x AGP
6 channel audio (on board)
Includes stereo TV and FM radio tuner
802.11g Wireless LAN PCI Card
Rear Ports - 4 x USB 2.0, 2 x PS/2, Serial, 10/100 MBIT LAN, 2 x Firewire (IEEE 1394), Audio In/Out, Digital Audio In/Out
Full Connect XL. A conveniently located front panel reveals: 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x Firewire/Mini DV (IEEE 1394), 1 x Composite Video In, 1 x S-Video In , 1 x Audio/Mic In, Audio Out, Integrated Card Readers for Sony Memory Stick/Pro, SmartMedia, SD/Multimedia, CompactFlash 1/11, IBM Microdrive
Wireless keyboard and mouse
Superb Software package includes: Microsoft XP Home Edition, Medion Power Cinema, Power DVD, Pinnacle Instant Copy, Power Producer 2 Video Editing Suite & MusicMatch Jukebox, Nero CD/DVD burning software, Microsoft WorksSuite 2004 including Word 2002, Encarta 2004, Money 2004, Photo Standard, Autoroute 2004 plus Works 7 including Spreadsheet, Database, Calendar, E-Mail and Internet Tools and My Organiser. Also includes Microsoft RalliSport Challenge

£1099

Description

Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz HT (512KB cache) - Latest Hyper-Threading technology to enable you to multitask like never before!
512MB fast dual channel DDR RAM
200GB hard disk drive
56K V.90 Data/Fax/Modem
Multiformat DVD Re-Writer, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 24x CD-R, 16x CD-RW plus separate 16x DVD ROM drive
3.5" floppy disk drive
17" Slimline TFT monitor
256MB DDR RAM, nVidia GeForce FX5200 with DVI-I, DX9, TV Out and Video In, 8x AGP
6 channel audio (on board)
Includes stereo TV and FM radio tuner plus remote control
802.11g Wireless LAN PCI Card
Rear Ports - 4 x USB 2.0, 2 x PS/2, Serial, 10/100 MBIT LAN, 2 x Firewire (IEEE 1394), Audio In/Out, Digital Audio In/Out
Full Connect XL. A conveniently located front panel reveals: 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x Firewire/Mini DV (IEEE 1394), 1 x Composite Video In, 1 x S-Video In , 1 x Audio/Mic In, Audio Out, Integrated Card Readers for Sony Memory Stick/Pro, SmartMedia, SD/Multimedia, CompactFlash 1/11, IBM Microdrive
Wireless keyboard and mouse
Superb Software package includes: Microsoft XP Home Edition, Medion Power Cinema, Power DVD, Pinnacle Instant Copy, Power Producer 2 Video Editing Suite & MusicMatch Jukebox, Nero CD/DVD burning software, Microsoft WorksSuite 2004 including Word 2002, Encarta 2004, Money 2004, Photo Standard, Autoroute 2004 plus Works 7 including Spreadsheet, Database, Calendar, E-Mail and Internet Tools and My Organiser. Also includes Microsoft RalliSport Challenge


thanks for your help

The processor on the expensive one is the latest 3.4GHz and i`m sure cost more than a £90 retail. Still a lot of money to pay for a desktop imho.

right.. so not a good buy then? Any ideas where i can get a similar spec at a better price?

I got the one they were doing before Xmas after missing the Aldi one, and haave been very happy with it. Spec is actually a bit better than the Aldi one (256mb graphics instead of 128mb).

Mine is the same as the two above, except then it was a 3.02ghz processor, and a 256mb FX5600 graphics card, but no wireless network card, only LAN.

I`ve been happy with it though, comes with a good 17" flat panel monitor, and wireless keyboard and mouse with mulitmedia keys (can work the DVD from in bed etc, record TV to hard drive (time shift) :) )

The only thing to bear in mind is the Cyberlink software is SE versions, not full versions. Which is doesn`t say in the ads, but still works ok. The Works, Word, Autoroute etc are all full versions.

The parts are all well known makes too, thew DVD writer is the Poineer 106, and the normal dvd drive is a Sony.My hard drive is 160gb, but they come partioned into 3 parts. C Boot 74.8gb : D Backup 68.3gb and : E Recovery 5.84gb (has all the stuff on for a re-install).

I never thought to do it at first not being used to partitioned drives (my last one was one big drive (or not so big 10GB :) ), but I guess when you save your own files your should save them to the backup partition. Then if all goes wrong and you have to re-install everything, your work is seperate to the OS and programs, so not affected.

I priced all the parts up at an online shop that goes to our local computer fair, and you couldn`t buy the parts for that price (TFT monitor is about £300 for starters, DVD writer £90, graphics card in mine about the same). :)

cheers for the long reply - now im confused!!!

one says its expensive the other says its good value. The aldi one should be due soon, but the wait is killing me - and this seems to be the same allbeit £100 odd more expensive.

the great thing in waiting for the aldi offer is the 3 yr guarantee - what do toysrus offer?

Sorry to confuse you. I didn`t mean to say that its expensive at that spec.
It was more a statement that "for that sort of money i`d rather buy a laptop".

Quote:
The processor on the expensive one is the latest 3.4GHz and i`m sure cost more than a £90 retail. Still a lot of money to pay for a desktop imho.

The HDD is also a 200GB unit, I would pay the extra pennies personally, without knowing when the next Aldi\Lidl offer is.

"Great chunks of my past detaching themselves like melting icebergs"


Bigger on the inside

This item was edited on Monday, 8th March 2004, 12:05

Yeah, the Aldi one has the advantage of the 3yr warranty, the ToysRus one is 1 yr, then again most parts have a 3yr warranty as far as I know anyway. Plus people reckon on here things should last 6yrs before packing in, and you have some new Euro rights.

I wasn`t too fussed by the lesser warranty because with pc prices falling all the time, replacement parts won`t cost too much when needed.

I personally wouldn`t go for a laptop unless you need to portablility they give. For the same money laptops are always a lower spec than the equivalent priced desktop PC.

When I priced all the parts seperately, including OS, software etc. My £1099 pc came to £1250, then I`d have had to build it, and no warranty at all then. :)

This item was edited on Monday, 8th March 2004, 12:49

You should try the online build-a-tron on simply computers or epcbuyer. You can cut the crap right out and get yourself a pretty badass pc for not a great deal of money.


SHOSH!!

Hi - ive done as you suggested with the build a trons and im still getting a price in excess of the toys r us offer.
Summing it all up - i will wait till the end of next month, for aldi to step up - if not then will go for the next toysrus offer