Buying a desktop

[Alice_M]

Hi there.

I just purchased a new monitor (Dell U2412m) last week and now I want to get a desktop, as my laptop is really not up to par and with it I basically can't use the new monitor. I made a note of the specs that you recommend and have been looking around, but to be honest I have a budget of about $1000 AUD (max, obviously less is even better), which obviously isn't much.

I've been looking and looking and getting more and more confused, as I don't really know much about computers. I can obviously tell whether or not prebuilt computers have the specs required, but most of  them are way over my budget and when I start looking at "customise your own" places, well, that's when I get confused - there are so many options of everything (HDD, processor, graphics card etc) and I just don't know enough to know which ones to choose.

So, I asked for a quote from the place where I bought the monitor and they gave me one for the preferred specs (which is obviously way above my budget) and then a budget conscious one for the min specs (photo attached); however, this one doesn't include an operating system, so it wouldn't actually be within my budget anyway.

Today I quickly looked again on the Dell Australia site and they have a sale on till this Thursday and they have an Inspiron desktop for $824AUD (http://www.dell.com/au/p/inspiron-3650-desktop/pd?oc=z210438au&model_id=inspiron-3650-desktop), which is much better for me budget-wise. It also includes a keyboard and mouse, which I don't have and it obviously comes with an operating system (Windows 10 Home 64-bit), which again is obviously needed.

So, basically, do you think the Dell is a good deal or do you think the customised desktop is better?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Brian]

I'd drop the 240GB SSD Drive and get a Western Digital Caviar Black 7200 RPM drive. 1TB at a minimum. The rest of the custom-built computer specs are "fine."

Now, I'm sure you are asking, "Why do you say 'No' to the SSD Drive? Aren't they supposed to be good? Aren't they fast?" My answer is this: 240GB is Microscopic by today's storage capacity standards. That is 240GB BEFORE it's formatted and the OS is installed. In reality, you probably only have 128GB or so to play with. Which doesn't leave you much room to store much. In fact, you will have to be ANAL on what gets installed on a 240GB SSD Drive. You also can not blindly click "Next-Next-Next...OK...Next...OK-OK...Finish" when installing software. You will have to do a custom install and make sure it gets installed on the 1TB D: Drive. So there is a bit of a hassle. If anyone is thinking about getting a SSD drive, please...aim for 500GB to 1TB and skip the smaller drives. I don't care how fast a SSD drive is, it won't do you a damn bit of good if it's full.

The Dell Inspiron has traditionally been Dell's low-end consumer line and I think you'd be throwing money away. So I'd get the custom computer, drop the SSD and get a WD Caviar Black 4TB HD instead. Here is a link to the US Amazon, AU Amazon only pulls up books for me, but you get the idea: https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-3-5-Inch-Desktop-WD4003FZEX/dp/B00FJRS5BA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1471295909&sr=8-3&keywords=western+digital+caviar+black

[Alice_M]

Thanks for your advice. I'd never even heard of an SSD until seeing it here in this forum, so that's good to know, as it means nothing to me.

Wow, that sucks that the Dell one would be a waste of my money and the customised one is only "fine". I wish computers weren't so expensive here in Australia.

Do you have any idea the minimum I'd have to spend to get a low-end decent one?

 

[Alice_M]

Ok, I got back to the people who gave me the "budget" quote and got them to remove the SSD and change the HD, as well as add an OS in there. How does it look now? Remember, I'm a hobbyist, so not out for the best (yet). I also assume that as it's a customised computer, I should be able to upgrade parts later on if I need/want to. Would that be correct?

 

[Brian]

Well, I like the Dell XPS series, but it seems that they are making them $1500+ models, at least in Australia.

The new configuration is fine. Not earth shattering, but it should get the job done.