Is this a good deal

[Wascally Weasel]

My current PC is somewhat old and sad now (and not up to the latest whizz-bang explodey stuff).  I bought it something like four years ago from Morgan for approximately £500 - it was a reconditioned compaq.

I'm thinking of buying another reconditioned Pc from Morgan, is this one a good deal:

HP Pavilion Elite m9255.uk Desktop PC - 
    Product Specifications 

(This is currently on the Morgan site for £540)

[Craig]

What will you be using it for?
If its just for the usual internet / office stuff etc then something for about half that price would do the job fine.

[tonycollinet]

This is very good if you want quad core (I'm using one now):
Zoostorm Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 750GB HDD 4GB RAM, DVDRW, Glossy Black, Vista Home Premium - Ebuyer

If you just want basic, then:
Zoostorm Core 2 Duo E7300 Advanced Premium PC, 500GB HDD, 3GB Ram, 512MB 8400GS, DVDRW Vista Home Premium - Ebuyer
Or
Zoostorm Pentium Dual Core E5200 Advanced Premium PC, 320GB HDD, 2GB Ram, DVDRW Vista Home Premium - Ebuyer

Will be fine.

[Valiant]

4 years old? Reinstall windows and maybe upgrade ram if it's 512mb or less and as good as new

[mrcharly-YHT]

We just bought a new PC from Misco for £286 delivered. Full system, including 19" widescreen, 1gb ram, duo core.

[vorsprung]

4 years old? Reinstall windows and maybe upgrade ram if it's 512mb or less and as good as new

That is possibly good advice but if mrcharly is doing anything compute intensive like image manipulation, games etc then a modern quad core does go very well.
I just started using one last month and it makes a big difference when I'm compiling big programs

Also when a machine is 4 years old it begins to be an issue that the hard disk or PSU might fail

No big deal to you or me but a bit of a mare for the average user

[Valiant]

4 years of heavy use and sure the HD might need replacing, but thats a £30 replacement. And yes you're right, if you're doing a big task it might better to upgrade to a new machine but in most cases it'll be fine even for photoshop.

Sorry I have a bit of a gripe with machines just being chucked out cos they're old*er*, we do it a lot at work and we throw out a lot of excellent PCs as some of you have received. My main machines are running fine and their 4+ years old.

[Jaded]

Although Photoshop is a bit heavier than Microsoft Worm and Excreta.

Loads of RAM for Photoshop. Loads. A lot. Then a bit more.

[Wascally Weasel]

4 years of heavy use and sure the HD might need replacing, but thats a £30 replacement. And yes you're right, if you're doing a big task it might better to upgrade to a new machine but in most cases it'll be fine even for photoshop.

Sorry I have a bit of a gripe with machines just being chucked out cos they're old*er*, we do it a lot at work and we throw out a lot of excellent PCs as some of you have received. My main machines are running fine and their 4+ years old.

It's high end gaming that is causing the upgrade need - I upgraded the RAM on original purchase and upgraded the graphics card about a year ago - it's just reached the limit of upgradability.  I contemplated going the console route but there is too much software that I would still like to use that is only found on the PC (decent wargames for one, although this is a sadly diminishing genre).

I have never wasted a PC, they have always either been broken up for parts to pass on to multiple users or handed down complete to friends and family (either for free or for a modest cost).  I'm tempted to keep this one and network it though.

I do semi-regularly do reinstalls (I still can't decide if it's Realplayer, Adobe products or pron that are the most detrimental to computer performance)

[Valiant]

Ah fair enough then what you want is rather than an end of line from Morgan, look into something higher spec as in the long run it'll work for longer if you catch my drift.