Anybody running a HP Pavilion 500?

[Shewie]

I'm looking to replace my PC and Currys have a good deal on a HP at the moment. I've always been a Dell user but I want a decent spec rather than just office/business models I've been used to. To get the same spec in a Dell it'll cost me £300 extra.

I've always warned folk away from HP laptops because of their historic power problems, but I don't have a clue about their desktops, any opinions?

 

[Ecoman]

Forget Curry's and go find a decent computer shop and get one custom built. I have yet to see a decent system worth what you pay for it in one of the big shops. They are generally not upgradeable so you cant keep tweeking them to improve performance. My last computer was built by North East Peripherals in Aberdeen (bit far for you to go though). They built me a really nice computer with far higher specs and it cost the same as one of the basic systems in PC World. If you don't need a new screen, keyboard, mouse, printer etc then why pay for them?

 

[rickyamos]

We only ever used HP desktops and laptops at work, true sometimes the PSU can go, but that is true from and make. So the first real question is what do you want to do with your new PC? asif its just surfing the net and general office work then just get yourself a standard £350 laptop, on the other side of the coin then if you want to play games then ditch the idea of a laptop as getting a good gaming laptop you will need to spend an arm and a leg. So I would get a desktop because they are easier to upgrade later when you have a few extra ££££'s and will last you a few more years when say adding a higher spec video card and extra memory. as always the higher the numbers the better the spec. and also the price tag. So first set yourself a budget, then get buy the best spec you can afford. Spend money on the best video card spec and upgrade the memory, if you want to play games.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Rick

 

[Adze]

What is the spec to be matched/beaten Shewie?

 

[Shewie]

Main uses will be photo and film editing, my current machine struggles or just plain refuses to run some software, and I'm due a change anyway. I'm not a gamer, my XBOX 360 hasn't been switched on for 2 years and I never really got into PC gaming anyway. A decent spec Pavilion comes in at my budget of around £500 and it's upgradable so future proof to an extent. I'll probably buy on the high street rather than independent as I could do with it soon and getting it on the chuck works for me right now

I've used Dell desktops and laptops at my current job for the last 15 years, but a 1TB hard drive, 8GB RAM and a decent graphics card from them will be a bit too spendy. I have a works Inspiron laptop which I use daily but prefer to do personal stuff on my own machines if I can help it.

 

[WULF]

My old pc was an hp pavillion Rich,lasted 11 years till it died

It cost £1100 for the package when i bought it so didnt do bad.

 

[Adze]

High St/ Meh... why pay a salesman's wages?

Have a look at ebuyer.com - some good deals at the moment.

 

[Macaroon]

+1 for ebuyer, they've got some great deals, you'll get the spec. you posted above with all the trimmings for less than your budget;........Don't know if you can buy from them on the drip though...........

 

[ged]

I'm looking to replace my PC and Currys have a good deal on a HP at the moment. I've always been a Dell user but I want a decent spec rather than just office/business models I've been used to. To get the same spec in a Dell it'll cost me £300 extra.

I've always warned folk away from HP laptops because of their historic power problems, but I don't have a clue about their desktops, any opinions?

Main thing I've found with HP stuff is that they often seem to have slightly off-the-wall hardware and drivers can be an issue. OTOH I only really use Linux, and if you're using Windows then you probably don't need to worry much about that as HP will supply the drivers for their kit.