Desktop PCs

Soprano

Soprano

Member
Apologies if I'm posting in the wrong section.

I start uni in September, and am looking to buy a PC - I currently do all of my illustrator & photoshop work on a laptop and it's not really ideal, so I was thinking of getting a desktop which would be used solely for my design stuff/uni work.

I would love to have a Mac, but I'm not really in a position to spend £800+ on one so would happily buy a Windows PC instead. I'm not at all clued up on the specs etc of these so I wondered if anyone could give me some advice on what I should be looking for when the time comes.

Obviously it needs to be able to handle the running of the software (my laptop threatens death if I run Illustrator & Photoshop together :( ) and I'd need good graphics on it. But, as I said, I'm hopeless with this stuff! Would I be pushing it if I set a budget of £4-£500? Or is this realistic? What sort of specs should I be looking at?

Thanks in advance - I appreciate any help! :D
 
Good luck then.
Mind you if you have for £500 you could get a Mac Mini.
Ebay is your friend.
Just get a second hand monitor and keyboard.

Are you planning to 'aquire' software?
 
I was told Adobe do a student version (I've never looked into it) so I'm going to have a gander at that, see what they've got/price wise.
 
ok tell me the spec (As much as possible but cpu, ram, hard drive and graphics are important) of your current laptop, tell me it's os too :) YOu may be able to save some money :)
 
Hi Soprano,

I selling my desktop for £600 if you would like it?

Specs here:

AMD Athlon 5000+ 2.6ghz Dual Core Processor, 3GB Ram, N+ Network Adapter, Windows 7 Ultimate, 320gb Hard Drive, Two 22" Dual Samsung Screen Monitors, Dedicated Nvidia Graphics Card, Brand New Logitech Speakers with Sub Woofer, System and screens are just over 1 year old and has been used for design ...using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Flash, A variety of web browsers which have all been ran at once on the system £600

[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gawheeler/4425143717/"]Desktop Audi 2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!@@AMEPARAM@@http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4425143717_eb9001be2d_m.jpg@@AMEPARAM@@4425143717@@AMEPARAM@@eb9001be2d[/ame]
 
Soprano said:
How would I find this out? :eek:
Click to expand...

ok lets start with the os - is it xp, vista or windows 7 as each one is slightly different.

as to the pc spec, usually it's on the lovely stickers pc laptop makers feel we need (we don't!!), sometimes on the underside or in the manual/on the box.

If this fails there are other ways but we'll try the easy stuff first :)
 
Got it -

Intel Pentium T3400 2.16GHz 2048mb 160GB DVD+/-RW Li-ion Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 17" Widescreen TFT

Might be worth noting I had a blue screen the other night, it over heats a bit, I get the impression it's going to die on me soon. :( It was a refurb and didn't come with a recovery disk.
 
well I would have suggested, windows 7, a larger tft to plug into it and doubling the ram but as you think it's about to die ........
 
glenwheeler said:
Hi Soprano,

I selling my desktop for £600 if you would like it?

Specs here:

AMD Athlon 5000+ 2.6ghz Dual Core Processor, 3GB Ram, N+ Network Adapter, Windows 7 Ultimate, 320gb Hard Drive, Two 22" Dual Samsung Screen Monitors, Dedicated Nvidia Graphics Card, Brand New Logitech Speakers with Sub Woofer, System and screens are just over 1 year old and has been used for design ...using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Flash, A variety of web browsers which have all been ran at once on the system £600

Desktop Audi 2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Click to expand...

I maybe interested in one of your monitors if you fancy doing a deal...I have F1 goodies....;)
 
Soprano said:
Got it -

Intel Pentium T3400 2.16GHz 2048mb 160GB DVD+/-RW Li-ion Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 17" Widescreen TFT

Might be worth noting I had a blue screen the other night, it over heats a bit, I get the impression it's going to die on me soon. :( It was a refurb and didn't come with a recovery disk.
Click to expand...

aside from BSOD should run all adobe suite o.k aside form 3d and video stuff.

are you uising it on your lap and covering the vent by any chance?

same goes as levi said really double the ram and get a 22" screen
 
I run an Imac, upgraded to 4gb ram (so simple on a mac), can't go wrong for the £1100. Is definately worth the investment.

Although i have a dell xps desktop pc too which i also love:)

Sam
 
Soprano said:
Duo screen looks great. May I ask why you're selling?
Click to expand...

Got a mac few month back and also have a windows 7 new laptop too mate, that machine is just over 1 year old and has been looked after really well...
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I do use it on my lap mostly but I try to keep the vent from being covered.

Glen - I would be very tempted by that if you weren't up north!
 
Soprano said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I do use it on my lap mostly but I try to keep the vent from being covered.

Glen - I would be very tempted by that if you weren't up north!
Click to expand...

Only about 40 quid to send it down....go for it.
 
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