Desktop Or Laptop?

Looking to get a new computer but on a low budget.

Considering going back to a desktop/tower as they are easier to fix and upgrade.

Anyone know anything about this one? It's either this or an Acer.

I think this one has the advantage of a faster processor and more options to upgrade, but it comes with Windows 8.1

http://www.box.co.uk/Cube_Essence_Home_PC_i3_Skylake_with_Bui_1942273.html

 

Me too! I will definitely get into it, but probably just before I buy it.

Personally I am considering a desktop, but only because I have a relatively small room, living on my own and not planning to carry it around to other places. Overall it seems you still get a bit more out of a desktop than a laptop for the same money. But yeah, the details are important, and of course how you are gonna use it. Mine will be a media pc besides being used for the general office stuff. No gaming on my computer, not planning to upgrade it any time soon. So no need for a special graphic card or anything like that. Depending on what is in the computers offered, I might go with a custom hard disk.

In what aspect are you thinking you gonna have to upgrade it for?

 

I'd like the option to add more RAM and maybe upgrade the graphics cards for gaming.

I'd like a decent processor to deal with stitching massive panoramic photography, as it is my 4GB RAM intel i7 8 core sony viao struggle with this sometimes. I'm talking about stitching up 10 24mp photos together at times.

I might like to consider adding a SSD drive on there and use the HDD as a back up, upon the recommendation of a friend who reckons it really speeds things up.

Something with decent specs, and hopefully a fan that doesn't go mental whenever I do certain things.

 

I'd r ecommend a laptop. That's all I have 2 now and I haven't really thought once about wishing I had a Desktop. But when I only had a desktop, there were numerous occasisions I was wishing I had a laptop.

The flexibility to practically go anywhere with it, hook it up to a tv to watch movies or play music is pretty amazing. Alot of websites use responsive design for mobile plus if you have big clunky, fingers like me, and can feel the arthritis setting in as you type on a phone,, laptop is a welcome relief.

 

My desktop is standard hooked up to my tv. And yeah, 99% of my music comes from my desktop pc which is not only connected to my tv but also to my stereo system (naturally!).

 

I said playing music.

 

Like in FruityLoops or something? Why would you prefer a laptop for that above a desktop? Except for being more mobile, I get that of course

 

Derp

 

In my opinion a laptop is more practical. I take mine with me places. When I travel I can take you guys with me!

 

Sorry? Just the mobility aspect then I guess?

I use my phone for that these days. I've looked up the forums a few times while riding the train. I sometimes see other people busy with their laptops in the train and do not envy them

 

I already have a laptop. If I need the mobility of a laptop I can use my old one. OTOH if something needs replaced or my fan needs cleaned in my new computer, if it's a desktop then it's a whole lot easier to get inside the damn thing than a Sony Vaio.

 

I hate the feel of a laptop keyboard as well as this mini touch one on my phone. Some things are easier on a desk top as well as endless storage

 

A quick look at the motherboard shows only one ram slot, so you'd have to swap out the 4gb stick for an 8gb. The skylake i3 chip is the wrong one for gaming and what you want at a minimum is the i3-6320 which many are calling a gamer's new best friend. The power supply and everything else looks good at a superficial glance, but its definitely a disposable computer with even the skylake chips being notorious for not lasting as long as the last generation ones did, probably due to the new 14nm finfet design.

Adding an SSD, new ram, and a video card to a cheap computer is an awful lot to ask for without risking frying the power supply or motherboard.

 

This one looks decent? It's Windows 7 though, bit out of date. On other sites they are selling it with 7 and 10...

http://www.tesco.com/direct/dell-optiplex-3040-2420-desktop-pc-intel-pentium-g4400-33ghz-4gb-500gb/671-4476.prd?skuId=671-4476

 

This one looks pretty decent specs for the price. Think I might go for this one.

http://www.johnlewis.com/lenovo-ideacentre-510s-tower-pc-intel-core-i3-8gb-1tb-black/p2877309

 

The Pentium chip is significantly slower than an i3 6320 and the second one does not say what kind of i3 it has.

A quick google search for "cheap gaming pc for sale in UK" brought up this website first:

http://www.fiercepc.co.uk/products/gaming-pcs/budget

 

Second one has a Dual-Core Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz, which sounds good to me?

 

Yeah, the benchmarks are closer to that for a 6320 and you may even be able to overclock it a bit.

 

OK now I need a monitor. Outputs on that one are HDMI or VGA. Most of the cheap monitors don't have HDMI, is it really important? VGA should be alright. Oh I don't know...

 

VGA is a really dated analog cable that doesn't work well with modern monitors. HDMI covers everything including blue ray content if that's important, while DVI and DisplayPort are smaller and not quite as good. Hopefully, within a few years they'll come out with a much smaller and more capable optical cable and do away with all this fuss. A fiber-optic the size of pencil lead should be more than enough for even 4k resolutions and can even have the circuitry built right into the fiber. Its all just economics and what's cheaper to mass produce with the vast majority of all the engineering and everything that goes into any electronics being just to make a cheap piece of crap work a little better.