New PC and Antivirus

[Force]

Did some seriously say PC World isn't bad? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! It's so over-priced, seriously.. They'll never come with decent ram/graphics from there either.

I'd still recommend building your own, will take 20/30 minutes to assemble, if you read everything slowly etc

[Wakers]

Building your own PC used to be very much worth the effort. I'm not sure that it is today though. Online retailers have eventually realised that a lot of people can do this for cheaper than they were selling. I think at the moment you'd struggle to save more than £30 when building your own without the aid of some very good special offers.

These days I believe it's only best to build your own pc if you want a very specific specification that you're struggling to find anywhere else for good value.

[Force]

Guess it depends on the website, but with overclockers, not long ago I checked.. and I would've saved about 80/100 on most systems they sold, if I bought the parts. Just depends what's out there.. maybe some new offers coming up in January too? Even though VAT rises, could maybe still save some money then.

[Wakers]

The last time I bought a new computer..Summer 2007 I believe, I spent days looking around at components and special offers.

I got my computer from PCSpecialist and it was actually about £10 cheaper than if I were to build it myself.

[Hammer1000]

Building your own PC used to be very much worth the effort. I'm not sure that it is today though. Online retailers have eventually realised that a lot of people can do this for cheaper than they were selling. I think at the moment you'd struggle to save more than £30 when building your own without the aid of some very good special offers.

These days I believe it's only best to build your own pc if you want a very specific specification that you're struggling to find anywhere else for good value.

I've just been into town to a couple of local computer shops, giving them the specs i had from the Mesh site. They were quoting me £50+ more WITHOUT a monitor whatsoever???:confused:

One also told me that Mesh were a reputable company and that the components they use where the same/similar to just about any other and that i should have snapped their hand off for the price they were offering the PC at.

I live in the N East, maybe such things are pricier here in the North for some reason?

[Wakers]

Nope, I'm also in the North Easternish area

The Dell is still better.

Now is not the time to be shopping at local computer stores sadly. What with the recession, they will be struggling like mad to stay afloat, and their prices will be inflated as a result.

[Hammer1000]

Nope, I'm also in the North Easternish area

The Dell is still better.

Now is not the time to be shopping at local computer stores sadly. What with the recession, they will be struggling like mad to stay afloat, and their prices will be inflated as a result.

Wakers - Just been back onto the Mesh website and i found that i can upgrade to a AMD Phenom 11x4 955 BLACK Quad Core Processor AM3(3.2GHz, 8mb cache) for just £65

That means just £563.13 total, plus i get a 22" full HD monitor to boot, does this sound better?

[Wakers]

Bear with me hammer, I'll have to look at both systems again. Been looking at so many different computers today I start to get confused!

With that mesh, you also need to upgrade the Power Supply Unit and the Case (for upgrading possibilities at a later date and also to help cooling). I can't make an equal system with mesh that beats the one from Dell for £599.

With Mesh you're gaining a bigger monitor for poorer performance.

I'll go through the Mesh configurator thing again and see if I can get a decent machine for less than £600.

EDIT

----------------

I can't get anywhere near with Mesh. A comparable machine to the Dell off comes out at £666. A bad omen if ever I saw one

What is your budget again Hammer? Are you desperate not to spend £600?

[Hammer1000]

Bear with me hammer, I'll have to look at both systems again. Been looking at so many different computers today I start to get confused!

With that mesh, you also need to upgrade the Power Supply Unit and the Case (for upgrading possibilities at a later date and also to help cooling). I can't make an equal system with mesh that beats the one from Dell for £599.

With Mesh you're gaining a bigger monitor for poorer performance.

I'll go through the Mesh configurator thing again and see if I can get a decent machine for less than £600.

EDIT

----------------

I can't get anywhere near with Mesh. A comparable machine to the Dell off comes out at £666. A bad omen if ever I saw one

What is your budget again Hammer? Are you desperate not to spend £600?

I could go to £700 but for that i'd want something a bit special

[Wakers]

I could go to £700 but for that i'd want something a bit special

In that case, stick with the Dell and upgrade to a better monitor for £60

[Hammer1000]

In that case, stick with the Dell and upgrade to a better monitor for £60

I dont understand the memory with the Dell machine, any chance you can explain it?

Cheers

Is it 4GB???

[Wakers]

Yep.

First thing to notice is that the memory is DDR 3 - this is good, as it performs better than DDR 2. It also has a high speed which aids performance too.

There is 4gb in total in the form of 4 1gb sticks set up as dual channel - which is the most efficient and best way to get performance out of memory. They could also have used 2x 2gb sticks but this way you have more room for upgrading in the future.

To compare, the memory in the Mesh machine is slightly quicker (300 mhz) - but not in such a way that it will make a noticeable difference to performance. The mesh computer also only seems to have 2 memory slots, which leaves you less room to upgrade than the Dell.

A few years ago I hated Dell because they were overpriced and generally rubbish. Now they seem to be about the best manufacturer around.

[taylorsmen]

Dunno if anyones suggested NOD32,imo the best AV out there and worth every penny of £30.

[Wakers]

Dunno if anyones suggested NOD32,imo the best AV out there and worth every penny of £30.

It has a worse overall detection and cleaning score than Microsoft Security Essentials and slows down the system more to boot. MSE is free, btw.

[Hammer1000]

Yep.

First thing to notice is that the memory is DDR 3 - this is good, as it performs better than DDR 2. It also has a high speed which aids performance too.

There is 4gb in total in the form of 4 1gb sticks set up as dual channel - which is the most efficient and best way to get performance out of memory. They could also have used 2x 2gb sticks but this way you have more room for upgrading in the future.

To compare, the memory in the Mesh machine is slightly quicker (300 mhz) - but not in such a way that it will make a noticeable difference to performance. The mesh computer also only seems to have 2 memory slots, which leaves you less room to upgrade than the Dell.

A few years ago I hated Dell because they were overpriced and generally rubbish. Now they seem to be about the best manufacturer around.

So you would definitely recommend the Dell?

Its confusing because some of the specs on the Dell look like less than on the Mesh machine?

[taylorsmen]

It has a worse overall detection and cleaning score than Microsoft Security Essentials and slows down the system more to boot. MSE is free, btw.

In my 3 years of using it ive not had ONE virus get onto my machine,so i disagree,but it's only opinion and we all have them

[Wakers]

Well that can be down to how careful you are as a user. Performance tests indicate though that you're wasting your money when a free suite performs slightly better than a premium suite.

[Wakers]

So you would definitely recommend the Dell?

Its confusing because some of the specs on the Dell look like less than on the Mesh machine?

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3762 49

Intel Core2 Quad Q8300 @ 2.50GHz 3551 59

The Mesh processor then is marginally better (higher better in first column, lower better in second)

And the ATi chip is slightly better than the nvidia in the Dell. So in that respect the Mesh is better.

However, for me it's not value for money - the price difference is way too much. That and the monitor on the Dell will be better than the monitor that comes with the Mesh.

Also another thing to consider is that Dell's support is generally accepted to be about the best. Mesh, not so much.

It's up to you in the end If you want performance I would lean towards the Mesh (although the difference is by no means huge), value for money I would go for the Dell.

[Hammer1000]

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3762 49

Intel Core2 Quad Q8300 @ 2.50GHz 3551 59

The Mesh processor then is marginally better (higher better in first column, lower better in second)

And the ATi chip is slightly better than the nvidia in the Dell. So in that respect the Mesh is better.

However, for me it's not value for money - the price difference is way too much. That and the monitor on the Dell will be better than the monitor that comes with the Mesh.

Also another thing to consider is that Dell's support is generally accepted to be about the best. Mesh, not so much.

It's up to you in the end If you want performance I would lean towards the Mesh (although the difference is by no means huge), value for money I would go for the Dell.

Just looking back through the thread and noticed that the PC from PC World is very similar to that of the dell.

Exactly the same processor

Same size Monitor

Same price

More RAM 6GB instead of 4 in the Dell

Not sure if the Graphics card is better or worse tbh?

I'm more confused than ever.

[Wakers]

The one from PC World has a worse monitor, graphics card and memory chips

[Hammer1000]

This is also very similar, but a £100 less

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0621934913.1262110483@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccddadejellflfkcflgceggdhhmdfog.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=154089&category_oid=-37526

[Wakers]

This is also very similar, but a £100 less

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0621934913.1262110483@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccddadejellflfkcflgceggdhhmdfog.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=154089&category_oid=-37526

Again, worse memory, processor, graphics card and monitor

You won't get a good one from PCWorld, honestly.

You'll see there that that processor isn't a black edition.

[Hammer1000]

Wakers - Just found these two machines

http://www.cube247.co.uk/?customise=94

http://www.cube247.co.uk/?customise=93

Any good?

[Wakers]

They're both pretty good value, but you don't get a monitor with either.

By the time you get a decent monitor with the first one, it's worse than the Dell though.

The second one is a better Spec but again, if you look on the Dell site you can get a similar spec with a monitor for not much more. the i5 processors are brand new and will be more "future proof" (a misnoma if ever there was one in computing) than the Core 2 Duo.

[Hammer1000]

They're both pretty good value, but you don't get a monitor with either.

By the time you get a decent monitor with the first one, it's worse than the Dell though.

The second one is a better Spec but again, if you look on the Dell site you can get a similar spec with a monitor for not much more. the i5 processors are brand new and will be more "future proof" (a misnoma if ever there was one in computing) than the Core 2 Duo.

The £399 one would be a big compromise, but i do already have a monitor and such, my issue is, although i use my PC all the time, its usually only playing FM or surfing the net, so do i really want/need to spend big bucks on a new one?

I can also have this machine delivered tomorrow and can finally stop faffing on with this crappy laptop of my GF's

Would you say this is a decent spec machine for the money?

[Wakers]

I wouldn't compromise with it to be honest. It won't last more than 18 months before you're looking for a better machine again. The Dell will last longer and you get a nice shiny big monitor with it too.

If you're looking to save the money then the £399 would be ideal though.

[Hammer1000]

Finally got my new PC, was supposed to get it on 31st December but failed to read the smallprint that said it would be out on the 5th Jan instead.

Thanks to the weather it has come an extra couple of days late and the delivery company managed to change my house number so i had to go chasing up and down the street to find it.

Then when i put it all together my wireless keyboard and mouse would simply not work so i had to go out and buy wired versions.

Just went to d/load the "free" Microsoft Essentials anti virus thingy and it was going to cost me to register, personally i dont think that it should be allowed to be called "free" when there is money involved???

[dafuge]

Just went to d/load the "free" Microsoft Essentials anti virus thingy and it was going to cost me to register, personally i dont think that it should be allowed to be called "free" when there is money involved???

No idea why, I've installed it on two machines without registering or paying.

Did you get it from here?

[Wakers]

Sounds like you tried to download from a bad site. It's 100% free.

[Hammer1000]

No idea why, I've installed it on two machines without registering or paying.

Did you get it from here?

No i did'nt, but i have now, thanks for that dafuge.

[Wee Aja]

I recommend Trend Micro Internet Security Pro - I've used AVG and Avast for years until getting this new Laptop the other day, when I also bought Trend Micro - can be installed on 3 machines and cost £25 for a year.

The difference between free and professional programmes is immeasurable.

Think about this -

There is an AVG Free version, and there is a version that you pay for. Why would Grisoft charge for one version and not the other?

Because one is totally secure and the other isn't, that's why.

[Hammer1000]

Sounds like you tried to download from a bad site. It's 100% free.

Must have been mate, yeah.

My PC is working a treat, i get 5 stars for both speed and performance now with FM, whereas i was getting 1 star and 3 stars previously.

The 3D runs so much smoother now as well.

All in all i'm happy so far.

[Wakers]

I recommend Trend Micro Internet Security Pro - I've used AVG and Avast for years until getting this new Laptop the other day, when I also bought Trend Micro - can be installed on 3 machines and cost £25 for a year.

The difference between free and professional programmes is immeasurable.

Think about this -

There is an AVG Free version, and there is a version that you pay for. Why would Grisoft charge for one version and not the other?

Because one is totally secure and the other isn't, that's why.

And that's why you use MSE instead of anything else.

[pelicanstuff]

Just want to chip in and say that the free version of Avast! has in my experience provided the best trade-off between cost, security and computer performance. I've also used AVG, Norton, Avira, McAfee, NOD32 and Symantec's server/client product, and I would recommend Avast! above any of those.

[Wakers]

I wouldn't recommend avast at all. Out of all the machines I have to fix for friends/relatives that have been infested with viruses and malware, it's usually one of three AV's on the system not doing their job;

AVG

Avast

Norton

[pelicanstuff]

I would suggest the reason for that is those are the three AV products most likely to be used by inexperienced computer users and that it's a case of PEBKAC - as in people ignoring warnings, not updating, etc, etc.

Norton is the only product I have ever seen actually failing to detect relatively common malware infections - but that was several years ago and I've heard it is better now.

[Wakers]

It's more common than you might think.

[looknohands]

Just glad to see that Hammer ended up happy.

[ChelseaDaft]

Guys for all your anti virus stuff check out this dudes site www.remove-malware.com he records reviews of all anti virus software on highly infected pc's and prevention and shows how good bad they are... i think you people that like avast and avg will be surprised