What's an ASUS and should I get one?

Hi Laurin - with 4 digit NVIDIA cards, it's the second number you need to take the notice of. The higher the better - an 8800 is better tha a 9300. If you want top notch graphics get an 8800 or a 9800.

I was just playing with Dell's Ireland site, and came up with a decent system complete for €694.00

1. Start at http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=ie&cs=iedhs1&kc=DRS54504&l=en&m_30=322299&oc=D004612&rbc=D004612&s=dhs

2. Under Processor, select the 2.4 GHz Phenom Quad for €30

3. Under Memory, select 4096MB for €44.99

4. Under Graphics Card, select Nvidia GT 220 for €140

5. May as well upgrade to the multimedia keyboard fro €.01

That should get you about the same specs as the last desktop you posted, for a base price of €916.00 and a discount of €222.00, for a final price of €694.00 with shipping and VAT included. That comes complete with a 20" monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Brilliant, thanks guys. The only thing that concerns me about the Dell is the monitor. It specifies UK, and the other 2 monitor options are UK/Irish. I looked up help and about but couldn't see what the difference was unless it is plugs? As far as I know we're both on PAL, so am lost at what any other difference might be?

On the other hand, it's a Dell.

Ack, Argent, you aren't making this easier. I found out the UK monitor will work fine though, so never mind any of that.

Sorry, it's just that over 10 years we ended up with half a storage room of mostly Dells that were either unfixable or unupgradable that we eventually had to pay someone to haul away... even though Dell was a small part of our inventory. Too many sub-par parts, too many custom parts that couldn't be replaced, and we even ended up unable to effectively cannibalize systems because they had no standards of their own. Even identically labeled models might have different internals.

I ended up getting Dell taken off our approved products list.

It's been a few years since I was in that job, but I've got no reason to expect any changes. That's how Dell *gets* their low prices.

Sigh. Ok, well, I have it in my basket. If you get a chance can you look over the specs of the HP I posted above at Elara? My brain needs a rest from this for now, but I will be ordering early next week one way or the other.

I've just ordered the pro version of this one with a Samsung 24" flat screen monitor.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pc/range/isysex.html

Asus motherboard, NVIDIA graphics.

I've ordered Win7 OS, but no other software.

(Don't tell the kids, I've got to try and hide it till Christmas)

Lol, Deira my eyes are tired. I thought the address at the end said, "I is the sexy"

well.. as they say, "Sex sells!"

That's a good find, Deira. The graphics are better, and the overall specs are very nice.

I've had OK experience with Dell in the US. I've ordered a couple of dozen workstations and business laptops, as well as a couple of servers. They are hard to replace parts for, as Dell does use proprietary parts. In the US their service is good, but I have heard that the UK and Ireland support is not as good.

The HP looks fine to me. I'd probably still go for a build-it-myself myself, but the HP Pavilions I've looked at have all had good generic parts.

Thanks so much for the help. I will continue scouring over the weekend and query any final worries. You guys have been invaluable.

yes, that's what attracted me to it

Yes, I had a gander and thought "Put it in a sparkley little number and it has Santa written all over it."

A friend has one of that Isys range for over a year now and has had no problems - I was quite pleased with the price as that seemed a very good deal as far as UK prices go.

My old DEL Inspiron laptop of 5 years keeps on going - tho' the touch pad is shaky now - it's had a hard life too, but, it was my HP Pavilion laptop that was really unreliable It went back under warrantee twice in 1 year. HP Front Line Support (in India) were an absolute nightmare, however, once I managed to get put through to them, the Tech Support in South Africa were very good. I lost a whole lot of Poser work when that HP crashed. This was before I knew about the HP tendancy to overheat and didn't have a laptop cooler for it - so maybe it wouldn't have blown up, if I had treated it better.

Apparantly HP laptops are wired differently - most laptops you have to have the battery in place, even if you are running on the mains adapter. This isn't so with HP models - they can just be run from the mains adapter without the battery in situ and this is what makes them run hotter - the mains lead goes straight in and does not run via the battery. So learn from my disaster!

hahahahha tell me about spam. I have had this gateway desktop for almost 3 years and I still cant figure out how to get rid of the spam that pops up every few days for an online backup service. I bet if I ever did get rid of it I would be launching all kinds of things I am so used to click no on that thing when I first boot.

You can disable it in "Start Up." By streamlining your boot services and programs you can cut a lot of time off of your system boot. Your computer will also run faster and more smoothly.

An easy way to disable crapware on start up is Start > RUN > type in "msconfig" > Startup tab. Simply uncheck all the stuff you would rather not have running at startup. Once your computer is up and running any programs you need will start when you call upon them. The only programs I have running at startup are my anti virus and OC manager.

You can also disable services through "msconfig" but I only recommend doing so if you know exactly what each service does and what other services depend on the ones you are shutting down.

I've read several articles that advise using services.msc instead of msconfig for this.

This site is pretty comprehensive in what to turn off

http://www.blackviper.com/

Looks like a good link. TY for posting it.

Services.msc can be found by using "RUN" or going through the control panel. It easier to use than msconfig for me too because of its layout.

ETA- Sorry, to be perfectly clear I forgot to mention that 'Startup' and 'Services' are two different entities. 'Startup' actually controls what programs start with your computer and 'Services' controls what what core system utilities are running in the back ground.
Going to the 'Startup' tab in 'msconfig' will show you what programs are loading at system boot. You will find several programs there that are not in your "Startup Folder' in all programs.
Adobe and Q-Time are perfect examples of programs that will start automatically at bootup but not appear in the 'startup folder.' They are uselessly taking up clock cycles when you are not using them. Any application that uses Adobe and Q-Time plugins will start them up when they need them.

SpyBot also has a 'Startup' tool that you can use for the same purposes.

I'm a wee bit concerned about the RAM speed and the power supply but should be okay if your are not doing heavy video edting etc. I couldn't see the mention of the nVidia graphics but my contacts are fogging up so may have missed it. btw love you animations!

much appreciated I lost the link to that site when my last computer died 3 years ago and flat couldn't remember what it was called.

Bye Bye gateway spam

I agree with the RAM speed and PSU being a bit dodgy. Deira, if you ever upgrade anything on this computer goto a more beefy PSU. Even upgrading the RAM may cause issues, possibly burning out the PSU a couple of months after the upgrade. All in all not a bad computer judging by the specs.

The graphics card is the GeForce GTS 250 SLI 1024MB, its a step up from the GeForce 9800 GTX+. You'll have no problems running SL on ultra but enabling antialiasing beyond 2Xs might not be an option if high FPS are a must.

Please notice the edit I did on my post above. Just shutting down unneeded services may not stop the spam. It most likely will but if not look into the start up tab.

I cant dis Dell considering I replace their parts for a living

(hint: Problem with a dell laptop? Press FN + Power when you turn it on to run the diagnostics)

As for Asus..... I have their 22" LCD and LOVE IT!!!

I have their EEE PC 1000HA Netbook and LOVE IT!!!!

Asus, A-zoos, a-sus, Azus.... however you pronounce it.