I need a new Windows XP desktop. Help!

[slowmotion]

I just need a new XP machine for work, and I would be really grateful for any suggestions about where to get one. I bought a Windows 7 one a few days ago and fled in horror. A hardware fault enabled me to send it back, and I have a few pounds to spend on something that is more familiar.

I do not need TV, games, or any fast graphics, just boring MS Office stuff, some old software that even worked on ME, and that is about it. I am familiar with OE. No need for huge HD, 160G would be fine, but a 2G processor would be good, and a camera memory SD slot would be a bonus. Do they make this stuff anymore?

One more thing, please do not suggest a secondhand ebay cronk. I do not wish to seem rude, but please... no...

Thank-you , and please send me your suggestions.

Best wishes to all

 

[Aperitif]

This thread will get moved when the 'café sweeper' comes in to tidy up, slomo, but you might want to think about a Dell. I find them good,(at work) and very quiet in the fan department. It's also possible to buy the 'box' only if you have the other bits already and they are what you want.
The Mesh that I am using 'here' has a nasty fan hum - not the best.

 

[gbb]

Do you have a friendly IT guy at work Slowmotion.
I have the same problem, some of the software i use when travelling abroad for work is XP based and will not work with Vista or 7. Granted the laptop i carry is company owned, but when we bought a new laptop it was of course Vista (at the time).
He has an XP disc and 'downgraded' the new laptop to XP.
The software is of course licenced, ours was for 10 or 20 installations..

If you could convince him work would benefit, perhaps he could help you ?

I have seen people on Freecycle ( a website for people wishing to give things away, or asking for donations of a particular item) asking for a copy of XP with the neccessary key. I dont know if they've been successful, but maybe worth a try. You'd need to register online with your local freecycle group (its yahoo based i think)

 

[PBancroft]

Dell still do downgrades to XP on some of their kit... or at least they do for their business customers. Give them a call and see what they say.

 

[XmisterIS]

See if you can get a refurbished office PC, make sure the motherboard, PSU and CPU(s) is/are still good. I have a refurbished server with dual pentium 3.2GHz CPUs. I don't play games either, so I went for a 400MHz FSB m/b with DDR1, all I had to do was upgrade to 1Gb RAM (£25) and stick in a legacy VGA card (I went for an nVidia GE Force 4 - 128 meg I think). The only thing is that with those older boards you'll need to run the memory modules in powers of 2. Most have 4 slots with a 1 gig limit in each, so you can fill 1, 2 or 4 slots (but not 3). Also, if you're planning to do serious work on it, go for SATA HDDs and run them as a single RAID device.

EDIT: You can get 3.5" expansion cards with a mixture serial sockets that fit where the FDD usually goes - they plug into an internal USB slot. (I don't have and FDDs in my machines!)

 

[swee'pea99]

Have you considered a secondhand ebay cronk?

 

[accountantpete]

Don't forget,if you get XP Home you will also need MS Office software installed

 

[nigelb]

Places like http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=701&catid=110&sortby=priceAsc do good barebones systems, you add the cpu, ram and disk that you want.

Equally, they have complete "value" systems starting from £330 plus carriage http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=43&catid=1078&sortby=priceAsc

Do consider what screen you'll be using, modern flat screens have specific resolutions that they work well at, go higher or lower res and they really struggle - needs to be spot on!

Nige

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Look out for your 'local' PC shop - the big name brands (PC world etc) aren't going to sell anything 'less than' windows 7.

 

[MadoneRider1991]

Don't forget,if you get XP Home you will also need MS Office software installed

you can just use open office for free

 

[slowmotion]

Thank you all for your suggestions.... Naughty Step for you swee'pea99...and so sorry for posting in the wrong bit of the cafe.

I have already bought a £35 "genuine" version of Windows XP Pro with SP3, and was thinking of installing it on a Windows 7 machine. A friend pointed out that there might not be drivers available for hardware designed for Windows 7 machines, hence the search for an XP one.

I'll go through your suggestions and see which supplier fits the bill.

Thank-you for your help.

BW.

 

[swee'pea99]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Morgan can be quite good for this kind of thing, eg...

 

[slowmotion]

OK, if you promise to be good.....

Thanks for the Morgan link. I had completety forgotten about them. They used to have a store near Tottenham Court Road absolutely yonks ago, didn't they?

BW.

 

[swee'pea99]

They did, but they're online only now.

 

[swee'pea99]

Or you could try an ebay cronk...

"You are bidding for a brilliant Dell Dimension 4600 PC. This computer's hard drive has just been wiped and been installed with a genuine version of Microsoft Windows XP Home Editionl, so it performance is excellent and you can be sure that it has no viruses or spyware clogging up the hard drive.

The general specs of the computer are as follows:

Dimensions:
42x45x19(HxDxWcm)

General:
Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHZ
768MB of Ram
Dell Dimension 4600 series
40GB hard drive

Conectivity:
4 USB ports (2 front, 2 back)
3 Firewire ports
Mouse and Keyboard ports
Speaker Out
Belkin Wirless Desktop Network Card (driver cd included)
Ethernet port
Microphone In

Drives:
CDRW/DVD
Floppy disc

Video:
VGA out
S-Video out

OS:
Microsoft Windows Home Edition

Accessories:
Power Cable
USB Keyboard
USB Mouse

The computer also comes with all the original discs it was bought with which includes:
'Sonic My DVD Plus' software
2xDrivers and Utilities discs
Cyberlink Power DVD
Fireconnect 4300 movie editing software
Operating System CD
Application disc
Belkin Wireless Desktop Network Card Driver CD-ROM

The Computer also comes with the 'Owners Manual'

I will be happy to answer any questions to bidders and also any questions which the winner may have after purchasing the product regarding any set up issues."

Solid as a rock, silent as the grave....

£35. Hi thenk you...

(Bought to replace the brand new Fuji-Siemens for which I paid over £300 which proved to be a piece of crap - utterly unreliable, BSD on a routine basis.)