New PC

[Davethedog]

Can anyone recommend a good site for PC reviews?

My hard drive is on its last legs and I need a new one.

And how bad is Vista now?

Thanks in anticipation

DTD

[VHG]

>And how bad is Vista now?

Pretty much the same as when it came out.

There is only so much you can do to an operating system after it has shipped.

They released Service Pack 1 which fixed some problems but gave no new function I am aware of.

It sounds like the NEXT version of Windows (currently called Windows 7) is what Vista should have been when it came out.

I believe this is due early next year (Microsoft often release new versions of Windows at year end - Vista came out December 2006 / January 2007).

I use XP and Vista on my PCs, and while I prefer XP I dont find Vista that bad (a bit sluggish perhaps, but usable)

[VHG]

>Can anyone recommend a good site for PC reviews?
>My hard drive is on its last legs and I need a new one.

Do you mean reviews for a whole PC, or just a disk drive?

It is not clear if you mean you want a new hard disk, or a whole new PC.

If your hard disk is failing, but the rest of the PC is OK, it is very easy to replace a hard disk.

[Davethedog]

Sorry I realised after it was ambiguous.

I want to buy a new PC - Mines getting on and I really don't fancy all that download upload stuff.

[VHG]

If you want a PC rather than a laptop then it is very difficult to get up to date accurate reviews.

Technology inside PCs moves so quickly that by the time the product has been reviewed and appeared in the press the components inside have probably changed (different CPU, diffferent motherboard etc).

There are loads of PC magazines that review PCs (pop in to W H Smiths and scan the magazines there).

PC Pro magazine do a lot of reviews, and they do say to companies the PC must be able for a certain length of time AFTER the review to ensure people can still buy it.

They do have some of these reviews on their web site. Here are the labs, but also see reviews of individual PCs on their web site as well

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/

[VHG]

If you want a general office PC then I dont think you can go far wrong with Dell.

Dell ship more computers than almost any company, and they do have good deals every so often so keep an eye out for them.

They do mostly sell online, but have started selling through places like Tesco and PC World, but they are cheaper online.

I would avoid cheap brands from PC World and Currys (same company) like Advent and Packard Bell etc.

[Davethedog]

Thanks all - After a bit of research I am going to wait for Windows 7 and then look.