Minimum Specification when buying a PC

[Louise07]

Hi, I am looking to buy a home PC to use mainly for the internet. Does anyone know what the minimum specifications that I should look for are i.e.minimum memory, processor, hard drive etc etc. I have seen some on ebay but am not sure if they will be sufficient as they all differ. Can anyone advise or direct me to a website that will tell me???

[vehelpfulguy]

Any new PC you buy nowadays will be more than powerful enough for looking at the internet. Unless you plan to do video editing or play games then you just need a general PC.

Having said that, there are a few things you need to consider to allow for future growth.

Any modern processor will be fine unless you plan to do anything complex (the performance will be more affected by your broadband connection than your processor)

Windows XP needs a lot of real memory. Dont buy 256Mb, 512Mb is about the minimum, buy 1Gb if you can to be sure.

Hard disks are getting bigger. You could get by on 40Gb or 80Gb, but in the future you may want to store lots of MP3s or movies so go for the biggest hard drive you can: 150Gb, 200Gb etc.

If you may play PC games in the future consider the graphics card you get. Some PCs come with basic "on board" graphics but you may need to get a better graphics card.

Some PCs comes with CD writer but I would try to get one with a DVD writer if you can.

Most PCs comes with 17" TFT but if you can get a 19" so much the better.

Best not to buy a PC off e-bay. Go for a new one. Dell have lots of good deals but only sell online.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=gen

[theo_wyvern]

another opinion here for what you want as i think helpfulguy is going a bit OTT

hard drive - 80Gb, ram - 512Mb, dvd-rom/cr-rw drive, 17" tft screen

[theo_wyvern]

the reason i say this is the basic spec dell if you push it up to helpfulguy's suggestion increases price from �343 to �764 !!

my spec is �402 but obviously feel free to get opinions

[Hammer]

I reckon unless you are a hardcore gamer / video editor, you are better off buying at the lower end (less than �500) and replacing your system every few years.

Technology moves so quickly that you can never really keep up, and a �500 machine would have cost you �1000 about 2 years ago.

Don't worry too much about specification, anything you can buy today is more than enough for surfing / emailing / word processing.

[jon1968]

FYI if you�re buying Dell: I brought one a couple of months ago, I somehow (through luck rather than judgement) managed to get a really good deal by buying it at the right time.
Keep an eye out for the flyers that drop out of your paper for the �e-value� codes or register with the Dell website for offers.

Mine cost �306 and I regularly check the same specification on the Dell site and the cheapest it�s been since is �468!!

Just looked and today it�s �504 (not including the flat panel monitor) Timing is obviously important!!