Buying a new Home PC - advice needed please

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ChristineNZL

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#222704 24-Aug-2017 15:20

Hi. I'm a relative computer novice (ok complete novice) and am looking for advice on purchasing a new home PC.

We currently have a HP Envy all in one. I'm unsure of the model but it has 8 GB Ram and an i3 processor. We've had it for a few years and have been having issues for a few months so are thinking it could be time to hand it down to one of the kids and get a new one. The only games that are played on it are things like Sims and my daughter's new obsession called OverWatch (no idea what that game is!).

We're looking at another HP all in one but are unsure of which one to get.

One model we are looking at is the HP 24-B011a for around $1300. It has 16GB Ram, 3 TB storage (storage always seems to be an issue on our current PC) but the processor is 2.9 dual core whereas most of the others we have looked at are Quad core. The other HP models around that price that have Quad core have only 8GB Ram so I don't know which is more important. If we step up to the $2000 price point we could get the HP 24-B013A which has 16GB Ram, 3 TB and 2.6 Quad core. I'd prefer not to pay that much if we don't really need to but if it's worth it then we'll consider it.

Thanks for reading. I'm very confused as you can tell!

Christine

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#1852033 24-Aug-2017 17:22

How would you feel about cracking open the existing machine and installing an SSD? With a fresh installation of Windows 10, it should run nicely!

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darylblake

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#1852036 24-Aug-2017 17:30

Yeh installing an SSD into the existing machine will make a pretty big difference.

If you want to get something new, make sure its quad core, with dedicated graphics and an SSD. 8GB of ram will probably be fine, but ram is pretty cheap these days, so go 16GB.

I am a bit of a gamer and my PC is a quad core i5 with a pretty decent graphics card and SSD.

xpd

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#1852039 24-Aug-2017 17:39

Gaming and AIO systems, dont work together IMHO. Overwatch is pretty good on almost any CPU, but video is a different story - ideally you want something with dedicated 512mb minimum video RAM, preferably ATI/Nividia based.

Personally, I'd look at a prebuilt system such as from Playtech/Computer Lounge - then at least you can upgrade parts as you go, and if anything fails, you dont have to lose the whole system while its getting repaired.

Just my 2c... :)

XPD / Gavin

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gcorgnet

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#1852070 24-Aug-2017 19:04

The problem with All-In-One computer is upgradeability... There's not a lot of room to improve what you have a couple years after purchase. Hell, you even need to purchase the monitor again when changing computer...

If you bought a traditional computer, it would give you more opportunity to upgrade components as required and provided that the monitor holds up, you can keep if for many years and not have to dump it once the computer box is obsolete..

michaelmurfy

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#1852075 24-Aug-2017 19:22

Something else is where are you based? There are people on here that'll be willing to help you out with installing a SSD or upgrading your existing machine for a fraction of the cost of buying a new machine. Some will likely even do it for beer.

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Lias

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#1852082 24-Aug-2017 19:39

michaelmurfy:

Something else is where are you based? There are people on here that'll be willing to help you out with installing a SSD or upgrading your existing machine for a fraction of the cost of buying a new machine. Some will likely even do it for beer.

OP posted they are in Wellington in another thread, not sure what part.

I'm out in Kapiti but if no one is closer I could potentially help her out.

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michaelmurfy

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#1852086 24-Aug-2017 19:52

If she is in Wellington I am more than happy to help out here. Have got the rest of the week off too.

@ChristineNZL flick me a message if you'd like my help with getting this upgraded.

ChristineNZL

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#1852125 24-Aug-2017 20:53

Thanks everyone.

I don't even know what a SSD is lol!

My husband is only slightly more clued up than me. He knows what an SSD is but not how to install one. He has also informed me that he never upgraded this PC to Windows 10 so it's still on 8.1. Can the SSD be installed separately or does it have to replace the existing hard drive? How big can you get a SSD as drive space has been an issue with the existing system.

We are in Wainuiomata and if anyone thinks this one can be updated or is worth updating we'll gladly take any help/will provide beer/pay for help.

Thanks once again.

ChristineNZL

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#1852126 24-Aug-2017 20:57

We did see this one but of course the price jumps up another grand. http://www.harveynorman.co.nz/computers/desktops/hp-pavilion-27-a071a-all-in-one-desktop.html

Gordy7

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#1852127 24-Aug-2017 20:57

A couple of comments:

If your computer is having "issues", then maybe it is still going to have issues when you hand it down to your children. Maybe these issues should be identified and fixed. Fixing issues may make the computer perform better as well.

If you are having storage issues or lack of storage space then I hope you have taken the precaution to make backups to a couple of external USB hard drives.

Cheers.

Gordy

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ChristineNZL

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#1852134 24-Aug-2017 21:05

Hi, yes we've been backing up. Not too worried if we give it to the 13 year old and it dies - it's just better than throwing it out.

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timmmay

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#1852136 24-Aug-2017 21:09

I would start by doing a full backup, then doing an upgrade to Windows 10. That could fix the issue if it's software.

What exactly is the problem you're having?

If the machine is fast enough for you once programs are loaded, things like web browsing with lots of tabs, then an SSD upgrade will make it a bit faster and last longer. If you find it slow to browse the web it's time to upgrade to a new one.

ChristineNZL

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#1852137 24-Aug-2017 21:16

Problems that have been going on for a while are taking forever to load webpages when first using the PC. Once the first webpage is up and running it's fine until you leave it for a few hours and then it does it again. This is not too much of an issue though.

Secondly we just don't have enough space.

Also for a while it can be very hard to get it started if you turn it off.

More recently and more worrying is that it will just totally freeze up. The only way to get it working again is to turn it off if it will let you and if not we have to pull the plug out.

ChristineNZL

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#1852138 24-Aug-2017 21:19

I should add that the reason we never upgraded to Windows 10 was that our youngest daughter insisted that her games wouldn't work on Windows 10 (I can't even think what games those were and I'm sure she doesn't play them now anyway). So I guess if we want to upgrade we have to pay as we missed the free period?

michaelmurfy

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#1852139 24-Aug-2017 21:21

Sounds like to me it may be overheating a bit too combined by it having a slower internal hard drive.

Grabbing a SSD and maybe an external drive or NAS will be the way to go as well as giving it a full clean internally.

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