Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

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Roper
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Roper »

yes, of a gig.

Why is it weird..?
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tomas
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by tomas »

Phoned them up again on the way home, and aparantly my case has been passed to a manager, which sounds good, even if they're lying!

It sounds like the screen has been knocked or something, and like when some of the pixals stop working or whatever, I think... Anyway, they're sending me a photo via email so I can see how bad it is (it sounds like the screen still works, its just this area thats been damaged) and since they keep saying "a corner" means it can't be that excessive...

Also got a basic quote from them on the screen, aparantly the workshop hasn't put exactly what would need doing, but if its just the screen that needs replacing it'll be £80 plus labour...

Gonna phone again tomorrow if the weather is better (since the manager it's been passed to couldn't get in today) and see whats what :p

I can't remember any faults with the screen before I sent it, so it sounds like anything that's gone wrong happened in transit between here and there...
Commando
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Commando »

Possibly good news then. In any case, £80 isn't extortionate so long as they don't gouge you on the labour charges. Any maybe you can wrangle a free repair out of them, if you can convince them that you did all you could to protect it from damage during transit.
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tomas
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by tomas »

Commando wrote:The "free laptop" will usually be a netbook, which will be unsuitable for anything much more demanding than Solitaire. They're designed to browse websites, not play games.
Had a quick look in Currys on the way home yesterday, they have £500 off any laptop with mobile broadband. And while I should have made a note or paid better attention, they had a laptop for just under £500, which seemingly had a nice graphics card along with the 2.x Dual Processor and 3gig of Ram.

At £500 divided by 24 months would be £21, so the extra £19 a month for unlimited broadband doesn't sound too bad :p

Pity I couldn't find that laptop on their webpage :p
Heeuge
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Heeuge »

Did you at least get a brand / model?
Commando
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Commando »

Three things to bear in mind:
  • Mobile broadband is fine for web browsing and email. You won't find gaming on it very enjoyable. Your ping will suck.
  • Unlimited broadband is never unlimited, especially not when it's mobile broadband. I'm guessing the one you're referring to is the T-Mobile one - reading the fine print shows that "It includes *unlimited usage with a fair use policy of 3GB downloads per month."
  • Exceeding your "fair use policy" on mobile broadband can result in an extremely expensive bill showing up on your doormat.
  • If they're offering you a laptop for free and claiming it's worth £500, you can probably get it for less than £500 elsewhere.
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Heeuge »

For £587 you could get this Acer Aspire 6930 from Argos of all places:

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* Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor.
* 2.0GHz processor speed.
* 2MB cache.

* 4GB DDR2 RAM.
* 16in full HD Acer CineCrystal widescreen.
* Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels.
* 250GB SATA hard drive capacity.
* Multiformat dual layer optical drive.
* nVidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card.
* 1GB graphics memory. ** Note this will most likely be 256mb dedicated + up to 768mb system memory.
* 5 in 1 media card reader - compatible with SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD.
* 3 USB ports.
* 1 HDMI port.
* 1 Ethernet ports.
* Integrated sound card.
* Integrated 0.3Mp Acer Crystal Eye webcam.
* 802.11b/g/n wireless enabled.
* Windows Vista Premium operating system installed.
* Software included: Acer Empowering Technology, Acer Arcade, Acer InstantOn Arcade, Acer Bio-Protection, Acer Crystal Eye, Acer GridVista, Acer Launch Manager, Acer GameZone, Adobe Reader, CyberLink PowerDirector trial version, McAfee Internet Security Suite Trial, NTI Media Maker, Microsoft Works 8.5 with Office Home and Student 2007 Trial.
* 2.5 hours battery life.
* Size (H)4.39, (W)38.5, (D)27.75cm.
* Weight 3.4kg.


That's not a bad spec at all and the vga card is pretty decent for the money. As Ian says, the unlimited broadband will be in no way unlimited and the laptop they offer will cheaper elsewhere (or a discontinued model they're trying to shift stocks of).
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Commando »

Heeuge wrote: * 1GB graphics memory. ** Note this will most likely be 256mb dedicated + up to 768mb system memory.
* Windows Vista Premium operating system installed.
Vista on 1 GB is teh ouchies. :( I'm guessing this should be possible to upgrade to 2GB for £50 or so though.
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Heeuge »

That's 1GB of video ram, not system ram.... 4GB system ram is provided ;)

According to Acer's site, the 9600 M models have 512mb dedicated memory, though also have a different CPU than Argos have listed (P7350@2GH, 3mb cache vs T6400@2GHz, 2mb cache).
I'd possibly check the specs on the box that comes out of the argos warehouse before taking it home ;)
Commando
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Commando »

Ooh, that's pretty decent then. :) The 9600 GT isn't a bad card, though it's far from cutting edge. But at that price it's not bad at all.
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tomas
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by tomas »

Heeuge wrote:Did you at least get a brand / model?
It was a HP, not sure on the model, but it began with a "G"
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Heeuge »

One of these? Their vga capabilities are at best 9200M-powered so won't be much cop for gaming.....
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Septih »

Heeuge wrote:
P3mby wrote:Talking of headsets. My current one is cutting my ears open, can anyone recommend a nice comfortable pair of headphones /w mic that have a fairly long cable (as my case is on the floor).
I went for Logitech ClearChat Pro at £23.99 (-5% RAC discount ;)) - Jess has had logitech headsets in the past and recommended them... good enough for me!
  • ¤ Quick-access audio controls on the headset: Instantly adjust the volume or mute the microphone
    ¤ Microphone emits soft, red glow when muted
    ¤ Cable length: 2.4 m
    ¤ Vista Certified
\o/
Bumpish

What are the headphones like stu?

I managed to rip out the cable from the mic/phones splitter over the weekend, so now need a new set.
ash
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by ash »

Heeuge wrote:
Personally I'd have gone core i7 for £694, but £100 is a big difference at this budget ;)

It'll do all you ask of it and more! (except that.... it won't do that.....)

Would just like to say that so far its all looking good.

Admittedly I downgraded it from Vista 64 down to XP 64 but that was due to wireless lag issues (everything else was fine!). Its possibly buying an adapter with the machine from Dell may have got around the issue but who knows.

Currently I recommend this PC. Not quite sure how but I was convinced an i7 was 4 cores. In Windows it shows 8 O_O. Having wikied this apparently its the number of "threads" it can do simultaneously.

Still. All good! No performance problems aaaaaaat all. :)
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Re: Heeuge! build me a pc! / performance woes

Post by Commando »

ash wrote:Currently I recommend this PC. Not quite sure how but I was convinced an i7 was 4 cores. In Windows it shows 8 O_O. Having wikied this apparently its the number of "threads" it can do simultaneously.
The i7 does have 4 cores. :) But each core uses hyperthreading, which allows it to process two threads simultaneously. So effectively there are 4 cores, but each core appears to Windows as 2 virtual processors, for a total of 8.

Hooray for complicated engineering!
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