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"New PC / Laptop advice needed."

Ok, I've currently got an Athlon XP 2100 machine with 512 RAM and a PCI graphics card. It takes a while ot boot up, but once it's going, it's not too bad with general windows stuff - office, internet etc. However, running Photoshop CS 2 is ridiculous. It takes an age to simple load 1 raw file.

Dell have got an offer on at the moment, £210 delivered for a Dual-Core 2GHz with 2GB RAM. How much of a difference will I notice, going over to this machine? I want to try and keep WinXP has I've heard that CS2 has issues on Vista, and I'm not going to upgrade to CS2.

It's either that or I get a laptop, purely for photo work, and keep the current PC for internet office etc. My budget is up to £300.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks for the links. I guess what I'm a bit concerned with is buying a machine, which doesn't seem to actually run anything any quicker that I have now.

I don't have just a WinXP disk, so sticking that on a machine isn't an option. I could buy winxp but that seems to by around £50-£60 and I'd rather spend that money to upgrade a machine to run Vista properly.

pb wrote:
> Yes, if you can stand getting it from Currys, then they have
> reconditioned laptops as well.

What is it everyone hates about Currys, I mean I did feel like punching the sales assistant who offered me a warranty that cost more than the item I was buying, but that's just my temperament.

On a serious note, PCworld (although I've never brought from them) seem to be a bit better price wise. I remember seeing a reconditioned compaq laptop with a new price of £700, going for £150. Right now I'm eyeing up their blu-ray laptops. Also check Dixons as they have the same stock as Currys but sometimes have better web prices.

Same with Desktops .

Some nice Laptops for under £300 . Full guarantee as well.

Ok, cheers for the info.

Yes, if you can stand getting it from Currys, then they have reconditioned laptops as well.

YH wrote:
> The portability of a laptop might be handy, it would mean when
> either me or the other half are using it, we don't have to
> be tucked away in the spare room.

To avoid the performance issues you're having now, you'll need a laptop with a dedicated graphic card. I have heard of people picking up laptops with 256MB independent graphics for £300, although I think it'll take some bargain hunting. Pb mentioned recon-units for desktops, but also have a look at laptops (although it’s usually a case of slim-pickings).

I don't think it's got an AGP slot. It's about 5 years old, and wasn't a top spec when I got it. It's a Time machine, so I don't have XP on a disc, just a fully Time backup disc thing. I've already upgraded RAM, from 256 to 512.

The portability of a laptop might be handy, it would mean when either me or the other half are using it, we don't have to be tucked away in the spare room. I don't at the moment, nor will can I ever see the need to take it out of the house.

Garin wrote:
> pb wrote:
> Oh, and they all come with Vista these days, but you could
> quite
> easily format the drive and install XP instead if you have an
> OEM
> disc with you current PC (as opposed to a recovery disc that
> most
> come with these days).
>
> You cant always do this, lots of vendors dont bother creating XP
> drivers for their Vista laptops anymore.

Really? That's pretty bad for anyone who doesn't like Vista or needs to use XP for compatibility.

YH wrote:
> Ok, I've currently got an Athlon XP 2100 machine with 512 RAM and
> a PCI graphics card.

What graphics card is it? If it isn't very good then maybe just upgrading it will be a better option (doesn't your computer have an AGP slot anyway?).