Lags right, thats not such a high spec (apart from the HD), see my sig?, cost me just £850, and it has loads of specs that wouldn`t fit into the sig, bluetooth, wireless lan, more audio/video in/out ports than you can shake a stick at, awesome 6 way sound, cable network connection, 7 usb ports, dual monitor output, silent cooling system, wireless keyboard/mouse, tv card, remote control etc.
You can get a good machine for £500-£600, just DON`T buy one with onboard GFX, make sure it has a AGP CARD!, onboard gfx suck, they are just a way of including gfx on a PC for very little money since they share the system ram (slowing the computer down) to store the graphics data and often use slow and very cheap chipsets, get something with an ATI or Nvidia CARD, you won`t regret that.
I just turn the thing round in the store and look at the back (I`m not gonna steal it and I think I`m entitled to look before I part with x£100`s of cash), if all the output connectors are on their edge in a strip about 2" deep and near the top of the case, then thats got onboard everything, even if the info sheet doesn`t tell you you can tell by that, if you see some slots punched out and cards mounted crossways to the chassis, (esp the one connectd to the monitor) then thats most likley a good buy, since you can upgrade any components that are not up to scratch cheaply enough by slotting a new-better card in.
Beware though, there is one or two makes of computer who`s names escape me at the mo, both "big" names, and they have all the cards and MOBO`s for their PC`s made with non-standard connectors, so you are forced to buy their spares (with their prices attached) rather than standard computer expansion cards and accessories.
other than that, check out the specs of some of the more common computers on their makers websites and check for phrases like "agp nvidia FX graphics CARD" NOT "intel agp graphics (the worst chipset in the universe by all reports
) and phrases like
"two HD bays"
"ddr memory"
"4xPci slots 1xAgp"
"Agpx8"
"cdrw/dvdrw"
512mb (min)
40mb (min)
should get you somthing decent, cheers.
Mentor.
System spec : Pentium 3.0Ghz, 512MB DDR, 2x160Gb HD (using icewave hd coolers ), DVD RW/CD RW (all modes), multimedia front panel, 6 way surround sound, ATI radeon 9800Pro 128mb.
