PC Prices sure have fallen!

wildebus

wildebus

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I decided to get a new PC over the weekend as the one I am currently using I built over 10 years ago and while it was pretty nice back then, it is quite slow with the bloatware of newer programs and websites. Plus 10 years is a pretty decent innings as well.

When I was looking, I could not believe the prices you can buy these things for nowadays. It really is incredible compared to when I worked in the industry and also used to make a bit of money doing upgrades and repairs.

Here is an example:
WiFi enabled Complete set of Dell OptiPlex Dual Core Windows 10 Desktop PC Computer (Renewed)
You get this:

41x81v5aR8L._AC_.jpg

  • Fast Intel Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive
  • Generic mixed model / brand of 17" monitor. Picture is for illustration only.
  • Genuine Microsoft Windows 10 Certificate of Authenticity.
  • WiFi Enabled - 150MBps WiFi Wireless USB network adapter included.
A copy of Windows used to cost £50 by itself not so long ago!

It is a refurbished unit, but has a 1 year warranty and is delivered to the door for under £65! And that includes the VAT as well
How can a company make enough money to cover getting a computer in, check it over, refresh the hard drive with the new install and then pay the Amazon seller fees??
Who would bother taking a PC into a repair shop if they can get a complete replacement for that price?
I really find it incredible compared to the prices I saw just a decade ago.

I still don't buy Dell kit TBH for personal reasons, so I have ordered a 'Renewed' HP Tower System with super-fast processor and oodles of RAM and an SSD as I want it be good for the next 10 years. It was a fair bit more expensive than the unit above (but still amazingly cheap for the spec), but if the requirement is to do a bit of letter writing, internet browsing, forum reading, and watching Cat Videos on YouTube, a PC like the one above for £64 is more than enough. Just unreal!
PS. If you wanted to cover the risk of premature failure, you can get an extra 3 year warranty (so 4 years in total) and 4 year accidental damage cover for an extortionate £13.50!

I know this sounds like a sales pitch, but it's just that I saw this on Amazon when I was looking to see what was available for myself and thought it worth sharing :)

(I'm certainly going to dump all the 'handy' bits of random IT kit I have knocking around and collected over the last 25 or so years as it is clearly worthless as well as just cluttering up the place!)
 
Currently dragging stuff around the various hard drives I have dotted around in readiness for some rationalisation when the new Tower arrives tomorrow!
(The black PC is my old Media Entertainment Centre I built in 2009 and used to have 4 TV Tuners installed. The White one is the previous Centre I built 5 years before that - both are still actually working :) )

:D Little Teaser ... How many Hard Drives are included in the photo below? :D

1571072152251.png
 
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When buying you can ask for H drive to be wiped and get £50 of by law,then install linux free.
 
trevskoda said:
When buying you can ask for H drive to be wiped and get £50 of by law,then install linux free.
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Not on this one you can't as a refurb.

Also would only apply if buying a system that includes a retail version of Windows. (corporate buyers only pay around £5 tops and the bigger ones have Windows and Office for a couple of quid).
 
I would be a bit loath to buy any sort of refurbished/rebuilt PC after something I was told today.

A chap I know has a couple of PCs he uses for charity stuff he does, they are old ones he bought refurbished. The Police seized them when they suspected him of some long ago mis-doings that turned out to be baseless as he wasn't the person concerned. However, whilst checking the computers they have found some very old images of young girls, which must have been downloaded before he bought the PCs - but as he didn't keep the receipts he cannot prove it wasn't him. He is very worried about what will happen next.
 
I brought a 2nd pc for gaming when I'm boxing older games and got one on amazon for 100 quid refurbished. The reality is you can get a decent gaming rig for the same price as a ps3 these days, around 300 or so. Just make sure to wipe it yourself, you don't want anyone's ugly history in your life.
 
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Caz said:
I would be a bit loath to buy any sort of refurbished/rebuilt PC after something I was told today.

A chap I know has a couple of PCs he uses for charity stuff he does, they are old ones he bought refurbished. The Police seized them when they suspected him of some long ago mis-doings that turned out to be baseless as he wasn't the person concerned. However, whilst checking the computers they have found some very old images of young girls, which must have been downloaded before he bought the PCs - but as he didn't keep the receipts he cannot prove it wasn't him. He is very worried about what will happen next.
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Why did he not put linux G Wipe through when he got it home clearing the hard drive.
 
Prices are low as im running a fujitsu esprimo with 8 gig mem 64 bit and 250 hd,cost 27 bucks
 
wildebus said:
:D Little Teaser ... How many Hard Drives are included in the photo below? :D
Click to expand...

No idea but more importantly, tell us about the beer...

Graham
smile.gif
 
wildebus said:
Not on this one you can't as a refurb.

Also would only apply if buying a system that includes a retail version of Windows. (corporate buyers only pay around £5 tops and the bigger ones have Windows and Office for a couple of quid).
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Looking at the label on the case when I got the PC, Microsoft would seem to have a specific scheme for Refurbished PCs.
The Hard Drives would get wiped (or replaced?) and a new pre-install put on exactly like a brand new computer.

Caz said:
I would be a bit loath to buy any sort of refurbished/rebuilt PC after something I was told today.

A chap I know has a couple of PCs he uses for charity stuff he does, they are old ones he bought refurbished. The Police seized them when they suspected him of some long ago mis-doings that turned out to be baseless as he wasn't the person concerned. However, whilst checking the computers they have found some very old images of young girls, which must have been downloaded before he bought the PCs - but as he didn't keep the receipts he cannot prove it wasn't him. He is very worried about what will happen next.
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If the PC is a proper refurbished unit (as opposed to just a second-hand one that has had a wipe over with a cloth), there cannot be any data from a previous owner and it is no different to buying new - except cheaper and older.

As an aside, if I am getting rid of a PC, I would never sell it or give it away without wiping out the hard drive first (but it is amazing how many people will just pass on/sell/part ex an old PC with all their personal stuff on it!)
 
Just note from previous life, the only way to wipe a hard drive is to write either 1's or 0's to the entire surface of the disc. I hate to think how long that would take with the size of modern drives. Even then there are other areas of a drive that can be written too.
 
SquirrellCook said:
Just note from previous life, the only way to wipe a hard drive is to write either 1's or 0's to the entire surface of the disc. I hate to think how long that would take with the size of modern drives. Even then there are other areas of a drive that can be written too.
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Well, it is not something you have to sit there and do manually :)
Lots of free programs available that you can get and leave to do this overnight if need be.
I've downloaded the Western Digital and the Seagate apps to check out my collection of drives before I start putting data back on them (the answer to the "how many drives" question was in fact 14! and all had random data on them. New PC will be down to just 7 internal Drives (including a RAID 1 mirror for extra data safety)

The other approach I take if I am just throwing a bad/failed drive away - and always do this ... Employ the high-tech solution of the Mk 1 Lump Hammer. Pretty infalible :D
 
SquirrellCook said:
Just note from previous life, the only way to wipe a hard drive is to write either 1's or 0's to the entire surface of the disc. I hate to think how long that would take with the size of modern drives. Even then there are other areas of a drive that can be written too.
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10 mins with linux g wipe disc.
Pity folk think there is no other opp systems beyond windows.
Burn any linux disro on h/drive and leave it there,all win data will be over ridden.react os.png
 
Or tried it and dumped it as it is rubbish ;)
 
Hard drives are so cheap, just smash it up when you want to sell/pass on your pc and put a new one in.

7 drives? You'll use a lot of power, and it's noisy. Unless you actually do have that much p0rn and they are already big drives, buy yourself a new big one :)

Raid is a great idea
 
My first PC cost me £600 for a 12Mhz 80286 with 512MB of RAM, 40GB hard drive and Hercules mono monitor. Would have been about 1991! PC's not only get cheaper but faster.
 
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