Work PC - Help me find a better deal!

[KieX]

I've been asked to look into getting new PC's for the workplace. We are currently using outdated Pentium 4 CPU's which crash or hang under the pressure of Microsoft Office and Outlook.

Requirements:
- Must run Microsoft Office and Outlook nicely
- Must be as cheap as possible, no need for fancy graphics cards or blu-ray.
- Desktop PC only is preferable as it's just to replace the current towers.

I have found one awesome deal on eBuyer, which with the added cost of Windows 7 would be around £300. Can anyone find me a better deal?

Source

 

[Fourstaff]

How many do you need?

 

[[Ion]]

I doubt you can beat that....that's a very solid entry-level PC, especially for the price. But I'll see what I can find

EDIT: What about this:

 

[KieX]

How many do you need?

Would be looking at 5 in total. Management only for now

EDIT:

I doubt you can beat that....that's a very solid entry-level PC, especially for the price. But I'll see what I can find

EDIT: What about this:
http://img.techpowerup.org/101026/evpc.png

1GB of RAM wouldn't cut it I think. And considering price difference is quite small the first one seems a better deal.

 

[Kreij]

A Pentium 4 should have no problems with office and outlook.
I have Pentium 4's that run CAD software without problems (other than being slow by today's standards).

I would guess you just need more RAM in the P4 machines.

Anyway, do the systems in the OP come with a warranty?

 

[Disparia]

The P4's probably just need a through cleaning - dust and software. And maybe an upgrade like Kriej suggested.


As for new boxes, I built 10 Atom 330 boxes for $187 USD each.

Foxconn barebones (case, power, board)
2GB DDR2 LV x 1 RAM
WD Blue 160GB HD
Already had extra OS licenses

Handled their CRM client, Outlook, and multiple webpages at a low power draw and no-noise. That was awhile ago, now the Foxconn barebones come with D4xx and D5xx Atom boards. A little more perf, a little less power and still at a pretty low price.

 

[KieX]

A Pentium 4 should have no problems with office and outlook.
I have Pentium 4's that run CAD software without problems (other than being slow by today's standards).

I would guess you just need more RAM in the P4 machines.

Anyway, do the systems in the OP come with a warranty?

We're using these atm:

They just hang and stop for sometimes minutes on end when outlook is refreshing. Much rather get an up-to-date system than try salvaging these.

@Jizzler: Will have to have a look at some Atom benchmarks to get an idea of performance.

 

[Kreij]

It's not the hardware if multiple systems are doing this. Maybe AV software eating up CPU cycles when outlook refreshes?

I agree. I like new stuff better too.

 

[[Ion]]

An Atom isn't much faster than a P4....I'd go for a C2D-based chip at least

 

[Disparia]

^ It's much better from a perceived performance standpoint. A dual-core Atom vs a single-core P4 makes all the difference for a user, snappiness and all that.

Now, they suited my sales team just fine for the apps they used. Kiex will have to decide for his users based on their usage.

 

[Kreij]

^^^ Hmmm ... that's where the condundrum begins.

Management : It needs to be cheap.
User : It needs to be responsive.
IT guy : It needs get 100 FPS at 2560x1600 in Crysis.

 

[KieX]

It's not the hardware if multiple systems are doing this. Maybe AV software eating up CPU cycles when outlook refreshes?

I agree. I like new stuff better too.

Not sure. I uninstalled the crappy AV I had and even have an optimized skinny version of XP running on this P4 and it's still really bad. Think office 2010 simply takes up more resources than the system requirements lets on.

I tried working from Linux on this PC too, and although much much more responsive, I can't exactly get my whole office to change to it from their comfortable windows know-how as an alternative. Also some propriety software we use doesn't work 100% with WINE.

^ It's much better from a perceived performance standpoint. A dual-core Atom vs a single-core P4 makes all the difference for a user, snappiness and all that.

Now, they suited my sales team just fine for the apps they used. Kiex will have to decide for his users based on their usage.

Yep, definitely need to look into that. The Atom based PC's are quite a lot cheaper than the deal I found.

^^^ Hmmm ... that's where the condundrum begins.

Management : It needs to be cheap.
User : It needs to be responsive.
IT guy : It needs get 100 FPS at 2560x1600 in Crysis.

So true.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

just go for the £180 box that [Ion] posted and grab a stick of 1gb ram for each, cheap as chips and is easily upto the task of running outlook and office/web etc

By the way, might be a thought to sign upto MSDN if your buying a few otherwise you will spend a fortune on licensing (if its legal to use MSDN subscription in corporate)

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Sorry for double post, but heres an option to do them yourself, dual core and 2gb ram as standard, 320gb hdd's and onboard VGA

 

[Deleted member 74752]

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