What does the team think about this PC?

Broadback · May 21, 2010, 18:44:32

I'm in the market for a new PC, I am only interested in adesk top. What does the team think of this offer from Aldi?
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_14207.htm?WT.mc_id=2010-05-21-15-22

Rik · May 21, 2010, 18:49:09

Hi BB. Aldi stuff is usually good, but what troubles me is that I can't see the processor specified there. The magazine, however, lists it as the T4500.

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=42925

Not the fastest, but more than adequate for most people's needs.

Glenn · May 21, 2010, 18:50:06

What do you want to do with the PC?

Personally, I would like a separate graphics card, also a faster CPU.

Glenn · May 21, 2010, 18:51:25

Quote from: Rik on May 21, 2010, 18:49:09
Hi BB. Aldi stuff is usually good, but what troubles me is that I can't see the processor specified there. The magazine, however, lists it as the T4500.

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=42925

Not the fastest, but more than adequate for most people's needs.

You didn't click here Rik.

Rik · May 21, 2010, 18:53:07

Obviously not.

quandam · May 21, 2010, 19:16:13

BB

I have bought a couple of Medion items from Aldi, in fact I am using a Medion PC that I purchased around one month ago as we type. I cannot fault Aldi or Medion, good value and works well.

I would say that if you do want the PC don't be at the store more than 1 minute after opening time

Take it from me, they have a very limited number available and will be totally sold out within 10-15 minutes of opening, so, if you want it, get there early and go straight to check out (don't mess about) and state your intention/s. I am not exagerating here, get there early and prepare to use your elbows.

Hope this helps a little?

Rik · May 21, 2010, 19:18:54

I'd echo that Q, they often have silly amounts of stock, like six units per store.

quandam · May 21, 2010, 19:23:21

Quote from: Rik on May 21, 2010, 19:18:54
I'd echo that Q, they often have silly amounts of stock, like six units per store.

I wouldn't have beleived it Rik, buyers went straight to the check out and within seconds the check out girl was saying they were sold out

Good product and value though

Rik · May 21, 2010, 19:25:11

Been in the queue, done that.

cavillas · May 21, 2010, 19:28:56

You cna buy a very similar model direct from Medion for just afew pounds more.
Medion One Touch

Technical Ben · May 21, 2010, 20:15:57

then perhaps go for a non touch screen? I personally cannot see the point. It is hard to use, your hands get in the way of the movie/document/website, and sticky finger prints! So you can get more for your money by saving on a normal screen.

cavillas · May 21, 2010, 20:27:13

One good thing with the touch screen is when you want to move photos about, stretch and twist the etc, you only have to use your fingers. Saw it on CSI

pctech · May 21, 2010, 21:04:12

Personally I tend to steer clear of cheap PCs after I bought a Fujitsu Siemens unit from Comet (£410) which lasted two months before it developed what appeared on the face of it to be a hard drive fault.

I took the cover off and checked the power connector and ribbon cable, all secure.

The drive started and stopped repeatedly (causing Windows to crash).

FSC dispatched an engineer with a new hard disk, guy connected it, tried to boot the system and it came up with a SMART impending failure message, he looked at me and said 'its probably because its got no O/S'

I pointed out that the error actually indicated the drive was a dud and he seemed quite surprised.

Next week drive number 2 with same error so they took it in.

Two days later they rang me at work to say they couldn't find a fault, sent back to me, sure enough fault still there, phone FSC and tell them their response was 'well our senior engineer looked and couldn't find anything wrong'

Asked whether they'd be willing to swap the motherboard in case it was a controller fault 'oh no we cant do that', asked what they intended to do as it was still faulty 'nothing as our engineer could not find a fault.' and with that they thanked me for my call and hung up. Nice.

Rang Comet who referred me back to FSC and basically couldn't give a stuff.

Gave it to a colleague who cannibalised it for speres and got one built by Mesh Computers, only ever had one fault with a motherboard NIC and they replaced the board after I explained I knew what I was talking about and what I'd tested.

Brilliant company.

What you are buying is essentially a laptop, personally I'd spend more and get yourself a custom built desktop.

Technical Ben · May 21, 2010, 22:07:59

Just seen (what appears to be) the same pc on a shopping channel. They were selling it for TWICE the price. What a rip off. I feel so sad that people I know watch those channels, and buy off of them. Hopefully the high price will put off anyone getting it off of tv.

pctech · May 21, 2010, 22:36:51

I bought some self sharpening scissors off one a while back and they are sharp but yes have to agree most of it is garbage.

Only flick on when there is absolutely nothing else.

john · May 21, 2010, 23:38:37

Several years ago I bought a Medion desktop from Aldi and queued for 1.5 hours before they opened (and I wasn't the first in the queue !).

The machine looked quite well built but it soon developed a fault where it could not detect the monitor. I wasn't sure whether the fault was with the PC, the monitor or simply the cable or the connectors but decided to return it to get a refund (there was no chance of getting a replacement as they soon sold out). It was a good value machine for the money and I may have just been unlucky as a colleague bought one at the same time and he was still happily using his for years afterwards.

Unless your going to use it for applications which really demand it I wouldn't be put off that the processor isn't the fastest one around, there are so many other bottlenecks in a PC that most people wouldn't notice any difference in processing speed.

It looks to me like a very neat half way solotion between a laptop and a desktop but I think a proper laptop would still be more convenient. However if you only ever intend to use it at a desk in a limited number of locations then a desktop may be better value.

Lona · May 22, 2010, 01:07:56

I think Medion pcs are excellent value for money. I have bought two from them.

The first one was in 2004 and this one was 2008. Both have proved to be great.

I had an HP previously and everything that could go wrong with it did.

I would highly recommend Medion.

Go here and read what the forums have to say about Medion.

http://www.medionsupport.com/phpbb2/portal.php

Gary · May 22, 2010, 02:11:47

Touchscreen are a novelty I think more than a necessity all the finger marks would drive me mad and my arm would ache, also more to go wrong, some use infrared sensors around the screen, its not needed even though its a nice touch, the mouse still works for me fine. If all you do is browse the web, email etc then its fine, a i7 would not make you a better pc as you would not see the benefit, but even the new flash 10.1Rc needs a core duo as minimum so future proofing does help `always get the best CPU you can afford, without going over the top, ram can be added later.

zappaDPJ · May 22, 2010, 02:55:57

Quote from: Glenn on May 21, 2010, 18:50:06
What do you want to do with the PC?

Personally, I would like a separate graphics card, also a faster CPU.

Those are the key points, it really depends on what you intend doing with it.

In general Medion PCs are considered to be good value for money which looks to be the case with this one. You should be aware though that with that specification it'll struggle with intensive graphics manipulation like photo editing and I'd be very surprised if it could handle the latest computer games.

kinmel · May 22, 2010, 08:37:07

The big advantage with Aldi is that the local managers can't be bothered with warranty repairs, take something back as faulty and you get your money back with no quibble.

Although we don't see the brand often in the UK, Medion are one of the largest computer/ electronics companies in the world.

Gary · May 22, 2010, 09:16:53

Quote from: pctech on May 21, 2010, 21:04:12
What you are buying is essentially a laptop, personally I'd spend more and get yourself a custom built desktop.

No real need for a custom machine for most people, C2D will still keep pace with i3's happily and my E8600 is fine for my needs on my iMac, but a separate Graphics card and a good chunk of Ram would help which is what I went for, even though the machine litsed in the first post is a great deal I would want a bit more power from the CPU and a 9700gt would be much better than the 9100m, I think it would be worth putting a few extra £'s in to get a better spec. I would rather go for this

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/12455216/Acer-Aspire-Z5610-Core-2-Duo-E7500-2-93GHz-4GB-750GB-DVD-SM-23-Touch-Screen-Windows-7-Home-Premium-Desktop-PC/Product.html?

talos · May 22, 2010, 17:55:09

Well I'd buy Median any time, in fact I have

and who else offers a 3 year guarantee?

Rik · May 22, 2010, 17:56:55

Scan.

quandam · May 22, 2010, 18:09:55

Quote from: talos on May 22, 2010, 17:55:09
Well I'd buy Median any time, in fact I have and who else offers a 3 year guarantee?

Broadback · May 23, 2010, 11:40:12

Thanks for all the replies, seems that you mostly think it a good buy. Just returned from Aldi with the PC. I went early but I don't think it was necessary, but better safe than sorry! That was the easy bit, now I have to get all my data and programs across and connect to all my email, newsgroups and bookmarks, I am using SeaMonkey, and would like to continue to do so. If you don't hear from me for a while (was that I sigh of relief I heard in the background, you will know I am struggling. I will leave the old machine on for a while yet, so any advice on transferring would be welcomed.