PC upgrade or new or laptop instead ???

MR.C

MR.C

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I have an old PC that's seen better days. Its got a 350W psu, mobo is a P4M800 and a 3.06G celeron. I have 2G ram and that's my limit. I have a 1Tb drive that doesn't need to be replaced.

My question is does it make any sense to upgrade ? Or should I buy new ?
My wife uses it as a home office doing printing, mostly open office or MS office, and Corel for designing and Bartender for her labels.
Other uses are internet browsing and emails, and on occasion as a NAS to stream to the ps3 in the next room.
Don't do gaming at all on the pc so onboard sound and graphics will suffice, and atm still using a crt monitor but that's (Lcd/Led) on the upgrade list for the near future.
I think that usb 3.0 would be a necessity if upgrading or buying new, bluetooth would be a needed but whether onboard or as a dongle doesn't matter.
I would prefer getting something cheaper for now with further upgrade possibilities for the future (IE, upgrading the processor and ram when financially willing and able to do so.

What do you guys suggest for me and what options do I have.
Budget is actually R3000 but can stretch it to R5000 if I wait till end Jan if necessary.

A laptop is a possibility but then I'm limited on upgrade options (or am I not?). If we do get a laptop, we would prefer at minimum a 15" screen.

Thanks in advance.
 
I would get a new PC. A few weeks ago someones office pc got taken out by lightning and I told them to just go buy the R2300 PC from http://zones.co.za/ with a extra 2GB of ram. Compared to their old socket 775 celeron clunker this thing flies like a bat out of hell and is more than enough for your daily office tasks.
 
ponder said:
I would get a new PC. A few weeks ago someones office pc got taken out by lightning and I told them to just go buy the R2300 PC from http://zones.co.za/ with a extra 2GB of ram. Compared to their old socket 775 celeron clunker this thing flies like a bat out of hell and is more than enough for your daily office tasks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link but I'm in Pta.
 
That's just an example, sure you could get almost similar deals where you are.
 
Maverick Jester said:
If you are willing to drive to JHB:

http://www.pcint.co.za/pcs.php

Not bad, you can add on RAM, and it comes with an LCD monitor.

I built my last PC with components I purchased from them, have had no issues whatsoever...
Click to expand...

Looks like they also deliver. That's actually a decent price with a lcd monitor thrown in, I would go for the i3 or G620.
 
I'd retire the desktop and keep it as a PS3 streaming server - perhaps replace some of the old components like the PSU in order to keep it running nicely.

Replace the desktop with a laptop. Chances are both you and your wife will appreciate the portability and its a less complex system to maintain and insure. There are many options in your price range, but I'd definitely keep an eye out for something like this:

Packard Bell EasyNote TS11-HR 15.6" @ R4732

The EasyNote range is pretty good value for money and recently they've been priced as low as R4000 at stores like Makro and CNA. Something like that would be pretty ideal, especially for your wife's design work.
 
I would get a desktop with a G620 or 630, or if you want to push the budget, an entry level i3. Will probably last you as long as your current Celeron.
 
HM65 chipset and Sandy Bridge CPU - no native USB 3.0 support. Unless hardware option is specified, it means no USB 3.0.
 
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