Yet another Geek Salad question - Buying a PC with OS installed or not...

I think I have found my ideal spec PC

Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0Ghz 1333Mhz Clock speed
2GB 800Mhz RAM
160GB 7200rpm SATA HDD
512MB Geforce Graphics Card with DVI & TV Out
Onboard 5.1 Sound Card

All for ?355.

Now, cos i'm a skinflint, i'm dithering and wondering whether I should eith get them to install XP for me at a cost of ?65, or buy my own for ?30 and install it myself.

Am I going to be able to do that - to install all the hardware drivers myself etc? Is it worth the extra ?35 to get them to set it all up for me?

If I did do it myself - don't I need drivers to set up the DVD drive to run the XP disc?

Oh yeah, and I have made the decision to stick with XP rather than go for Vista as I would need an extra 2GB of RAM and an extra ?20 or so for Vista (and money is really at a premium) - my thinking being that Windows 7 is around the corner, and I can save my pennies and upgrade accordingly when that comes along. Is that the right decision?

Any thoughts gratefully received...

Posted By: Yellalee on November 28th 2008 at 14:14:48

Message Thread

Yet another Geek Salad question - Buying a PC with OS installed or not... (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 14:14:48
- Hang on, what does "3.0Ghz 1333Mhz Clock speed" mean? (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 15:07:39
  - Nah - it's 2x 3.0Ghz... (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 15:11:43
    - Oh I see. It's the cpu's cache that runs at 1.3Ghz. (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 15:24:16
      - Huh? (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 15:27:04
        
        I thought so... (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 15:32:35
        
        I think it's a good balance, and you're absolutely right - better cooling and PSU (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 15:44:03
- no. yes. yes. no. no. yes. In that order. (n/m) (NCFC) - Ken Dodds Dads Dog, Nov 28, 15:04:39
- Do it yourself. On a Mac it's a breeze and takes about half an hour (NCFC) - BerlinCanary, Nov 28, 14:49:49
  - On Windows it's a piece of piss and takes about 29 minutes (n/m) (NCFC) - Steve in Holland, Nov 28, 14:51:36
    - You're making that up (n/m) (NCFC) - BerlinCanary, Nov 28, 14:51:57
      - No I am not.... (NCFC) - Steve in Holland, Nov 28, 14:53:36
  - But then you end up with a Mac (NCFC) - Old Git, Nov 28, 14:51:19
- get them to do it. (NCFC) - shoddy, Nov 28, 14:25:33
  - Can you say why, as AB disagrees... (n/m) (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 14:29:14
    - Well, perhaps my pen-familiarity is emboldening me, but I really don't think it's that dif (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 14:42:45
      - So will my DVD reader work straight away, once i put the XP disc in? (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 14:48:50
        
        Yes, the motherboard BIOS should contain a generic driver, just enough to get it to read (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 14:51:55
        
        So presumably the supplier will provide driver discs (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 14:55:39
        
        You might get discs from your hardware manufacturer with drivers (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 15:03:11
        
        The longer this goes on (NCFC) - Old Git, Nov 28, 14:53:15
        
        reading my mind OG, reading my mind... (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 14:56:27
        
        *pfft* as if... (NCFC) - blindasabat, Nov 28, 14:56:18
        
        As easy as installing a new piece of hardware connected by USB (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 14:58:06
        
        yes (though it will take a little longer and involve a couple more progress bars) (NCFC) - blindasabat, Nov 28, 15:08:08
    - i guess if you have to put a value on your personal time (NCFC) - shoddy, Nov 28, 14:30:37
      - Naaah. Piece of proverbial. (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 14:34:01
- Buy a Mac (NCFC) - malkybarkid, Nov 28, 14:25:07
  - You should get some Clearasil for those spots on your chin (n/m) (NCFC) - Yellalee, Nov 28, 14:28:33
    - (: (NCFC) - malkybarkid, Nov 28, 14:30:31
- You would be able to install the OS yourself, just fine. It's not difficult. (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 14:24:08
  - get win2k, it rocks (NCFC) - pants, Nov 28, 14:36:40
    - Yeah, when they released it, it was the best they'd done so far, by miles. (n/m) (NCFC) - Arizona Bay, Nov 28, 14:43:51
      - I'll be annoyed when I have to let go of it (NCFC) - pants, Nov 28, 14:51:14

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