Introduction

The main catergories are PC towers, NUCs, tablets, all-in-ones and laptops. Each category has a bewildering number of sub-categories. We can talk you through their pros and cons to identify the best choice for you.

Our starting point is a series of questions eg: What is it replacing? Does the machine ever move? Would you prefer a bigger screen? etc. The idea is to open up the possible options before narrowing down to a more suitable choice that you may not have considered. Only one person approached us asking for a NUC but that did not stop them ending up being our most popular choice last year - you can't choose without the whole picture.

PC Towers

RETAIL PCs

For many people this was their introduction to computers. The rare retail offerings nowadays tend to be underpowered, poorly specified machines. The latest CPUs are often paired with cheap motherboards and cheap memory - negating any advantage the new technologies would bring. Our preference is either a business tower or a custom-build.

BUSINESS PCs

The business models tend to be better built and more reliable. An upgrade to a three or five year warranty is relatively modest compared to their retail equivalents. The premium over a retail system is small but customer satsfaction is much higher. Our business systems are mainly sourced from Dell, HP and Terra (we are the local dealer for this German brand).

Prices from £299.99

CUSTOM PCs

This option is popular with those who cannot find a off-the-shelf machine and those who are interested in choosing what case, motherboard, processor etc is used. As a general guide, the custom machines are priced as the cost of material + £100 design / build fee - careful purchasing can cost similar to a retail system but with better components.

Prices from £399.99

Please note that these prices are for a tower, with Windows 10 Pro installed - they do not include monitor, keyboard or mouse.

NUC (Next Unit of Computing)

The Intel NUC is the essence of a computer. These revolutionary machines repackage laptop components in a box 4x4 inch - just add a screen, keyboard and mouse to complete the system. These unique machines are difficult for the public to buy but we can supply all available variations.

BASIC INTEL NUC

The specification is quite modest on paper but surprisingly nippy in practice because we use fast memory and solid state discs (SSD) rather than the traditional mechanical hard drives. Thismodel is available in two versions: Celeron Dual Core or Pentium Quad Core. Both models are designed for those who want to write letters, send emails, shop on the internet, use online banking and surf the net (see box below). If the budget stretches the Pentium machine with a memory upgrade to 8GB is better suited to those who want to enjoy YouTube and iPlayer regularlly.

PREMIUM INTEL NUC

The more powerful versions are based around i3, i5 and i7 processors. These machines can accomodate an additional

2.5" drive for upto 4TB capacity. These home/business machines are better suited to more intensive use.

All-in-ones

These showroom friendly machines are basically a laptop motherboard glued to the innards of a monitor, in an oversized casing. Many all-in-ones are sealed units with no option to add more RAM or upgrade a HDD with a SSD. On a couple of occassions we have to break the casing to recovery the data - the computer was destroyed in the process. Unless it is a basic software problem, the computer is irreparable.

The budget models are painfully slow and frustratingly slow to use; few places stock the more powerful, usable versions.

We feel a better solution is a NUC mounted on the back of a compatible screen, with a matching wireless keyboard and mouse set. The result is improved flexibility, build quality, reliability and performance on a similar budget.

Laptops

We have mixed feeling about laptops. Whist we admire their compact design that allows you to easily take a computer wherever you want. However, we resent all the compromises made to squeeze all the components into a  laptop. We always encourage customers to consider the alternatives - the small screens and fiddly keyboards can be avoided! 

Some things to consider:

PROCESSORS

A poor choice of CPU can quickly make the best machines a pain to use. There are some very old, slow CPUs around on budget machines. If you buy purely on price you could end up with a slower machine than you have now....

RAM MEMORY

2GB is inadequate, 4GB is acceptable, 6GB is better, 8GB or more is best

STORAGE CAPACITY

With the arrival of small capacity SSD on budget machines you have to check your old data will fit on a new laptop

SCREEN SIZE

Beware that manufacturers are fitting smaller screens to reduce costs. Make sure you read the smaller print!

WIRELESS

Many recent Fibre (Infinity) routers use the faster 802.11ac WiFi, many laptops are still using the slower 802.11n WiFi

HOME OR BUSINESS

As with PCs, the build quality and reliability is better with the business version. Careful buying can uneath similar prices.

BRAND

Dell Professional, HP Professional. Lenovo Thinkpad and Terra are our preferred brands

AVAILABLE BUDGET

Even an extra £25 can make a difference because it might bring much better machines within your reach.

Tablets

The world of tablets is divided into four significant groups: Amazon Fire, Android, Windows and iPad tablets

AMAZON FIRE TABLETS

These value for money tablets are subsidised by Amazon to nudge people into using their services. Although the Dire uses a modified version of Android it does not Apps from the Playstore only Apps from Amazon's more limited Appstore. It is ok for light browsing, email, iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Kindle books, after that it comes rather underwhelming.

Prices start at a bargain basement £49.99 (with Ads)

ANDROID TABLETS

With so many unbranded Android tablets around we are playing it safe with the TERRA PAD 1004: 10" IPS Panel with Quad-Core, integrated 4G, Camera 2M/5M, GPS, WLAN, Bluetooth, 1GB RAM and 16GB NAND Flash with MicroSD slot (upto 128 GB capacity). Very long battery life and Miracast capability. There is full access to the Playstore.

Prices start at £179.99 (includes 2 year warranty)

WINDOWS TABLETS

Windows 10 Tablets are limited compared to a PC, NUC or Laptop; most cannot run standard programs, they can only use Apps from the Microsoft Store. The budget ones are painfully slow with ancient Intel Atom processors or the premium models eye watering price tags.

Prices for basic models start at £199.99, premium models start at £999.99

iPAD TABLETS

Expensive but still popular. Although Microsoft pioneered the Tablet format, Apple made it a huge commercial success. The breakthrough was having a similar look and feel as an iPhone (Microsoft has torn itself apart trying to recreate this with the doomed Windows Phone). The initial leap from iPhone to iPad is quite small.

The App Store is well stocked and carefully policed. We consider the 32GB and 64GB too restrictive to consider.

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