Acer ASM5100 - Quad core £358.24 @ ebuyer

Note: I have built a Q6600 with 2Gb of 800 CAS4 ram, 8600GT card on a asus p5k motherboard for the same cost (but the OS was an extra £50).

This seems an average deal, but if you are both inclined and capable, it still just about worthwhile building your own PC if you know what you want, even at this end of the spectrum.

would you say this was an average deal overall, or because you can build one cheaper?

if people are not capable of building one, the know how and expertise, would this still be an average deal?

you mmight aswell go for the £499.99 Philips one from PC world, it will cost you around £120 for a good size monitor anyway, and its much better spec

Yes, IMO it isnt a HOT deal , but an average price for a pre built without monitor (mainly becuase of the unspecified components).

If you dont really know what you want spec wise, but are not after a games machine (which this clearly is not with an nvidia 8400) then you would do as well to get a lower spec PC (there have been many sub £300 postings in UKHD).
If you are after power for heavy video editting then push up to a 3Ghz dual core, or even a cheap quad Q6600.

Of course, it always helps to read around the subject so you can become an informed buyer!

I think someone here is a bit optimistic and i'm known for being harsh on value
off the top of me head (i price componants daily, part of me job) this would cost over 400 to build unless u resorted to very ****** non brand bits and then even you'd be pushin it
this is a very hot deal make no mistake if ur not into heavy specialist use this pc would last a good few years
HOT!
PS i frgot to add don't consider/worry about the brand if u don't like acer, this is a bog standard pc and can be fixed/upgraded anyware

Example self build component selection I have just thrown together quickly (without too much of a care for price point) for comparison sake.

£24.99 XFX GeForce 8400GS 256MB DDR2 DVI VGA HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card
£27.99 Kingston 2GB KIT (2X1GB) DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5300 CL5 Non Ecc 1.8V
£42.99 Coolermaster Elite 330 Black Case With 460W PSU
£35.45 Maxtor STM3250310AS 250GB SATAII 8MB Cache
£17.39 LiteOn DH-20A1S 20X DVD1RW/DLRAM Black Bare Drive
£10.99 Black Wireless Multimedia Keyboard & Optical Mouse - USB
£36.18 Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 690V Socket AM2 Onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard
£3.45 ALL IN ONE HI-SPEED USB2.0 CARD READER / WRITER
£122.53 AMD Phenom Quad 9500 2.2GHz (Retail AM2+)
£58.87 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Licence and media - OEM 32-bit
£380.83 Total (inc VAT + Delivery)

Component wise, the Acer doesnt represent much of a saving over self build (in real terms 6%). If you were building your own there are certain components you would choose to upgrade too.

IMO certainly not over optimistic nor a hot deal !

u missed several fine details
card reader is interanal adding a couple of quid,
the mainboard u specced does not have firewire on add another £6 min
u missed a copy of ms works (i know but some want it)
bring the total to £409 g.o.t a few pence, plus if u cudnt build this yourself or didn't want to the build cost or time
i've worked on a few acer machines they tend to use decent kit for peripherals
so really this is a good deal no doubt
ps i went for a diff keyb & mse hate cheap wireless ones

As I stated, I threw the above spec together quickly based on the OP description, who clearly missed "several fine details" on this "very hot deal".

+£2.30 All in 1 Internal Card Reader Port (£5.75)
£8.30 MS Works 9 OEM ( agreed - why waste £9 when Open Office is free and better ?)
-£3.69 Gigabyte GA-M61SME-S2 GeForce 6100 Socket AM2 onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard (£32.49)

New Total £387.74

Anyway back to my point - "if you are both inclined and capable, it still just about worthwhile building your own PC if you know what you want" was the essence of my point; At this price you can hand pick components to suit your requirements, where as to upgrade a system like this acer, you have had to fork out for the component in the first place.

As an example, this Acer only has a 250 watt PSU. But you also get to chose your components, like this case+fan which this Coolermaster is near silent (currently for my DAW) and the 8400GS certainly is a weak point which is worth upgrading (a 8400GS is almost worthless on the 2nd hand market). You get my point ......

I too hate cheap wireless keyboards, so at least we can also agree on that ! :-)

Although this in now way off topic
I actually think we agree on most points as far as "we" are concerned but i think you are missing the bigger picture
i have been building my own systems for 20 years and tday it is easier than ever to do, but in reality for novices or the general public it can be a nightmare and these are the people looking for computers to plug in and go.
To ask THEM to pay up to £50 more for the privlige of building them and risking a faulty component that even experienced builders can spend hours fault finding and the cost of returns etc
that is what makes this a hot deal
And to prove the point that you are wrong in your claims an obviously knowledgeable person like yourself still managed to miss those few items, and again in choosing the items from an obvious source like ebuyer when you changed the board u likely have just added another £5 on for an extra delivery

I Think
jazid's Avatar
jazid is an intel fan.............you talk **** too. Maybe you should pull your heed out your own **** dick heed.

That system is way hot

Reply to that then nob end