Posted 12 November 2023

Gaming PC help.

So the boy is asking for a PS5 for Christmas, now savy shopper me (hence I’m on hot deals) led me to a thought earlier…. So said boy is going to need a Laptop at some point to do school work I guess, so I thought combing the two is a good idea…. so it is worth putting a few extra quid to the cost of a ps5 and doing the gaming PC thing? Say £700?
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  1. markeas's avatar
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    So £700 isn’t enough for a decent ish PC?
    Zek's avatar
    Do you need everything? Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, wifi etc?
    Oh I think you want a gaming laptop? Nevermind

    Does he want a PS5 because his friends all have one and they all play online? If so he might be disappointed with a gaming laptop. (edited)
  2. SnoopZ's avatar
    If your boy wants a PS5 then get him a PS5, he will be devastated otherwise and now's the time to get one with all the Black Friday deals.
  3. Lucresta's avatar
    Get him a PS5 and if you want to get him something to do schoolwork on opt for a decent Chromebook. Together they would come to £600 (£700 if you want a better-than-average Chromebook).

    Don't get him a gaming laptop unless you want to spend in excess of £1k and even then your boy will probably still prefer a PS5
    jameshothothot's avatar
    I am a pc flipper but agree with this. A cheap Chromebook will do all your school needs. And your gaming device should be something else. Whether that's a console or one of 's deals. The other key issue issue is what their friends have so they can play together. On the long run I always think pcs are cheaper as consoles are subsidised but they make money by charging you to go online and pc keys get reduced massively in price after a while but console users seem happy with paying their monthly subs... I stopped consoling as soon as they started the online sub fees many many years ago!
  4. Helpful567's avatar
    A PS5 will play the latest playstation games for years (until the PS6 is released)

    A gaming computer will have the specifications to play the latest games for a short period of time only. If you buy a desktop then there is an option to upgrade the parts (but at extra cost). If you buy a laptop then it will be unlikely that you will be able to upgrade the components.

    As suggested by others on this site: Get him the PS5 that he wants and a basic laptop for school work. (edited)
  5. CourseFinder's avatar
    If You want him get dissapointed then yes . PS5 got few games that are only on PS5 he can't play them on PC. I wouldn't do it just to save some money. I can tell you now he will be dissapointed if U do this 👌
  6. aLV426's avatar
    Sadly £700 isn't going to get you a"gaming" PC - it will get you a PC that can play games (which is a world of difference!). A new PS5 can be had for £400, bundle versions £480. If you are sticking to the £700 that would leave around £250. You can buy a good second hand laptop for that price. That way you have a very clear PS5 console for playing games & laptop for school work. Nothing worse that trying to complete homework on a "gaming" PC as the temptation is always there to play games (never mind the noise)!

    Worth checking - does he want the PS5 as his mates play on one?
    I went down that and ended up getting Xbox, PS4 and Switch - the Switch never sees the light of day now (even Mario Kart is no longer played despite the constant nagging to get it - you know the one with the physical go kart)
    No point getting him a gaming PC if his mates play on the PS5 as there are only a few games that can be played cross platform. My Kids use Whatsapp on their phone as the voicechat on the PS4 is useless. (edited)
  7. PS5's avatar
    You can buy a fairly decent spec pc if you buy second hand, but you need to know what is a good deal. However get him a ps5 if that is what he wants, and presumably what his friends have (so he can play with them which is crucial).
    Slim version of ps5 coming out this month,but that won't be quite as cheap as existing one which currently has deals.
  8. markeas's avatar
    Author
    Thank you so much for the replies, you all make excellent points, especially about mixing a work and fun device and the discipline needed to split those tasks.

    Tbh I think he just wants to play the Spider-Man games like most kids probably, he has an Xbox, so it’s not like he can’t play ‘games’.

    PS5 (if you can buy them as the world seems to have gone crazy for them) and a Chrome book it is
  9. Mark_Hickman's avatar
    His friends probably play ps5 and then he'll be friendless because he cant play with them, also 700bwill get you a pretty mediocre pc that wont play the top games with high resolution for long
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