computer virgin

[Tigermoth]

I feel like I've lost a limb since I lost my PC at work, along with my job. It's horrible. OK, I have managed to get computer access quite easily thanks to neighbours and libaries, but it's not the same. I feel very cut off. I don't even have an email address!

There's no question that I need a computer at home, for job hunting and, more to the point, work itself. My son will also be thrilled to have a computer in the home.

I want and need a very fast, reliable keyboard and access to the internet (obviously). Plus all the other usual stuff. But no frills - I'm not a professional design person. I would like to spend well under £1,000. Don't mind buying second hand. Problem is, I don't know a huge amount about these things. I have visited PC World so far. Any other suggestions welcome. I need to move fast, before I suffer many more weeks like this.

Poor Tigermoth.... that's horrible....

Have you thought of an IMac, it's less than 1000 GBP and it comes with loads of things. People don't think of them as we are in a PC "world" but most Mac owners would never dream of switching. You can install Microsoft packages on Mac as well.
You can do movie editing (which PCs now do but I have been doing it on mine for 3 years). They are very easy to use and their software is very innovative.

Tigermoth, you are right, once you have had a pc you can't imagine living without one. My DH works with computers, so I will have a word to see what he recommends, but We have just gone onto Blueyonder Broadband (Telewest), no more wasting time dialling up only for it to disconnect - the computer is permanently connected to the internet and we pay a fixed payment of 25 GBP per month which for us is worth it as we use it all the time.

Tigermoth, IMO if you want a PC, spend as much as you can afford on the machine spec, particularly RAM, hard disk size & video RAM and check how upgradable the machine is - they vary enormously and add in peripherals later if you need them. I would avoid all the offers you see in the papers for deals which include a 'free' printer/scanner/desk/cuddly toy and speak to somewhere well known such as Dell, Gateway, or similar (I know there'll be Mumsnetters out there with horror stories but I've always done OK with them). Alternatively, if you're fairly clued up about what you need and are confident about setting things up yourself you could try a mail order company like Novatech - we've had loads of stuff over the years and their prices have always been the cheapest by miles.
If you have a think about what you (and dh/ds/ds) would use it for and post again I could give you some more specific advice.
One other thing I've found 'essential' since having dd is a printer for printing off the colouring pages from CBBC - although I rarely use it for me !

Jodee, I'm dead jealous, I'm desparate for broadband access but no-one will take my money and provide it

Jodee that is brilliant - we're in the same position as Twink, no-one to provide broadband locally.
Tigermoth, I would agree with Twink's recommendations re speccing RAM and video RAM as well as disk size. We went with Dell and have a small business machine of theirs at home, with a 17" monitor that we have NEVER regretted buying, despite it being a bit big and pricy. Dh also insisted on getting an external modem as he has always had bad experiences at work with internal ones.
We bought a small HP LaserJet 6 as well - very professional b/w print finish but a bit slow. No doubt there are faster, cheaper ones on the market now! I have never got on with inkjets, even colour ones - they always seem to feed the paper in crooked.
Let us all know how you get on - and don't forget the virus protection software...good luck.

Tigermoh, I was a similar situation to you (though away from work due to maternity leave), with no pc at home and a newly-made redundant husband. It is all very complicated - we bought a load of magazines (Which PC etc) and talked to everyone we knew - took ages, really and in the end we went for something from Evesham, but it cost us around £1,200 - no real problems so far, but then we haven't really put it to the test. We've also got Blueyonder broadband (telewest) for £25 a month, which is fantastic, especially if you're used to broadband access from work and you have a husband who must have one of the shortest fuses in history when it comes to computers....

Another recommendation for magazines, computer shopper has lots of ads. Go for someone near you so that you can make use of the 3 year return-to-base warranties that a lot of places offer. PC world isn't a bad place to look around but you only get 12 months guarantee. ( I'm a bit annoyed about my monitor going after 2 3/4 years). PC prices drop so much that generally it isn't worth worrying about upgrading, you just buy a new one. It is worth buying a good quality monitor and printer as they should outlast the rest. If you do go to one of the major supplies they will often let you "upgrade" the printer/monitor in their package even if it doesn't say that in their advertising.

Minimum of 64mb RAM, hard disc size doesn't matter a lot as the minimum likely to be available is 1gb which will cover most home users. Ilyama monitors seem to get a lot of praise in the budget range, 17 inch does make a difference if you use it much. Watch printing costs as they can be expensive. Epson compatible catridges are easily available/cheap, Hewlett Packard you tend to only get expensive ones - print quality is probably better though. HTH

Thanks for all this info. I'll be printing it off. Any more much appreciated.

Sometimes I feel like I belong in the 1940's - I'm so ignorant about computers, even though I've used them daily with few problems for years. Never had any formal training whatsoever. My husband is a litle more ahead of the game, but not much. We intend to ask one of our more computer-literate friends to come shopping with us and hold our hands. We're just so old and sad... As of today, I am trying to get an email address set up, so watch out anyone on my address list.

As it happened, a Dell leaflet fell out of one of our Sunday papers. I have had a good look through and see we could get a system that's within our budget. I am also keen to get a good aftercare/service contract, and Dell seem to come up trumps here.

Thanks again everyone.

We have had fairly good experiences from Dell too.
On the printer front, someone else has already commented re ink jet printers. My only reco here would be that if your decide to go for a colour inkjet, make sure you get one with separate individual colour cartridges (some have red/blue/yellow combined) since if you have a heavy use in just one colour for something you end up throwing the whole thing away. We have just bought an Epson ink jet colour printer which is excellent.

Oops - should have been 10 not 1gb, sorry. Anyone mostly they start at 20 now. The civil service use Dell - good reliability but a bit more pricey.

Tigermoth, DH has suggested the following:

The 3 minimum specifications should look for: a harddrive no less than 20 gbytes, a processor speed no less than 800 mghz and memory no less than 128 gbytes of ram. Most electrical retailers will supply that spec for under 1,000 GBP but don't go for any pc with any less spec than that because a few years down the line you will struggle to use some software, as the demands are getting higher and and quicker and your machine will suffer. He wouldn't recommend Windows XP (dh is currently repairing a lot of computers with software problems with XP) but maybe try and get Windows ME.

Thanks for all this really useful advice. I am in the same position as Tigermoth in needing to buy a computer for use at home, but having little knowledge of what to look for and I have found this information really helpful. Thanks Mumsnetters - this is exactly what this site should be used for. Hope you're back on-line soon Tigermoth!

Thanks Jodee and everyone else. I'm sure my husband will be gobsmacked when he sees all this info. Mumsnet rules!

Yippee! Havn't splashed out on a Dell yet, but I have an ancient laptop and at long last a working modem. It's a start. First message from the comfort of my home. History is made.

Yippee - welcome back Tigermoth. I'm leaving work at the end of this week and dh (who works at home) and I are already fighting over how we'll split up 'on-line' time - so much so, that we're thinking of putting a LAN (Local Area Network) into our house!!
(BTW - Looking forward to you input on the Adverts thread....)

Hi, motherofone. Just this minute seen the ads thread - will join in soon. But don't expect an impassioned defence of my profession. There are some truly awful ads out there.

PS Internet fights breaking out already - Thomas the Tank for toddler versus mumsnet for me. I am being severely jogged in the elbow as I type this.

Superb news, Tigermoth! Can we expect many a late night posting from now on? I must warn you of the addictiveness of home Mumsnetting, though! I find myself much more able to ration my time online at work- guilt at skiving I suppose! I've been pining away recently without our computer at home (harddrive = kaput) and have even gone so far as to visit an internet cafe a couple of times for a mumsnet fix- sad, eh?! I'm desperately hoping the computer engineer has visited as promised today... Meanwhile, I will celebrate your long awaited good fortune!

LOL, ScummyMummy! I don't have access to the internet at work (or only v v limited on pain of death!), so my only way to get my fix is at home. I can imagine I would have to go to an internet cafe, too, if I didn't have access at home for any reason. It really is so addictive, this mumsnet thing

Emsie and Scummy, I even hunted out an internet cafe last year while I was on holiday in Corsica. So very sad. Really sympahise with you about the hard drive problem scummy. Hope that engineer has worked his magic.

He has!!! Quadruple hoorays!

I am typing this as my husband dictates: He thinks we're all a bunch of saddos who should be going out for a good long walk of an evening. Not my view! He says we need an interest. He finishes off with a flourish, it's just an extension of women talking on the phone for hours

Oi! Yes you, Mr Tigermoth! Bog off and leave us to chat. Your Missus is needed on Mumsnet. Face it- you must now accept life as a Mumsnet widower

at least with the right ISP the bills are cheaper than the phone bill!

I've got the internet access time sussed at home - when dh and the kids sit down to dinner and tv, I sit down to the pc. The kids go to bed after dinner, and, dh usually falls asleep in front of the tv - so the internet is MINE MINE MINE for the evening!!

....not necessarily, he says. But he will bog off now and leave you wimmen to get on with it.

PS he is OK really. Just takes some getting used to. But he will not be invading these boards regularly.

Just a thought Tigermoth - is there anything your dh uses the pc for e.g. games etc.

Mine has this habit of walking through the room and saying 'Not Mumsnet again'. I've started walking through the room and saying 'Not ???? again! don't you ever get bored with it?'