rpain Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 Hi, I had a chat with a company called 'Infotheek' at BETT this year who supply used hardware. Does anyone have any experience of them? Richard
crc-ict Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 If you have given them your details, you will hear a lot from them in my experience! Never used them, though, we are not into used/refurb gear here.
Jamman960 Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 I've never used them but have had a few cold calls, they sent a nice calendar last month also... I'm planning to stick with my normal suppliers.
elsiegee40 Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 We have our very own sponsors @ict-direct who supply used/refurb gear and you can get recommendations from many on these boards who them, e.g. @witch 2
Oaktech Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 I would steer clear of infotheek, basically because they will try and bother you into buying something.
featured_spectre Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 Infotheek...boy am I glad I don't deal with them any more. Asked for a quote ONCE, was badgered at least twice a month to place orders etc. Ended up going on the black list.
rpain Posted February 2, 2015 Author Posted February 2, 2015 Thanks guys - really useful to know. I've now been approved a budget of between £500 and £600 to spend on machines for staff subject to proper justification :-) The main software that slows all the machines down is Smart Notebook. I think it's unlikely we'll be able to get away from that so I suppose it's just a case of speccing up a system that will run it as quickly as possible. The first thing I'll do is swap out the HHDs for SSDs. I was just talking with the Head and we agreed that most staff don't take their machines home so getting desktops would no doubt provide a little extra 'bang for the buck'. I'm inclined to go with Dell as I've had nothing but good experiences with them and the rest of our school uses their equipment. I'm thinking this sort out spec: i5, 8gb ram, 120gb SSD,21" screens Does that sound sensible/over the top or a little short sighted? All our staff member's files are either on one drive or on a separate server share so I don't think local storage requirements will ever be particularly large. Of course whether it's possible to get that spec for that budget is another matter but hopefully going for refurbished will make it more likely.
ICTDirect_Dave Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 Thanks guys - really useful to know. I've now been approved a budget of between £500 and £600 to spend on machines for staff subject to proper justification :-) The main software that slows all the machines down is Smart Notebook. I think it's unlikely we'll be able to get away from that so I suppose it's just a case of speccing up a system that will run it as quickly as possible. The first thing I'll do is swap out the HHDs for SSDs. I was just talking with the Head and we agreed that most staff don't take their machines home so getting desktops would no doubt provide a little extra 'bang for the buck'. I'm inclined to go with Dell as I've had nothing but good experiences with them and the rest of our school uses their equipment. I'm thinking this sort out spec: i5, 8gb ram, 120gb SSD,21" screens Does that sound sensible/over the top or a little short sighted? All our staff member's files are either on one drive or on a separate server share so I don't think local storage requirements will ever be particularly large. Of course whether it's possible to get that spec for that budget is another matter but hopefully going for refurbished will make it more likely. If you're looking for refurbs then feel free to give us a try. You'll get plenty of bank for your buck and I have an excellent range of quality Dell, HP and Lenovo Refurb desktops and workstations
sonofsanta Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) I'm thinking this sort out spec: i5, 8gb ram, 120gb SSD,21" screens Does that sound sensible/over the top or a little short sighted? All our staff member's files are either on one drive or on a separate server share so I don't think local storage requirements will ever be particularly large. Of course whether it's possible to get that spec for that budget is another matter but hopefully going for refurbished will make it more likely. An i3 is more than enough, i5 is overkill for everywhere except Media/Music/Photography. I'm actually planning on Pentiums this summer, for office & teacher machines (replacing Core2Duo HPs). If you can buy from someone in the Technology Access Program - Novatech, Stone (@Stone_Charli), @VeryPC - you can get the Windows OEM licence for $1. Last year I was getting i3 + 4GB + 120GB SSD with a 5 year warranty for just over £300 ex VAT; upgrading to an i5 with 8GB RAM was about £60-£70 more for the Photography/Media classroom. @ICTDirect_Dave would do you something refurb with an SSD for less than that, I should think 120GB SSD is more than enough space, by the way; even our biggest install (on Hot Swap machines, with everything) are about 90GB tops. Edited February 2, 2015 by sonofsanta 1
ICTDirect_Dave Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 An i3 is more than enough, i5 is overkill for everywhere except Media/Music/Photography. I'm actually planning on Pentiums this summer, for office & teacher machines (replacing Core2Duo HPs). If you can buy from someone in the Technology Access Program - Novatech, Stone (@Stone_Charli), @VeryPC - you can get the Windows OEM licence for $1. Last year I was getting i3 + 4GB + 120GB SSD with a 5 year warranty for just over £300 ex VAT; upgrading to an i5 with 8GB RAM was about £60-£70 more for the Photography/Media classroom. @ICTDirect_Dave would do you something refurb with an SSD for less than that, I should think 120GB SSD is more than enough space, by the way; even our biggest install (on Hot Swap machines, with everything) are about 90GB tops. We've already had a very productive chat on the phone
Cache Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 Cold call once, pushy sales guy really put me off. Much prefer dealing with @ict-direct and @ICTDirect_Dave 1
Little-Miss Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 @ict-direct is the only refurb supplier i'd have any dealings with... 2
ICTDirect_Dave Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 Cold call once, pushy sales guy really put me off. Much prefer dealing with @ict-direct and @ICTDirect_Dave @ict-direct is the only refurb supplier i'd have any dealings with... Awww You Guys!
john Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 @ict-direct is the only refurb supplier i'd have any dealings with... Agreed others just don't cut the mustard (Or send out sweeties!) 1
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