Desktops

[andyk]

Hi

 

We are looking to get some new desktop PC's and was just wondering where everyone got their machines from (if you don't build them yourselves!)?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Regards

Andrew

[glennda]

I always used to use Stone Computers, although heard very good things about Very Pc's, and also Novatech who will do custom builds, Versus HP and Dell etc.

[FN-GM]

We get ours from Dell. Our current ones are the Dell Optiplex 7010 USSF. They are a fraction of the price than they are on the website.

[6Foot2]

Dell here also. The latest are the Optiplex 790 desktop. Best in school by far.

[mdench]

+1 for stone and novatech

[Arthur]

Dell OptiPlex's for us too. We usually find it easier to configure the PCs through Dell's Premier website and then e-mail the e-quote to our account manager for a further discount.

[FN-GM]

Dell here also. The latest are the Optiplex 790 desktop. Best in school by far.

@DaveP they have been replaced by the 7010, we couldn't get anymore 790's in our last order.

[TheScarfedOne]

+1 for Stone

[john]

HPs for us from a range of suppliers on the CITHS framework

[Edu-IT]

+1 for Stone with 5 year warranty.

[chrbb]

+1 for stone also Millenium.

[Cache]

We go for Stone.

[andyk]

Thanks for all your replies guys. By the looks of it Stone may be the way to go.

 

Any further suggestions appreciated.

 

Cheers

Andrew

[Edu-IT]

Get multiple quotes from all the reputable companies mentioned and bounce them off of each other. Is a warranty important to you?

[Guest Guest]

IME Stone are horrible. Badly written custom BIOS. Poor build quality - start to die after 3 years. Badly designed (case fans in places where they will be blocked etc). Terrible driver and management tools - most consumer brands are better.

 

Dell all the way now.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Guest

[andyk]

Get multiple quotes from all the reputable companies mentioned and bounce them off of each other. Is a warranty important to you?

 

Thanks Edu-IT. Yes, warranty is something we will be looking out for. We will definitely discuss with all the companies mentioned and hopefully get a good deal.

 

Cheers

[EvLPhenom]

Stone here, onsite next day warranty is excellent aswell

[Mr.Ben]

+1 for bouncing the quotes around.

 

The financial guidelines for schools can be limiting sometimes (and mis-interepted).

 

I was being told by the business manager that I had to tender for large purchases of desktops, and these should all be opened at the same time and then decided upon.]

 

This was useless because:

 

a) It didn't allow me to negotiate with the companies

b) The tenders were always slightly different when I needed them to be identical

 

On further investigation, it's all about fairness. You must be able to show that you have sent the intial quotes to all parties to ensure that they have had a chance to re-quote, and make sure that you give deadlines as well.

 

This is especially important to do when speaking to thed larger companies, as they are always willing to drop prices to get your business.

[BKGarry]

Dell for Desktops here, mixture of Dells and HPs for laptops, HP laptops have improved greatly in build quality of the last year, but prefer Dells for Staff. out admin staff have just been upgraded to the Optiplex 9010 AIO machines with standard wired keyboards and wireless mice (non touch screen version) and they love them. The core I5 processor with the 4 gb of RAM makes working a dream, and the desk space reclaimed is great. Other desktops are the Optiplex 790s with the AIO screen stands, which are great for students use and great for DT with their deperate 512mb graphics cards to take the load of some of the CAD CAM (solidworks and 2d design)

 

Personally I like to stick with the tier 1 manufacturers and get them competing, as then you can get a good price for some really good machines.

[Guest Guest]

Forgot to say, Dell (with a premier account) are usually cheaper than Stone too

[VeryPC_Tom_B]

Hi

 

We are looking to get some new desktop PC's and was just wondering where everyone got their machines from (if you don't build them yourselves!)?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Regards

Andrew

 

Morning Andrew,

 

Ive sent you a PM

 

Thanks

[sonofsanta]

Novatech & Stone for us, always get exactly the spec I'm after, as I'm a PITA and make specific demands of motherboard chipsets and RAM arrangements (always dual channel!)

 

WRT warranty, with both of them we have a 5 year RTB warranty and have a handful of spare machines provided free as part of the warranty, so any faulty machine can be swapped out straight away and the broken machine then repaired at our leisure. We can have a user up and running again within ten minutes of a hardware failure, not sure you can beat that with an on-site warranty unless the engineer lives in your car park

[ben604]

We've got Lenovo All in Ones from Stone. They're quick, look nice and have good support.

[Steven_Cleaver]

Stone here as well next day onsite warranty with 5 year cover so usually replaced before out of warranty on rolling scale but to be honest get at least about 5 quotes every year just to make sure Stone are the best deal all in. So as someone as said get a few quotes and weigh up the options and what your getting for your money. We have used various in the past so Dell, Lenovo and HP all been ok but prefer Stone as usually price is competitive and give excellent support\warrenty. I have a good sales contact here who has been execellent over the last few years who doesn't hastle me but just deals with any queries I have and provides quotes for requirements etc.

[L3OUGH]

We've been buying Lenovo M58p ThinkCentre's lately! We have managed to get them for around £75 a unit, mind you they are refurbs. But they are still as good as new and faster than some of the Fujitsu i3's we have got for the office machines!