[retired_coliniscool]

Originally posted by Dips:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Airwolf:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Dips:
Ring them? I could just check on their site right?

Yes, you could. But, after you've done this, ring them and aim for a better deal. It took me 3 attempts to find the right sales person. I have since bought approx 8 machines from him over the last 12 months, for myself and for other people. You get a much better deal. </BLOCKQUOTE>

You got a direct number for this salesperson? </BLOCKQUOTE>

No. Basically, I email him with what I want, and then 10 emails later, we've finally agreed a price, this is when he rings me for payment .

If you email me (check profile), I'll send his details to you. Tell him (in your email to him), you've been referred by me, I'll put the details in my reply to you.

[retired_coliniscool]

Originally posted by qwerty2k:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Airwolf:
Ok, my turn to ask a question.

A friend has trouble watching DVDs on her PC. They tend to play slightly slower than what they should abd it can take a while for the thing to start playing. Also, the voices (eg, on a film) aren't true, they seem to be slightly fuzzy. Any suggestions?

what program she using to watch the dvd's? done a spyware/virus check to make sure any processes arent hogging the systems resources? got the latest video card drivers etc. </BLOCKQUOTE>

Done the spyware check etc. She uses PowerDVD and has also tried a couple of other software programs too, all to no avail, giving the same results.

[retired_Rynny]

tried upping the program priority? try setting it to above normal.

[retired_gilgamesh36]

Is dual core processor that important if you don't use the PC for games?

[retired_berrysale]

Originally posted by Dips:
Also, if I do decide to go for Dell I can choose whether to have XP or Vista.

Just been reading through this old thread, http://community.sigames.com/eve/for...2042035292/p/3

I'm leaning towards keeping XP unless anyone can convince me otherwise?

I've got a dell laptop with vista and have encountered no problems.

As long as you're not using software that's old, you're not likely to encounter any problems. There are a few quirks to learn to deal with. Other than that, it's been very stable for me.

[retired_berrysale]

Originally posted by Dips:
Is dual core processor that important if you don't use the PC for games?

If you're going to use vista, it's much better on a dual-core machine.

[retired_berrysale]

Originally posted by Airwolf:
Done the spyware check etc. She uses PowerDVD and has also tried a couple of other software programs too, all to no avail, giving the same results.

Play the DVDs in another PC or two. If they show a better quality, it could be a number of things:

Graphics driver out of date
Low-quality graphics card
Low-quality monitor
Out-of-date video codecs

are the initial things that come to my mind.

[retired_gilgamesh36]

Originally posted by LFCfan:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Dips:
Is dual core processor that important if you don't use the PC for games?

If you're going to use vista, it's much better on a dual-core machine. </BLOCKQUOTE>

What spec is your Vista machine? I'm just after a cheap laptop really and XP would probably be the best to run off it for me I think, speedwise, etc.

[retired_jo12289]

Originally posted by Will Smith:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by HopOnBaby:
Thanks for the help, chaps

One more thing (as Columbo would say) - wireless adaptors: what's the best for the least money?

This seems to have had some decent reviews, but I prostrate myself at OTF's alter of knowledge once more.

get a desktop card rather than a usb, by desktop i mean PCI. USB ones just drain your usb bandwidth and are not as reliable as the pci counterparts </BLOCKQUOTE>
Care to suggest any good ones?

[retired_berrysale]

The best ones to get are the same make as the router you have.