We are currently considering buying a new computer and wonder if anyone could either recommend or warn about computer firms. We are particularly interested in their aftercare and support. Thanks.

If you don't feel too confident with computers and you want good after sales care then Dell is a very good choice, I think you get lifetime 0845 phoneline support check their website www.dell.com

If you are feeling a bit more adventurous buy a copy of micromart (out every Thursday about £1.20) it's full of cheap mail order companies. Some will sell complete systems (I think Evesham are recommended) and others will custom build PC's for you.

If you aren't scared by mail order (if you buy from a decent company then the computer won't go wrong so no need to be worried about having to send it back) then steer well clear of high street shops eg PC World, Dixons & Comet and the like, and you can save yourself several hundred quid.
hth

When I wanted a laptop (bearing in mind I'd never even sent an e-mail at this stage :D ) I asked around, and heard some good reports about Dell, so I bought one.

It was a total nightmare, the darn thing kept locking up, crashing and overheating. After several phone calls to Dell, the offending laptop was collected and I received a full refund.
Deciding I'd just had a dodgy one, I ordered another one, from Dell, as I was quite confident that any more problems could be resolved; and so far everything's been fine :) (touch wood!)

Well that's just my experience, I'm sure others will have different opinions; but good luck with whatever you decide on :)

liberty

I have personal experience of a computer firm, i don't wether i am able to mention the name, but there after sales care was crap, basically you did'nt get any, and the amount of calls i would take from people complaining because they had spent a large amount of money on a computer and a few months later it had broken and they had been told they were unable to return it. I would advice that you go to the smaller companies or companies that are less well known. In my experience you get better service. Don't you know anyone that could build you one, thats the best thing to do then you know if anything goes you are not going to be ripped off. My partner built ours and also my dads and his girlfriend, so if anything goes wrong we get instant technical support.

I have just read that someone has named names so i will too. Stay away from PC world, currys and dixons are also part of the same company so i would assume they operate in the same way.

hi, mail me and I'll send you a few links to sites.

As everyone has said, dont go to the big firms, they arnt bothered about you after they have your money, I'm looking at getting a pc from a company via the net,
AMD Athlon processor 2.6Ghz,
256mb DDR SDRAM(pc266mhz)
60gb hard drive,
10/100 network card,
DVD - CDRW combo drive
32mb AGP Graphics card
Windows XP home
56k modem
all for the wonderful price of 349.00 thats including vat!!!!
its also a famous brand name.

Only downside is, theres no monitor, but I know of another company that does them fairly cheaply.... 21inch crt monitor, for about £150.00

same compnay as the first

AMD Athlon 2.2 xp processor
512mb ddr sdram pc2100 266mhz
40gb hd (7200rpm)
32mb graphics
DVD rom
56 k v92 riser modem
intergrates lan
price......... £269.00 including vat.

but again, no monitor.....

hope that helps

jay

Go for Dell. They are fab. :) They are very reasonably priced, and give good aftersales service. My husband is an IT manager and he only buys Dell systems for his office now and he has the knowledge/skills to bulid from scratch if he wants to but he can't do it for their prices and if they any problems they get sorted out very quickly.

If you know what you are doing (or have a friend that does) then get the bits and build your own - Dabs.com are quite good for buying things but you have to know what you want as they won't help. My computer started as a 486 with a few Mb of hard drive and has evolved somewhat - I don't think I have any of the original bits now and most of the replacments have also been upgraded

PC World - have never found anyone who knows what they are talking about yet and if they do sound confident and you believe them you can bet your bottom dollar it won't fit/work/be compatible when you get it home - you have to know what you want with them.

I found Evesham good when my husband and brother wanted computers, this was a few years ago now. Both had problems, one with hard drive and other with CD Drive but the support people were easy to get hold of, free (I don't know if they are now) and the bits were quickly replaced by a visiting engineer with no hassle.

Christine

It is much easier to build your own computer as we have, as it is easier to upgrade. You will inevitably need to do some upgrades on it after a while.

We have a Dell - it's better than most of the other computers I have known (my son has one of their laptops which is also very good). Have had quite a bit of experience of 'build it yourself computers' (not built by me personally :) ) - it's not as easy as it sounds, as you have to know which are the best components to use and that they are compatible with each other. If you get it wrong you can't just send it back :)

Daisy

Stephen was going to buy a Dell ..but their website wouldnt let him order it !! This was September last year ..so we ended up going to Evesham for his. They are very good , you can customize your PC like Dell ...we went along to the local Evesham shop in Nottingham to talk to them but you can do everything over the web I think ..

Melody - Who has a Sony Vaio and a TFT to die for :D

My partner is an I.T consultant and he has had a Dell for a few years. It works great, you can upgrade easily and aftercare is good. I would recommend Dell anyday. Oh and plus its black and silver and looks good on your desk :P
Sam x

Seems like Dell would be the way to go, i have to admit that i have never heard anyone complain about Dell before.

When my son got his Dell laptop a couple of years ago, the batteries packed up after a couple of months. Dell were excellent and replaced them the next day.

Daisy

With regards to your statement about pc world mel i completely agree, i used to work there and the amount of rubbish the sales staff used to make up to sell a computer, used to make me cringe.

Hi

We have a Mesh computer. Only once had a problem when first bought and they came quickly to sort things out. 2 years on site service and 1 year off site was included in price. Not sure of web address but probably www.mesh something or other - you can see how computer minded I am :p

Gina

Have just been told evesham is another good one for aftersales care, thats another on line company. Good luck with your choice.

I already said that :D :D :D

sorry melodysk, i must keep up!!

Evesham are a very good choice for desktop machines. My partners father swears by them :-) I have a Dell laptop which I have found to be very good, i'm not sure what their support is like though as i've never had to use it :D My partner has a MESH and apart from a DVD drive that had to be replaced twice thats been pretty good aswell. I would avoid big name shops like others have mentioned - good luck in finding a computer :-)

ps, If you know quite a bit about computers you can always build your own, but I wouldn't reccommed it for most people. I built my Desktop from scratch and it only cost me £600 for a top spec machine including a monitor.

Wow. Thanks everyone for all your advice. I've only just managed to post a reply as L Parkins was very active last night. You've all been extremely helpful. I don't think we are capable of even thinking about building our own but will certainly look at the other recommendations.