System Specification - Section B

Here is some feedback on each possible setup for you James to read over. As you can probably see, the individual parts system I have priced up includes everything to start your new system as I proposed earlier. I managed to obtain the facts and figures from www.ebuyer.com, a trusted internet hardware retailer that I often use.
The parts list I have divided up into 4 sections, Product, Description, Costs and Notes. The product section shows what type of product/component it is (i.e. hard drive), the description sections shows an exact technical description of the product, this may be useful to you if you wish to search for the product elsewhere. The cost basically shows how much (inc. VAT) each part costs and the notes section is just some basic notes on each part I have added for you.

Other Alternatives:

Dell.co.uk
As would have seen, there are also alternatives in the form of “pre-built” computer which require very little assembly.
The Dell Dimension E520 is a solid machine built by a reputable company. The key feature about the Dell that stands out is its warranty. Dell offer a 3 year support service for customer, so you can receive support for the computer up to 3 year after your purchase. Another good feature than comes with this machine is that it comes with a 15-month anti-virus package. However, this is not as important as a warranty as anti-virus software can be brought from a lot of retailers these days.
However there are some drawbacks with the Dell computer. Dell are selling all of their machines (including this one) with Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007. Visa is a follow on from Windows XP, however Vista has only recently been released, so Vista is prone to being unstable at present and as little people know a lot about, there is little technical support available at the moment. The same really applies for Office 2007 as well (unstable and little support available). Please also note that this Dell computer does not come with a wireless router or card as Dell did not sell adequate ones.
See Dell Dimension E20 below

PC World (off the shelf)
The Packard Bell 754 from PC World is a fairly solid machine as with the Dell one. An advantage of buying this PC is that if you visit one of the PC world retail stores, you can physically see the machine for your self, which you cannot do with both the Dell machine and the customer build one (individual parts). The big stand out compared to the 2 previous machines is the difference in cost. However, at a much lower price the machine is missing out a lot things. The monitor it comes with doesn’t support DVI (or at least no mention of it supporting it), half the amount of RAM (only 512mb) that the Dell comes with. The Packard Bell PC also doesn’t come with a DVI support graphics card. The machine does not also come with any speakers.
The machine also doesn’t come with any printer, wireless router or adapter.
See Packard Bell 754 below

In conclusion I would highly recommend installing the individual parts and I would create the system for you James. I feel that this option would give us complete control into how you want your system to exactly be. Also, the customer built system work out a lot more cost effective than any of the other machines meaning that you would receive far more goods for your money.

Description of Each Part:

Processor- Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86ghz - Skt775 Fsb1066 2mb Cache
A processor part of the computer that controls the execution of program instructions. Having Core 2Duo is “dual-processing” which enables the computer to load and run applications much quicker than a singular processor (what most computer have). When using dual processing you will notice that your computer will run a lot smoother and that you are able to run multiple applications far better.

Cost: £114.54

Motherboard - ASUS P5V-VM DH Pentium 4
A motherboard is like the "heart" of your PC, it handles just about everything. Any o function of the computer always goes through the motherboard, a computer would in fact be useless without one. This type of motherboard will comfortably cater for all of the other components that I have recommended.

Cost: £47.52

Operating system - (Includes Vista Upgrade Coupon)
An operating system (sometimes abbreviated as "OS") is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, it manages all the other programs in a computer. Windows XP Home would be adequate because it is a very popular operating system (over 90% of all PC users run it) and also the home edition jut about does everything that the professional edition does, only it is cheaper. Another plus point to the operating system package is that it includes a Windows Vista upgrade coupon. This would mean that having the coupon would enable you to upgrade to Windows Vista in the future and a discounted price.

Cost: £56.23

Monitor - HANNS.G JC171D 17" (1280x1024) 700:1 12ms Black & Silver DVI TFT
There isn’t really too much to say about a monitor, it is basically the device that you see the output of the PC on. A big monitor enables you to see more of what you are doing and the DVI connection helps ensure that the quality of the images on screen is as good as possible. This monitor more than matches your requirements and a very reasonable price.

Cost: £98.69

Memory (RAM) - Kingston Value Ram 1Gb DDR2 533MHz/PC2-4200 CL4 Dimm 240 pin Unbuffered (2x 512m)
Random Access Memory (RAM) Is the place in a computer where the operating system, application programs, and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer's processor. So basically, the more RAM you have, the faster you will be able to run applications (a bit like an addition to the computer processor). As with all components, the RAM attaches to the motherboard. In theory you could have up to 4Gb RAM, however this would be very expensive and based on your computer usage, 1Gb RAM would be more than enough to suit your needs.

Cost: £58.74

Hard Drive - Seagate ST3120814A 120GB 7200RPM ATA/133 Hard Drive
The hard drive stores all the computer's information and retains the information when the computer is turned off. On the hard drive everything will be stored there such as the operating system and your applications. The bigger the hard drive (in term of capacity), the more applications and so forth you can store on it. I recommend 120Gb as that would be more than enough to store all of your applications and some of your desired entertainment (i.e. music). This hard drive is also being sold at a very good price for what it is.

Cost: £36.84

Optical drive - LITEON DVD8900/DW1670 16x DVD±RW/RAM Bare Black OEM
Having a DVD+RW enables would to read and write regular CD’s and even do the same with DVD’s. As more and more applications develop, manufactures are now selling them on DVD disk which are up to 4.7Gb whilst CD are merely 700Mb (such as the new Windows Vista, the first windows operating to be sold on a DVD as it would take up to several CD’s to fit it on).This model of DVD+RW will allow you to basically read any format of CD or DVD.

Cost: £17.62

Graphics card - Sapphire Radeon 9550 256MB DDR VGA TVO DVI-I AGP
A graphics card is a device that processes and displays graphics onto the computer monitor. In your case the key feature of this graphics card is that you can connect it to the DVI port on the monitor for a much clearer picture. This graphics card will also allow you to see other graphics such as pictures far clearer than before.

Cost: £35.75

Printer - Brother HL2070N 20ppm 2400x600dpi 16MB USB/PAR/ENET
The printer basically does what it says, print. This printer listed is black and white and will able you to print 20 pages per minute in high quality. Another key feature to this print is that is has an Ethernet port. This will enable you to connect the printer to the wireless router and print wirelessly. This would mean that you could without actually having to have the printer physically connected to your PC.

Cost: £126.53

SOUND CARD - Asonic 4 Channel Soundcard C-media 8738 Chipset 3D – PCI
This card will enable you to listen to your computers output in up to 4 speakers.

Cost: £4.49

SPEAKERS - Logitech OEM S100 Stereo Speaker 2 W Rms 2 pieces Black
These are 2 basic stereo speakers.

Cost: £7.25

SECURITY SOFTWARE - McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 OEM
Having security software will help protect your computer from viruses and un-wanted people gaining access to your computer.  The software include anti virus protection, anti-spyware and a personal firewall. This will basically help protect you from everything out there.

Cost: £7.36

ROUTER - Belkin 54mbps Wireless ADSL 4 Port Modem Router with Free USB Adapter
This will enable you to share an internet connection between up to 64 wireless computers and up to 4 computers connected to the router using a cable. In this bundle it also includes a USB wireless adapter. What this enables you to do is plug the USB device (about the size of a USB memory stick) into a USB port on the PC and then the PC will have wireless capabilities, enabling you to browse the internet without a cable.

Cost: £39.99

OFFICE SOFTWARE - Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003 (Upgrade Version)
A very reliable and stable piece of software that you are familiar with. The upgrade version will enable you to upgrade from your previous version of office (97). The upgrade version is about half of the price of the “install from scratch” version.

Cost: £176.24

Total Cost (inc. VAT and Delivery): £842.11

Ergonomics:

Ergonomics are things such as how comfortable you are when using your computer (i.e. posture) and how much space you have on your desk. Looking at you current set-up I would advise you invest in a largest desk so as you don’t need to keep of all your papers cluttered up on the undersized desk. Also I would recommend getting a soft reclining chair of you choice, this will enable you to have a far more safe and comfortable computing experience.
In addition it may also be a good idea to purchase keyboard and mouse pads for your hands to rest on when using them.

Cost: £50-£150

Future Plans:

Using this setup would help ensure that the system would become "future-proof". What this means is that the system is able to cope with current needs and any possible future needs/upgrades. In particular, the Windows Vista upgrade coupon (included in the Windows XP pack) is one easy way to upgrade the system using current resources.