ZooStorm Desktop PC's

[developer]

Yes yes, I've still not upgraded the desktop.

On ebuyer there are a range of Zoostorm desktops, advertised as a UK company using the best components.

They certainly seem to offer a price/spec balance that's hard to beat.

Anybody got one?

 

[davidjpowell]

Had/Have one. It was a cheap emergency buy after desktop gave up on me.

Performed better than expected longer than expected. No problem recommending them.

Bought from Ebuyer coincidentally (or not).

 

[fabes]

From experience of getting them for others, they are fine if they will already do what you want them to do.

Apart from adding some more RAM they don't really allow upgrades to work well due to configuration of the motherboard, and limited but reliable PSUs for example.

If you want any demanding graphic, sound or gaming usage, then there are better places to start but for run of the mill browsing and office type work, they're fine from my experience.

 

[grober]

Zoostorm 7260-0019 desktop PC review: Specification, performance and verdict | TechRadar
Only negative was a small power supply an AMD CPU version I had never heard of and I would query?? any aftermarket support.
Dell and Lenovo due to their size altho "corporate" do provide a degree of post sales support. Guess that's what adds to the cost

 

[moonloops]

I've bought several and they are fine as economy PC's that do actually perform quite well.

My own work PC is a small form factor Intel i7 high spec machine that has given me zero grief. Their cases are generally a bit flimsy but that doesn't make any difference.

 

[developer]

If you want any demanding graphic, sound or gaming usage, then there are better places to start but for run of the mill browsing and office type work, they're fine from my experience.

I'm looking at an i5, 120gb SSD 8GB RAM. Win 10 downgrade to Win7pro.

I must be able to edit HD vids (only trim and fade etc) but no gaming.

I'm open to alternative suggestions.

 

[davidjpowell]

onboard graphics or dedicated on the one your looking at?

I assume there is a conventional HDD also.

ETA - I've retired mine because it would not run Autocad efficiently. It was very cheap though so never likely to and was not at the time bought with that in mind

 

[fabes]

Hi

Assuming the i5 is over 3ghz then it's only the GPU that will be an issue, both from display, matching and not bottle necking the CPU processing of the mpeg to loss less file, and output / connection aspects.

On board graphics may be an issue
Adding a decent (non gaming) Card could be an issue dependent on the PSU capability / rail amps.

Am on holiday at the moment, so I cannot offer a direct option (sorry) but ebuyer (or Novatech) are the rght places to look - though PCW occasionally has the right deal on the right spec available

 

[HughJarse]

Both set's of parents have used them for years - absolutely fine.

 

[Chrishazle]

I believe Overclockers are also worth a look. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ Recommended by my SIL who is pretty good on this type of thing (my first port of call when I have PC problems!).

 

[developer]

Thanks, the next question is where to source Microsoft Office which must include Outlook.

The Student version doesn't.

The one off, one PC version, not the annual subscription version.


Prices seem to vary wildly.

 

[davidjpowell]

Why not the annual subscription one? It does have it's advantages.

Can you even buy the non-student version as a one time?

 

[developer]

Why not the annual subscription one? It does have it's advantages.

Can you even buy the non-student version as a one time?

Yes, for about £160 in some places.

 

[moonloops]

Why not the annual subscription one? It does have it's advantages.

Can you even buy the non-student version as a one time?

Because you are paying 3x or 4x the cost of buying the standard product given that most users upgrade office every 5 or 6 years.

If you know where to look, you can buy office 2016 Home and Business for under £130. Proper software download with keys that are authentic and activated directly with Microsoft.

 

[developer]

Resurrection time - has anyone used this company and more particularly are their download versions as good as a physical offering?

https://www.mymsoffice.com/collecti...ce-home-and-business-2016?variant=12698224324

or these:

https://buymsoffice.co.uk/download-...business-2013.html?utm_source=google_shopping

 

[HughJarse]

My Microsoft Select account lets me download all their software - no media whatsoever.

As a thought why do you need Office - would Openoffice suffice? Or even google docs?


https://www.openoffice.org/

 

[developer]

I have lots of existing MS Office stuff (from and earlier version) that I will be migrating across to the new PC, and I must have Microsoft Outlook.

I'd like to know both sites offer reputable downloads before I spend.

 

[John]

I've never heard of either site and products a lot cheaper than typical prices always make me doubt they are genuine retail versions or genuine full stop.

£100 sounds more like a licence for a machine already bought with it pre-installed.

I take it you have emails you want to keep?

I'm just wondering what version of Office you have as I bought a student version of 2010 when Mrs JB was doing CIPD and I run that on Windows 10.

 

[rash.m2k]

Obviously they are bound to be some zoomstorms that are fine and work OK, but generally they are consumer grade machines built to a price point.

Personally I'd go for a ex-business desktop, they can be had for £150-£200, something like the Lenovo M92p, Dell 3020 etc. Built to last, with plenty of connectivity - they all come with Windows 8.1 as the key is part of the bios.

Like others have suggested openoffice/libreoffice (both the same really), is free and they support docx now as MS has been forced to unlock their file formats, should be fine for home use.

 

[developer]

Thank you.

I ended up with a HP Pro Desk SFF running an SSD.

The programmes have used up more of the SSD space than I would have liked but my plan is to save stuff to a separate HDD and to use the SDD to run the software side of things.

It came with an 120Gb SSD and with just Win7pro and Office 2013 installed in addition to what the machine came with I've only got 17.6Gb SSD space left - which I'm somewhat surprised at .

i5 and now 32Gb RAM - it's some mover .