Advent PC - would you buy one?

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Chris
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Firstly, my budget does not permit me to buy a Mac!!!

I have been using a Dell 8400, Pentium 4, Windows XP bought in 2005!! Been a great machine but I have just bought Lightroom 3 and it runs as slow as a funeral :'(

Looked at the Dell XPS 8300 which would suit my needs @ £654 but have also seen in PC World The Advent DT1310 @ £579 which has the same processor, same 1.5tb hard-drive, 8gb Ram instead of 6gb on the Dell. The only downside (that I can see) is that it has 2 less USB ports. The Dell has 8 USB 2.0 ports, the Advent has four USB 2.0 & two USB 3.0.

Most of my computers have been Dell and I'm a sucker for buying what I might perceive as a safer bet..... but is it??

SPEC FOR ADVENT DT1310 - £579.00

Processor Intel® Core™ i5-2310 Processor
- Clock speed- 2.9GHz (3.2Ghz Max Turbo)
- Cache- 6MB
- DMI 5 GT/s
Operating System Windows® 7 Home Premium
RAM 8 GB
Graphics card nVidia GT530
1GB DDR3
Hard drive 1.5 TB
Optical disk drive DVD±RW
Memory card reader Multi-card reader
USB 4 USB 2.0 ports
2 USB 3.0 ports
Modem/Ethernet 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
WiFi ''''''''Yes - 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth No
TV output 1x DVI, 1x VGA and 1x HDMI
Sound onboard, 5.1
Webcam No
Keyboard & Mouse Wireless keyboard and mouse
Accessories included PC, Keyboard, Mouse, Powercord, Welcome pack, Manual Wireless keyboard/Mouse
Software included MS Office 2010 Starter
Size L 365x W 180x D 390 mm
Weight 11kg
 
I wouldn't get too excited about having two less USB ports. If you need them then a cheap option is a hub, or better an addition card in the computer. The USB 3.0 ports are an excellent addition. USB 3 peripherals are now starting to become more common .

When I had PC's I would always go for the Dell option. But it's five years since I had one ( Yes I'm on a Macs now. ) , so I wouldn't say I'm up t date with their build quality . However if I needed to go back to a PC system I would use Dell as the bench mark.

Also look at the after sales service. Things do go wrong ( Even with Dells) and it's how quickly they are resolved can be important.
 
Most of my computers have been Dell and I'm a sucker for buying what I might perceive as a safer bet..... but is it??
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In terms of build quality and parts? Nope. Parts break, regardless of the manufacturer. Chappers hit the nail on the head - after sales service is an important bit.

I've had a ton of problems with Dell computers - from personal experience I can't recommend the build quality of the specific computers I've bought from them. However, their support service has been decent, and they've been quick at rectifying problems.

I see no reason not to buy the Advent - but check out their support service. For higher end dell computers, they will send an engineer out to your house to fix problems, rather than you having to send the laptop away. Might not seem much before you buy it - but the difference is having no computer for a few hours, or a few weeks.
 
On the flip side we've got ~250 users of dell kit at work, primarily optiplex, dimension, latitude laptops and power edge servers and I can count the amount of hardware issues (that weren't caused by users) on probably one, maybe two at a push hands over 5 years.

Can't comment on their home support but their business support is great. Maybe worth upgrading to on site engineer though rather than return to base.
 
neil_g said:
On the flip side we've got ~250 users of dell kit at work, primarily optiplex, dimension, latitude laptops and power edge servers and I can count the amount of hardware issues (that weren't caused by users) on probably one, maybe two at a push hands over 5 years.

Can't comment on their home support but their business support is great. Maybe worth upgrading to on site engineer though rather than return to base.
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I wish I had that luck. :lol:

They give me next day business support at the moment, so I'm fairly happy with that :D. But on-site support is a definite plus if you have it.
 
I have never bought a PC from PC World, but have not heard anything good from people who have.

Have a look at what you can get for the same price from Novatech, Ebuyer, dabs or PCSpecialist.

I have not bought a complete PC from any of them but have bought loads of components from the first three and never had a problem.

Dave
 
I've got an advent and I'm very happy with it. I changed the PSU and fitted a firewire port and dedicated graphics card as my PC came with an "on board solution". I'll probably build my own when it needs replaced though. That said I wouldn't hesitate about buying an advent.

When I put in the new 750W PSU I'd made a booboo some how (some switch on it was in the wrong position) and it went with a bang when I switched the PC on. The PC is still running great with no problems so I'm a happy chappy with mine!
 
I have an Advent Laptop and it has always been great!
 
A?fter working for the extended warranty division of a large electrical retailer, I can say never buy Advent, they are naff. However, buy the best that your budget can fford. Do you really need a new machine? Would upgrading the Ram and adding a larger hard drive might solve your issues better>

Hope this helps :)
 
rssmrry said:
When I put in the new 750W PSU I'd made a booboo some how (some switch on it was in the wrong position) and it went with a bang when I switched the PC on. The PC is still running great with no problems so I'm a happy chappy with mine!
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Sounds like the euro/uk voltage selector, some b****r did that to me once. Nearly cacked myself.
 
operanut1972 said:
A?fter working for the extended warranty division of a large electrical retailer, I can say never buy Advent, they are naff. However, buy the best that your budget can fford. Do you really need a new machine? Would upgrading the Ram and adding a larger hard drive might solve your issues better>

Hope this helps :)
Click to expand...

And it was all looking so positive for Advent...... until now!!!

I'm currently running 3Gb Ram and 4Gb is the max for my machine. I guess I could try upgrading + bigger hard-drive, but not confident that throwing money at a machine that is almost 7 years old, is the best option. Technology has advanced so much since 2005, surely a brand spanking new machine will outperform adding Ram & hard-drive, even if it isn't the top of the range? I dunno..... just asking?

When my existing machine developed a problem, Dell were pretty good at getting me sorted promptly, and I too, have not heard good things about customer service at PC World, so I guess Dell is going to get my order.

Thanks to everyone for their replies :thumbs:
 
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Chris, I've had two Advent PCs and one Advent laptop - I'd never buy another. My last desktop was a hp which lasted me a good 6 years and is fact still going although it's retired in favour of an iMac now.
 
neil_g said:
Sounds like the euro/uk voltage selector, some b****r did that to me once. Nearly cacked myself.
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:lol: what technician hasn't done that.

My favourite was swapping the reset and power buttons on the motherboard, then watch a co-worker trying to switch it on wondering why it doesn't work :D
 
My Dell is still doing well too, it's only since I got Lightroom at a fantastic price that I have become frustrated with the speed.

Perhaps I should sell Lightroom, continue using ACR - & I'm quids in :D

Trouble is, I really, really like Lightroom and if it didn't take so long for the images to load, I KNOW it is going to reduce my workflow considerably.
 
Advent are made exclusively for PC World and staff will nudge you towards them given half a chance. They're always top end spec of the brands on offer and at very attractive prices, but the truth is they're made down to a price and build quality and component parts aren't great. The laptop was a disaster - 3 new motherboards and so many other bits and pieces I've lost track - all under warranty thankfully. Finally they didn't think it was an economical repair and gave me £500 back but it cost £1800! That was a few years ago when laptops tended to be far more expensive.

I'm sure many people will find them OK, but as a heavy user I found them crap tbh. I think that inevitably you have to upgrade every few years or your workflow will start to become grindingly slow if you're only a half serious user.
 
operanut1972 said:
A?fter working for the extended warranty division of a large electrical retailer, I can say never buy Advent, they are naff. However, buy the best that your budget can fford. Do you really need a new machine? Would upgrading the Ram and adding a larger hard drive might solve your issues better>

Hope this helps :)
Click to expand...

Same here and I'd concur. ;)
 
cam1986 said:
I have an Advent Laptop and it has always been great!
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Wait until something goes wrong and try finding spares for it..... :runaway:
 
Rob 80386 said:
:lol: what technician hasn't done that.

My favourite was swapping the reset and power buttons on the motherboard, then watch a co-worker trying to switch it on wondering why it doesn't work :D
Click to expand...

the thing was right next to my face at the time too :lol:

we used to play power button roulette at college, the machines had the click-click ON click-click OFF power buttons. the game was that if you pressed them twice fast enough it wouldnt register and the PC would stay on.

it was quite funny seeing who hadnt saved their work by the reactions. mind you it wasnt funny when someone did it to you.. :lol:
 
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