Full new system + periphs. Advice?

OK, so I recently retired.
Let's assume I have up to £5K to spend.
I've been out of the market for so long that it's almost like I've never had to buy a PC before

I am NOT going to sit at a desk and game (back problems) but I don't want to watch TV or streaming on a laptop screen

The available space for a monitor/TV limits me to a single 53" 16/9 screen. My eyesight isn't great (plastic lenses due to cataracts).

Very limited gaming required
Very limited printing required
Assume GB Internet availability
Assume wifi available (Monitor/TV about 13ft/4m from router and settee)

I have a couple of 4TB HDDs, currently in a USB caddy... They could easily go into a NAS.

I'm happy with the idea of a laptop (15/16"), with a desktop attached to the monitor, controlled from the laptop ( or even from a tablet) via AnyDesk or other software.


Like I say, there are so many options, I'm confusing myself looking at specs (comes of passing age 70).

Anyone wanna give an old fart a hand?

Thanks for reading. There's no hurry, I just need to narrow down the options!

@NoelDP

Do you want to build yourself, or buy one already made?

And I'm guessing UK?

I can't be arsed to build another one.. I was doing that in the 90s/00s, there's not any budget benefits to it nowadays as far as I can see.
I might think about custom-built, if they're not raking too much in.

NoelDP said:

I can't be arsed to build another one.. I was doing that in the 90s/00s, there's not any budget benefits to it nowadays as far as I can see.
I might think about custom-built, if they're not raking too much in.

Click to expand...

Well, here's a parts list. I left out storage (you need to decide about that).
And this is all available in the UK...



You could probably give this list to any decent computer shop.






That's the monitor I would get, your choice may be different.
But I loooove DELL Ultrasharps, and my eyes have no trouble with 60Hz monitors.

You can see the full monitor specs, here...


The main thing to take away here, is the website: PCPartPicker

You can choose any country (top right), and it will find the best prices from the major etailers.
So design a comp you want, and give the list to a comp shop.

If anything is incompatible (except for RAM), PCPartPicker will tell you.
In the build above, I used the GSkill RAM configurator.





Last but not least... the best keyboards I've found are Ducky. I have the Shine 2 and Shine 3.
I type like a pile driver. These keyboards are indestructible.



After 13 years, I had to replace the keycaps on the keyboard. I wore some of the letters off.
Neither dirt or ashes or Cheetos, shall stay this keyboard from it's appointed tasks.

Wow!
That's quite a machine! I certainly don't need that much power, but it does give me something to think about and work with... And still leaves cash for the printer and accessories.
I could happily lose the gaming aspects, and come down to an i7 (maybe even an i5)

I remember buying my first Windows machine back in 96/7??. It cost about £2000 then... Gateway 2000, P75 (complete with the hardware bug), 14"CRT. Intel insisted on me handing over £400 for the CPU before they'd ship out the replacement, and only refunded it after I sent the borked one back. Replaced it with a PIII 300 a couple of years later, with a Trinitron screen and an HP laserjet 5... The Laser jet finally went to the dump last year... I dant used it for 15 years, but didn't want to throw it.

Thanks again, I'll take it as a decent starting point, and see what I can make out of it (I really don't want to mess around with watercooling at my age!)

NoelDP said:

I could happily lose the gaming aspects, and come down to an i7 (maybe even an i5)

Click to expand...

That's more for the AI voodoo, than for gaming.

But as you mentioned, it's just to give you an idea. PCPartPicker is a comp builders dream website.

Ghot said:

I type like a pile driver. These keyboards are indestructible.

Click to expand...

All my $100+ keyboards died within 3 months, in the meantime, $10 worth lasted for years. Cleaned with water and foam weekly.

@NoelDP

In that build in post #4, you'll notice that a mere 32GB of RAM costs more than the CPU, and almost as much as either the vid card or the monitor.

Here's why...

TairikuOkami said:

All my $100+ keyboards died within 3 months, in the meantime, $10 worth lasted for years. Cleaned with water and foam weekly.

Click to expand...

I was going through one of those rubber dome keyboards... every month.
I switched to a Steel Series mechanical keyboard. That lasted about 6 months.

The I switched to Ducky Shines. I'll probably die before either of those break. ^^


I don't "touch type". I hammer type.
If I can't break a Ducky Shine... no one can. ^^



@NoelDP

I'm from the US, but Scan UK, does "build" computers too. For example...




Scan UK builds all types of PCs. I just picked "gaming" as an example.



This list may be somewhat out-of-date, but...

Amazon.co.uk: Low Prices in Electronics, Books, Sports Equipment & more
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home
Aria PC - Message to our customers
Overclockers UK | PC Systems, Components, Peripherals & More
IT Solutions & Services for Home, Business & Public Sector – Misco.co.uk Tigerdirect for the UK and most EU countries.
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/computing/4-univers.html?itag=12300 Just a gadget store but they have some good memory at good prices, and other stuff.
http://www.ebuyer.com/
http://www.dabs.com/homepage.aspx
http://www.scan.co.uk/
http://www.novatech.co.uk/

Ghot said:

I was going through one of those rubber dome keyboards... every month.

Click to expand...

Logitech illuminated wireless looked great, on paper and pictures, in real life, it was a pain. Space constantly stuck, till it broke.

TairikuOkami said:

Logitech illuminated wireless looked great, on paper and pictures, in real life, it was a pain. Space constantly stuck, till it broke.

Click to expand...

Is that an MX Keys or an MX KeyS? How's the battery life on yours?

Edwin said:

Is that an MX Keys or an MX KeyS? How's the battery life on yours?

Click to expand...

I threw it away, it was unusable. HP has the best keyboards. Logitech wireless is OK for a mouse, 1-2 years battery.

have you considered a mini pc attached to a good sized monitor

or if its not going to be moved around an all in one computer with a large screen

https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/list.aspx?fc_form_aio=1&sel=dtp

i have a 24" HP all in one which is about 3 years old now
its all lap top components which makes it very energy efficient
the spec is in My Computers just below.

best of luck Steve ..

TairikuOkami said:

All my $100+ keyboards died within 3 months, in the meantime, $10 worth lasted for years.

Click to expand...

I concur although my $150+ Logitech keyboard (Prodigy?) did last a couple of years before it started acting up. I also had one of those cordless keyboards that looked identical to that Ducky Shine Ghot was featuring. I bought it because it was blue and only blue LEDs which went nicely with my blue and only blue LED build. About a year later the LEDs started to die on it and I grew weary of replacing batteries. Today I use a keyboard with cheap Chinese knock off MX switches. It's loud as ever to type on, but for 30 bux it has lasted me 5 years and it simply refuses to die regardless of coffee spills, dust, and disruption. If you type like a jack hammer then mechanical keyboards are likely a better choice. My daughter is very much a touch typist and her chicklet style Red Dragon is still running like new. Apart from this I have keyboards that are nearly 20 years old that still work and some of them are in that $10 category.

*edit* Forgot to mention that daughter's Red Dragon is over 6 years now and she types on it daily.

For the stated requirements, you shouldn't need to spend nearly £5K! I totally replaced my machine last spring for less than half of that, the specs are in my Computer 1 specifications. You should be able to duplicate that for around £3K, even assuming the inflated price of memory. You also probably don't need 64GB of memory for your purposes, truthfully I could be doing fine with 32GB.

gunrunnerjohn said:

For the stated requirements, you shouldn't need to spend nearly £5K! I totally replaced my machine last spring for less than half of that, the specs are in my Computer 1 specifications. You should be able to duplicate that for around £3K, even assuming the inflated price of memory. You also probably don't need 64GB of memory for your purposes, truthfully I could be doing fine with 32GB.

Click to expand...

For the stated requirements the most expensive part of it should be the monitor IMO. I do however agree with Ghot on the CPU because of all the resources AI will be wanting to do its "voodoo". 32GB of RAM should be ample for this platform. It's not as though it's being used as a work station. A good remote setup for the build might also be a consideration but I would imagine that the user already knows this.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.
I suspect that I'll go for a mini-PC.... And a laptop
My last mini didn't go well, dying after 30 mins or so. Amazon refunded without a problem.

Or
Amazon.co.uk

That would leave some serious headroom for the laptop and printer
It'd be nice to get back to being a multi-machine guy again! I've been running off laptops for the past 15 years.
Definitely looking at something with 45"+ screen needs to be bright with decent contrast.

I've lived without a TV for the past 20 years, and no landlines for the past 15, so not having a TV wouldn't kill me.
Are there any TV's out there that'd also make decent monitors?

What's the max cable lengths for display port and USB-C gen4? I already have a 5m HDMI cable.

NoelDP said:

That would leave some serious headroom for the laptop and printer
It'd be nice to get back to being a multi-machine guy again! I've been running off laptops for the past 15 years.
Definitely looking at something with 45"+ screen needs to be bright with decent contrast.

Click to expand...

I have this 45" monitor I bought last year, I'm quite pleased with it. I have and additional 1080p monitor above it for any "overflow".

LG 45GR65DC-B Ultragear Curved Gaming Monitor 45-Inch 32:9 QHD

Thanks for the suggestion!
I'll have to do some trawling, as the link fails on transfer to the UK, but it's at least a possible!

NoelDP said:

Are there any TV's out there that'd also make decent monitors?

Click to expand...

I am still happy with my Sony XR-55X90J that I have been using as my only monitor over the past 3 1/2 years. I mainly use it for reading text and textual data 10+ hours every day/night, some watching TV, and a little bit of watching YouTube etc.. My current laptop has HDMI 2.1 FRL, and, the X90J from Sony is reknowned for (among various other excellent characteristics) improving visual quality of text content and reducing eyestrain also when reading text on the TV. This is especially when using HDMI 2.1 FRL with full RGB (Chroma 4:4:4) without DSC. DP 2.1 over a standard USB4 connection is limited to 40 Gbps so, in 4K at 120 Hz with full RGB, DSC is used to overcome that limitation, and, even though DSC is visually indistinguishable from the uncompressed counterpart, it still messes with the internal processing of the TV such as the Sony's Congnitive Processor XR and its ability to make text content more comfortable on the eyes. The ability to avoid DSC also helps to reduce input lag.

So yes, depending on what exactly it is that you are looking for, there are TVs out there that make even better monitors than the bulk of decent monitors do. The fact that the increased viewing distances that are feasible when using bigger screens (like using a TV instead of a PC monitor) also help to reduce eyestrain significantly behooves no explanation.

I have been programming computers for over 40 years. Also, I used to be a games addict but I am allergic to gaming consoles, and I quit gaming 15+ years ago. I can no longer sit in a chair in front of a PC monitor for very long without starting to feel like torture. With my laptop standing behind the TV, I can move my Logitech K800 Wireless Illuminated keyboard around freely with just one hand and still avoid accidental keypresses. I don't know of any other keyboard that lets me do this when I am lying in front of the TV with a nice thick soft pillow stuck behind my back and using my corded mouse (a Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury, for all those very many handy extra mouse buttons, lol) on a small table next to the bed. Also, the K800 uses Logitech's "PerfectStroke" scissor-switch key design, which has a key travel of 3.2 mm, the ideal (IMO anyway) key travel depth for how I use it. (Also, the loud noise of mechanical keyboards drives me bonkers.)