🚀 go-pugleaf

I would not like to make any derogatory comments about specific companies,
so from my experience I would suggest that your friend, as a new user,
might buy his PC from Dan or Gateway, for example. These companies are
geared up, and happy to support inexperienced users.

Some Direct suppliers not mentioned above, in my experience, often seem to
have trouble with delivery dates and answering technical support lines.

You may be interested to know that Time are part of a group called
Granville. They advertise under several other names which I think may
include Colossus, MJN, MR PC and others. Often their address is 'Granville
House' in Burnley, but not always!

Note that in addition to the cost of the machine, your friend should
consider how good the technical support and after sales service is. It may
be worth paying a few extra pounds. For example, Gateway has a free phone
number for pre and post sales and technical support.

Also note that the software bundles offered with many PCs are often old
versions that can be purchased very cheaply as separate items. When a
company advertises that their bundle is worth �500 when sold separately,
you may find that this is true...... at last year's prices. In addition,
you may find that manuals and discs are not supplied. The 'educational'
packages given away with PCs are, from my experience, of little value. I
would recommend going for a mainstream bundle such as the Microsoft Office
or similar.

Please note that the above information is correct to the best of my
knowledge is drawn from *personal* experience.

Regards,
Innes

Sam Sexton <Sam@leofric.demon.co.uk> wrote in article
<qprnqAAbBHkyEwGd@leofric.demon.co.uk>...
> A friend of mine is about to buy his first PC, mainly for his young
> daughter's edutainment purposes. We pored over various ads in PC Shopper
> over the weekend, with my steering him towards a Dan system, based on
> Dan's reputation for reliability and service. However, there was an ad
> for Time systems in the Independent that had a similar configuration for
> about GBP1000 rather than 1200. I've no experience of Time and so would
> appreciate news of any bouquets or brickbats regarding their systems and
> service.
>