Advice please on buying a PC?

[Geoff]

PS Elements 10, last copy on ebay for £14 with free delivery ...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adobe-Photoshop-Elements-10-Windows-Mac-Full-version-/252206580839?hash=item3ab8af0467:g:zpwAAOSwfZ1WaJC7

[moonjiver]

Thanks a lot Geoff. That seems worryingly cheap! I am afraid I haven't yet ventured down the Ebay path and got an account (nor a PC yet of course) but I'll think about that one. Presumably that copy must be on a disc or something .. or maybe downloadable.

Thanks for all the generous advice from everyone.

[Geoff]

It's an old version hence the price. And yes, it will be on a disc.
Happy to give advice

[Richard]

adobe 10 for £14 on eBay looks tempting!
And you can get free trials of adobe software from adobe.com website, you need to create an account first.
Also there are 'easy steps' books on Photoshop (versions), for the photography enthusiast, on eBay.

[moonjiver]

Well, I'm close to buying a new PC - taken me half a century to get there cos I still know virtually nobody who understands much about computers! But this forum has been generously helpful with essential stuff and I'm homing in on an Acer Aspire desktop.

Had some curious experiences at the shops - yes, I know KC have a good reputation, will assemble a package for you etc. - but there aren't any complete pc's that you can see, play with, get an idea of what you like. Only bits of computers! Couple of monitors, tower units on a shelf etc. It's all sorted out in the backroom - ok if you know what you want but not helpful for a beginner. The older guy gave me a lot of technical info which was completely meaningless to me and then printed out a quote for a pc which, even to me, was obviously vastly more powerful and expensive than I would ever need.

In contrast a nice young guy down at Currys seemed to be completely on my wavelength, explained the essential technology that I needed and wasn't a bit fazed by my dumb questions!

The Acer I'm looking at at the moment seems to have all the minimum requirements which people have suggested with room for expansion, the only thing worrying me is the processor. I've been told by others to look for an up-to-date quad core but this one has only a dual core - Intel Core i3-6100. The Currys guy said that the "the Intel Pentium is too slow for Photoshop" - do others agree with that assessment? I'm told that the processor is the most expensive compinent to try to upgrade later!

Before then, I was looking at a very similar P/Bell pc with a quad core Intel Pentium N3700 processor. One older guy told me it was the latest processor, the young chap yesterday steered me away from it!

That's why I need some helpful advice to get through the minefield!

[Richard]

Just ask "will it run PhotoShop version x, y or z" and unless you have enormous file-resolutions and many dozens of 'layers' to manipulate, most modern computers should be able to cope easily with any basic requirements.
You can fret about graphics cards and processor speeds until you are 'blue in the face' and sales people will enjoy stringing you along, but at the end of the day, what do you want to do with Photo-Shop that any other similar program, running on a bog-standard computer cannot do?

I've been there too and found that it's not worth the effort of getting the latest all-sing and all-dancing computer with future-proofing built in.
Computers are very powerful nowadays and can easily be discarded and replaced at current 'cheap-as-chips' prices, if the need ever arises.

[moonjiver]

Thanks Richard, that's very good earthy advice. I rather felt that, since I will be doing fairly straightforward and simple jobs in Photoshop (at first anyway), most modern computers would probably cope alright. Maybe some slight variations in speed, which I probably wouldn't notice.

I certainly can't see myself needing new and more advanced graphics cards.

PCs are not really cheap as chips though, this one plus monitor will probably cost me a bit over £400. I'm sure I could get it more cheaply but I'm not knowledgeable enough to shop around and argue much!

I did more research - Adobe recommends a CPU of 2 GHz or faster for Photoshop. The dual core Intel Core i3 processor I mentioned earlier is 3.70GHz, but the P/Bell PC I looked at previously has an "up-to-date" quad core processor - speed only 2.4GHz. Clearly quad core doesn't necessarily mean enhanced performance! Seems to depend what sort of programs you will be running.

[moonjiver]

I managed to get some further advice on this. Apparently the Intel Pentium processor is indeed rather slow, the Intel Core i3 much better for Photoshop.

Also I'm being told to go for 8GB Ram - the 4GB will not be enough to run Photoshop and Windows 10 smoothly. I'm not up to installing more RAM myself so I'll have to see if Currys will do that for a reasonable price - or get more RAM added afterwards.

[moonjiver]

One more thing concerns me, which I should have focussed on earlier. I wonder what essential software I should get installed onto a new PC when I buy it?

Probably seems like a dumb question - but for example I'm not sure if I would need a new Office suite or whether I can use the Office suite from my laptop? Security will not be a first priority since I have yet to arrange a broadband connection.

I'd be glad of any suggestions, although atleast one more Dummies book is likely to go onto my shelf shortly!

[Richard]

Modern versions of Windows have their own methods.
Go to help in your version and type 'transfer programs'

Probably not strictly above board in some cases as typically Microsoft sell a 'cheaper' OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) version of Office to be sold with new computers and this cheaper version is licenced to be only used on that particular machine.
If you bought the software separately from a shop then it would have a different licence that allows it to be installed on a set number of machines simply by loading the disc.