PC for home working

Sebastian Dangerfield

I'm looking to get a desktop PC for working from home. It will be light use otherwise; I connect via VPN on a laptop currently but am used to double screens in work, so find it hard to work on the laptop screen.

I was looking at something like this with a couple of cheap Acer monitors. Any recommendations for / against? I had hoped to keep it under €600 for everything, but its looking closer to €700

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/hp-pavilion-510-p141na-amd-a10-9700-8gb-1tb-dvd-sm-radeon-rx-460-windows-10-z3h88ea/version.asp

Sebastian Dangerfield

Laptop is a HP Pavilion, don't have the exact model to hand but its about 6 years old.

The screen isn't the only problem; my laptop runs so many updates it can take 15-20 mins to boot up sometimes. Doesn't really fit well with my "up 5 mins before a call" approach. I realise it would be easier to change that than the computer by the way...

Would this be any better?

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/stormforce-onyx-amd-a8-9600-8gb-1tb-windows-10-desktop-7290-5398/version.asp

Sebastian Dangerfield

Thanks a lot. Probably a stupid question, but is the 128gb hard drive on that one not an issue, versus the 1TB on the others?

I was told to avoid Celeron, get 4GB of RAM or more and 1TB of hard drive by a friend. Other than that I'm clueless. All I need is an internet connection to log into the VPN, not fussed about graphics cards etc

brianwalshcork

Why not get a usb 3 docking station for the laptop with dual monitors?

Sebastian Dangerfield

brianwalshcork wrote: »

Why not get a usb 3 docking station for the laptop with dual monitors?

The laptop is far from peak performance in itself, but I'll take a look thanks

BarleySweets

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

Thanks a lot. Probably a stupid question, but is the 128gb hard drive on that one not an issue, versus the 1TB on the others?

I was told to avoid Celeron, get 4GB of RAM or more and 1TB of hard drive by a friend. Other than that I'm clueless. All I need is an internet connection to log into the VPN, not fussed about graphics cards etc

Fair play for asking! Theres a lot of jargon with a purchase like this but it’s not rocket science so don’t let that put you off, ask anything you like.

The 128GB one is an SSD, so it’s about 10 times faster than the 1TB drive. So I’d recommend going with the 128GB. If you need to save large files, you can always get an external drive at a later date for pittance.

Regarding Celerons, people usually advise avoiding them because they’re the bottom of the barrel performance-wise and its kind of become the default recommendation that anyone techie makes. So if you needed a high-performance computer (e.g. for playing modern games or video editing), you’d definitely be best off avoiding a Celeron. But because you just need the computer for office work and VPNs, a Celeron will be grand. Also, the AMD processor in your previous link is years old, so even though a Celeron is bottom of the barrel, a Celeron that was released in 2018 will have years worth of extra improvements built in, making it a much better proposition.

As for RAM, 4GB min is good advice, go for 8 if you can but 4 is grand.

Regardless of all that, the computer OSI linked to looks perfect for your needs.

henryforde80

I doubt your company will allow VPN on a personal laptop.

FanadMan

henryforde80 wrote: »

I doubt your company will allow VPN on a personal laptop.

Why? Not all VPNs are for watching location restricted content. Some are used for commercial purposes.....just like the OP :rolleyes:

Sebastian Dangerfield

henryforde80 wrote: »

I doubt your company will allow VPN on a personal laptop.

They do, its encouraged.

Unless I'm using the wrong term by saying VPN. Its a keyfob with a timed code; I go to a website and log into my work PC remotely. IT here refer to it as a VPN

Xterminator

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

They do, its encouraged.

@Op your IT dept might want to ask how the business will ensure all personal computers

1. have a valid commercial grade anti virus (with up to date definitions).
2. all relevant windows updates installed.
3. ensure users do not regularly access websites know for being riddled with viruses.

It usually only takes one ransomware attack for businesses to take cyber security more seriously.

BailMeOut

I'd get a decent refurb from these folks http://kelsusit.com/ with a dual DP/HDMI video card and then a pair of Asus monitors from Amazon.co.uk which you can easily do for €600.

Sebastian Dangerfield

Thanks all for the feedback. I decided to go for a docking station as suggested earlier, with two monitors. I'll use the laptop for however long it lasts; hopefully deleting all the 3-4k songs I have on it will speed this up a bit.

If it gets worse, I'll spring for the PC then.

henryforde80

FanadMan wrote: »

Why? Not all VPNs are for watching location restricted content. Some are used for commercial purposes.....just like the OP :rolleyes:

Yea I get that. Should of explaining myself more clearly.
I Just want to make sure he consults with his I.T staff first as if he is giving a company laptop its most certainly joined to the companies domain where they can track software, antivirus, windows update, GPO/SCCM, AD, licensing, web browsing and proxy etc among tons of other things. If he's thinking of buying a new laptop perhaps they may give him one free of charge. Any company I worked for or suppored would most not certaintly install their main VPN software on a personal laptop. Serious Data breach there.

It sounds like the OP is signing in using Citrix in IE and using an RSA fob so that should be fine. Citrix is heavily locked down even from a personal laptop and is one the main options used if you don't want to give someone site to site VPN.

Sebastian Dangerfield

It is an RSA key!