Recommend a good work computer

Blanco100

Hi guys, I'd appreciate any advice on this

Looking for a work desktop (will be working some time from home) and will need a decent work computer (2 monitors and tower) and also a microsoft office professional subscription.

Can anyone think of any good deals off the top of their heads? Don't want to pay a small fortune either

Ned Led Zeppo

Steer well clear of Lenovo,worst computer i have ever come across.

Blanco100

Looking at 2 monitors (Dell 24 Monitor | P2419H - 60.5cm(23.8") Black x2 )

and for the desktop i'm looking at a OptiPlex 3060 Micro Form Factor.

Does anyone know if this would be a good operating system for work? I would be running a few in house company systems and using microsoft office for outlook, sync messenger and excel etc...

The price comes to 1250 for all the above does it seem decent or is there way better value to be had? Second hand etc...

Price includes 3 year microsoft office pro and anti virus software aswell, i'd be dealing with very sensitive information

FishOnABike

If you will be dealing with very sensitive information what is your company's data security policy?

Will they allow sensitive information to be stored off site? Do they require full disk encryption? Do they have a preferred /supported remote working technology e.g. Remote Desktop or VPN? All this might influence your choice of computer. Is there someone in your company's IT support that can advise on remote working requirements?

Blanco100

FishOnABike wrote: »

If you will be dealing with very sensitive information what is your company's data security policy?

Will they allow sensitive information to be stored off site? Do they require full disk encryption? Do they have a preferred /supported remote working technology e.g. Remote Desktop or VPN? All this might influence your choice of computer. Is there someone in your company's IT support that can advise on remote working requirements?

I think its remote desktop. I will look into this first and foremost

FishOnABike

Blanco100 wrote: »

I think its remote desktop. I will look into this first and foremost

If you are using RDP to connect to your workplace the hardware requirements on your local client computer should be fairly light as it would only be sending keyboard + mouse data to the RDP server located in your workplace and receiving screen updates from it. All your required applications and any heavy processing would be done on the RDP server in your workplace.

You may need to check the version and edition of windows on your local client computer and the RDP server in your workplace have to ensure dual screen mode is supported.

With RDP your internet speed and latency would be be important to how smooth everything works.

Blanco100

FishOnABike wrote: »

If you are using RDP to connect to your workplace the hardware requirements on your local client computer should be fairly light as it would only be sending keyboard + mouse data to the RDP server located in your workplace and receiving screen updates from it. All your required applications and any heavy processing would be done on the RDP server in your workplace.

You may need to check the version and edition of windows on your local client computer and the RDP server in your workplace have to ensure dual screen mode is supported.

With RDP your internet speed and latency would be be important to how smooth everything works.

Back again. I will be connecting via cloud/citrix so my machine at home will simply be acting as a host machine if that makes sense.

My laptop for instance doesn't have MS Office but id imagine with the remote access when I launch citrix I will have it by proxy.

Does this make any sense at all?

Does this mean I could buy I reasonably cheap machine? In order to have this remote access I need to generate a code to login on my home machine by a special keycard thing

Xterminator

Yes.

Citrix connection means your local pc will be processing only screen and input commands and the data/application processing will be done on the application server farm.

This means the speed of the PC laptop you use is not of key importance. However you may not want to have to connect to VPN & or citrix everytime you want to open an office application. find out if your job uses office 365 - if you have an office 365 licence you can download word excel etc to your local pc.

Any form broadband should in theory provide you with a fast stable local connection. This is important when working from home. If work expects you to work from home, have they mentioned paying for your broadband? No harm in asking. Your saving them office and heating costs etc.

re machines i would heartily recommend dell optiplex as a reliable brand. I've used dell, hp, lenovo, apple, dell, toshiba and microsoft (surface pro) in work over the last few years. Unlike the earlier poster i found many of the pcs to be fairly comparable, but the difference was support when something goes wrong. On that front, Dell stands out for me.

Blanco100

Xterminator wrote: »

Yes.

Citrix connection means your local pc will be processing only screen and input commands and the data/application processing will be done on the application server farm.

This means the speed of the PC laptop you use is not of key importance. However you may not want to have to connect to VPN & or citrix everytime you want to open an office application. find out if your job uses office 365 - if you have an office 365 licence you can download word excel etc to your local pc.

Any form broadband should in theory provide you with a fast stable local connection. This is important when working from home. If work expects you to work from home, have they mentioned paying for your broadband? No harm in asking. Your saving them office and heating costs etc.

re machines i would heartily recommend dell optiplex as a reliable brand. I've used dell, hp, lenovo, apple, dell, toshiba and microsoft (surface pro) in work over the last few years. Unlike the earlier poster i found many of the pcs to be fairly comparable, but the difference was support when something goes wrong. On that front, Dell stands out for me.

Thanks a million for the very informative reply.

Internet is brilliant at home anyway so there will be no problem there.

All work related stuff (in house systems, outlook, skype messenger, webex) will be accessed by citrix/cloud so i dont think i would require ms office, but out of interest where would you recommend as best place to get office at a good price?

Xterminator

i wouldn't personally buy office.

If your job users office 365, or has purchased office 365 licences, or a child in your house is in a school that offers office 365 accounts, then use that. If you sign in with provided credentials you can install word, excel etc. so you will have to inquire at work.

If that's not possible, then you can use a free office product like google docs or libre office. you will have to save your documents as office type files, when collaborating. not a problem if you are anyway technical, and functionality is very similar to office. They are actually so like MS office you might wonder how its legal!! But it is.

If you feel you must have MS office you can buy a years subscription to office 365 personal for approx £50 at amazon.co.uk. But most places will bundle it with a pc or laptop. just don't pay more than the amazon price for the pleasure of it. Its cheaper for student version so if there is a child in the house, look into that option.

Blanco100

Thanks a million again, I really appreciate this advice.

I finally have my work log on, its safenet 3000 code generator.

I am logging in via the host site, with my name, password and also enter the code generated on the tech I received.

It launches into Citrix but its stuck on the add apps page. This is not what happens at work, another screen usually pops up and I usually launch cloud to take me into another machine where I work

Am I missing something?

Xterminator

run this by your IT, but it sounds like you need to install citrix desktop app (citrix receiver client)

https://www.citrix.com/products/receiver.html

Blanco100

Xterminator wrote: »

run this by your IT, but it sounds like you need to install citrix desktop app (citrix receiver client)

https://www.citrix.com/products/receiver.html

is that on my machine at home or at my machine at work? silly question i know

Xterminator

home pc. it has to open & handle the citrix session; thus needs the receiver app/plugin.

BailMeOut

as other say if just using Citrix then any piece of garbage home PC will work for you. Buy a second hand dual video card machine with at least Windows 7 and basic specs and you will be grand.

If you want to use that PC outside of work and Citrix then you will need something better. My preference is to buy recycled business class proper 'workstation' machines that are a few years old and there is a location in UK that I like to use (https://kelsusit.com)

Blanco100

Cheers for all the advice, I got it wrong its not actually Citrix its VMware horizon client, accessing via cloud.

But im presuming the same logic applies. Looking to get a computer set up, dual monitors etc.. not looking to spend a fortune though, good desk aswell

ilovepizza

i need some advise on graphics cards.
If i am rendering a 1gb 3d file do i need to match it with a 1gb of graphics card memory
or if i am editing 6gb 4k video project and i render that video, should i in principle need 6gb of vram.?

forget about clock speed and bandwidth for now.

thanks

ilovepizza

ilovepizza wrote: »

i need some advise on graphics cards.
If i am rendering a 1gb 3d file do i need to match it with a 1gb of graphics card memory
or if i am editing 6gb 4k video project and i render that video, should i in principle need 6gb of vram.?

forget about clock speed and bandwidth for now.

thanks

there is no direct connection like that.

it depends on what type of say video editing you will be doing.

working with 4k files as opposed to 1080p is a big jump.

that what sort of editing being done on the files.

for video editing the cpu is also important - probably more important and need a high-core count cpu (e.g. 6 , 8 , 10) and the required cooling for that.

have a look at this to get an idea of what a high-end 4k workstation would be like

https://www.4kshooters.net/2018/06/26/the-essentials-of-building-a-4k-video-editing-workstation-in-2018/

ideally you'd want to be starting with a strong cpu, 16gb ram, min nvidia 1060 but preferably 1070.

paddylonglegs

just to hijack this thread. I'm looking to buy a PC for business, using Adobe suite package - mainly photoshop and illustrator.

Any recommendations on where to buy this? Ideally I'd like to have someone spec it for me who understands my requirements.

budget is 1200 - 1300

ilovepizza

is it for personal or business.?
how big are your media files?
what are you currently using?
are you entry level, mid or experienced?
whats forcing you into buying a new computer?

paddylonglegs

paddylonglegs wrote: »

just to hijack this thread. I'm looking to buy a PC for business, using Adobe suite package - mainly photoshop and illustrator.

Any recommendations on where to buy this? Ideally I'd like to have someone spec it for me who understands my requirements.

budget is 1200 - 1300

photoshop and illustrator are not overly demanding

this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-BOXNUC7I5BNH-NUC7I5BNH-Thunderbolt3-Barebone/dp/B01N35QVJA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1546612496&sr=8-5&keywords=i7+nuc

would do the job. it has iris graphics which gives it a little graphical punch

you need to buy ram and storage.

ram
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BIWKP58/ref=twister_B07CZKNRTC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

storage
https://www.amazon.co.uk/YUCUN-TESTED-Internal-Ultrabooks-Tablets/dp/B078S32PFC/ref=sr_1_8?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1546612821&sr=1-8&keywords=240gb+2280

then just add monitor + keyboard. small footprint size is an advantage

buy a windows 10 key from ebay
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xwindows+10+key.TRS0&_nkw=windows+10+key&_sacat=0

install from usb key - easy to create usb key - just google it - download win 10 from microsoft

Gerrymandering reborn

This is much better https://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/gaming-laptops-desktops/inspiron-dt-5680/spd/inspiron-5680-gaming-desktop/cd568038

Gerrymandering reborn

Gerrymandering reborn wrote: »

This is much better https://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/gaming-laptops-desktops/inspiron-dt-5680/spd/inspiron-5680-gaming-desktop/cd568038

it's over 3 times the price, total overkill for his uses and way bigger in size.

he's not looking for something to game on - just adobe photoshop and illustrator.

paddylonglegs

ilovepizza wrote: »

is it for personal or business.?
how big are your media files?
what are you currently using?
are you entry level, mid or experienced?
whats forcing you into buying a new computer?

It's for business. Hence why I will be buying new so I will have a vat receipt. Media sizes are up to 750mb. Experience is not relevant but it will be used constantly 5 days a week

here's a fair bit more powerful NUC with a 4-core i7

https://www.amazon.de/Intel-Next-Unit-Computing-NUC8i7BEH/dp/B07J6T8PH6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1546641305&sr=8-4&keywords=intel+nuc+i7

definitely more than enough for your needs.

that's a seriously powerful cpu.