In light of our upcoming Build your own PC classes and a recent Lifehacker article of a similar title, we’ve decided to take up the challenge to see the best PC that we can get for €600.

Sub €600.00 Budget Build

Long gone are the days where you should immediately budget at least a grand for a decent self-built system. Unless you absolutely have to have a top of the line PC, this budget system will serve you well for most everyday tasks, some gaming, streaming movies and music from the web, and even those bigger projects like organizing the family photos or editing home movies.

The parts

This parts list assumes that you’ll need the basic components: a case, a motherboard, processor, memory, storage, graphics card of some type, power supply, and an optical drive. We’re going to assume you have a perfectly good USB keyboard, mouse, and display you can repurpose for use with your new system. Before you blindly buy what we’re about to suggest, take a moment and look at our Build a €1,000 gaming rig and articles on choosing PC components, where we discuss some of the things you should think about before buying your components. For example, our €600 PC here is made with bang-for-the-buck in mind, not necessarily silent operation or tons of expansion bays. Remember to consider what you’ll use the system for before buying.

The case

Antec three Hundred Case

Antec Three Hundred – EU – Tower – ATX – no power – €54.95 :

The Antec three Hundred is a tried and true mid-sized case that, with luck and care, will last you for more than just one system build. It’s large enough to accommodate all but the largest components, and roomy enough to you’re your hands around inside without too much of a squeeze. Front-side audio and USB ports are a nice bonus in this budget case.

The power supply

A-Data HM-650 - 650 Watt - ATX

A-Data HM-650 – 650 Watt – ATX – €59.00

Most PC builders, especially starting off, tend to completely overestimate how much power their components will actually need. At the same time, you don’t want to buy a power supply too weak for the components in your build, or buy one from a flaky manufacturer or a no-name brand. Stick with trusted vendors on this one, and spend a little more if you have to. This 650-watt power supply from A-data should be more than enough for our components, and A-data is a trusted name. Pay attention to warranties and return policies as well, but try to make sure you’re getting the right amount of juice for the system you’re building. There are some great calculators on the web that will help you determine how big your power supply should really be, like the

The motherboard

• 

  Asus P8H61 Motherboard

  ASUS P8H61-M LE B3 Rev – Socket 1155 – Micro-ATX – €69.95 :This ASUS motherboard is actually used in a number of corporate desktops, has an easy to configure BIOS, and most importantly is rock-solid. The board sports 6 USB ports, 4 SATA ports, gigabit Ethernet, and on-board sound, so we won’t need to pick up a separate sound card. It doesn’t have integrated video, so you’ll definitely need the video card we’ll discuss later.

• If you’re willing to spend a little more, consider this MSI motherboard for €77.00, which is more expensive but packs on-board video, (so you could ditch video card below and save some more money,) but more importantly has USB 3.0, which is a huge benefit.

The CPU

Intel i5 2400 Processor

• Intel ProcessorIntel Core i5 2400 / 3.1 GHz – €162 :Yes, we’re going Intel with the budget system. No, there’s no reason you couldn’t sub this out for an AMD processor if you wanted to (in fact, we discussed it at length, and the first version of this build actually carried a AMD Black Edition – Processor – 1 x AMD Phenom II
  X4 955 / 3.2 GHz under the hood) save some more money or stand with a brand allegiance. We’re going to ignore those allegiances here and focus on the facts: while the AMD processor offers impressive bang for the buck, the Intel Core i5 is a solid processor that fits in our budget and can be found under the hood of desktops much more expensive than this one from commercial OEMs. The i5 will serve you well.

The memory

A-Data 2048 MB DDR3

A-Data 2048 MB DDR3/1333 (PC10600) – €39.90 (2 x €19.95) :

One of the most important things about buying memory is to make sure you get RAM that’s compatible with your build, and that’s from a reputable memory manufacturer. This is one area that we’ve been slightly let down by our portfolio. Our board is dual-channel, so we want to make sure we want take advantage of it but unfortunately the above isn’t possible with the above selection.

The storage

Samsung Spinpoint F3

Samsung SpinPoint F3 Desktop Class – HDD – €53.50:
Hard drives are so large and affordable at this point that you have plenty of leeway here as well. 1TB is large, and the price is right, so there’s no reason to skimp on the storage unless you really want to, or don’t plan on using this much space.

The graphics card

Sapphire RADEON HD 6750 Graphics Card

Sapphire RADEON HD 6750|Gigabyte GeForce N450OC2
We’re offering up two suggestions here to try and stave off the AMD/ATI versus Nvidia battle. Like so many other components, it’s easy to get caught up in which brand you prefer, but both of these cards pack enough power for everyday tasks and some casual gaming that they’re decent entries to the field. Don’t expect to fire up the latest titles with the settings turned up here, but if you have a couple of older titles you can’t give up, or if you don’t really play PC games at all, these will be just fine.

[http://lifehacker.com/5840963/the-best-pcs-you-can-build-for-600-and-1200]

Chromebooks went for sale in June and in this short period of time, Samsung has already dropped the price of their Google Chrome OS laptops by as much as 10%.

The Wi-Fi only Series 5 Chromebook is now selling for $399.99, down from $429.99, while the 3G + Wi-Fi Chromebook is available for $449.99, down 10% from the original $499.99. The prices for Acer Chromebooks are however unchanged.

While a price drop is always welcome, why would anyone prefer a stripped-down Chrome OS based laptop over these netbooks that are much more versatile?

Build & Upgrade PC Classes

• Have you ever wanted to build your own PC?
• Would you like to upgrade components on your PC?
• How about setting up your Home theatre/Entertainment system?
• Are you interested in overclocking but need someone to show you how?

If you answer is yes, then why not sign now up for one of classes?

Class schedule:

18-Aug-2011 – O/S Installation & Maintenance
25-Aug-2011 – System Optimisation & Troubleshooting
30-Aug-2011 – Build your own PC
01-Sep-2011 – Overclocking

Visit the events page for updated info on locations and class times.

Location & time

Note

Location and time are subject to change. You will be notified of any changes in advance of the classes. Limited class sizes so book your place early.

How to register

To book your place on a class, find out more information and register @ Build & Upgrade PC Classes or send an email to Byopc@komplett.ie detailing your name and the class you wish to be registered for.

PS – If you require mobility assistance please contact Byopc@komplett.ie.

Built on a rock-solid UNIX foundation, OS X is engineered to take full advantage of the technologies in every new Mac. And to deliver the most intuitive and integrated computer experience.

Hardware and software made for each other.

Since the software on every Mac is created by the same company that makes the Mac, you get a fully integrated system in which everything works together perfectly. OS X works with the processor in your Mac to deliver the best possible performance. The Multi-Touch trackpad on every Mac notebook gives you more than enough space to pinch, swipe, and tap your way around most of the apps on your system. OS X gives you long battery life by dimming the screen in low-light conditions and even regulating processor activity between keystrokes.

Apple OSX Lion Hardware

Interact with your computer in a whole new way.

Tap, scroll, pinch, and swipe using Multi-Touch gestures, directly controlling what’s on your screen in a more fluid, natural, and intuitive way. When you scroll down on your trackpad or Magic Mouse, your document scrolls down. When you scroll up, your web page scrolls up. When you swipe left, your photos move left. And there are many more gestures that make all you do on your Mac the best experience you can have on a computer. Hands down.

Easy to use and incredibly powerful.

From the desktop you see when you start up your Mac to the applications you use every day, everything is designed to be simple and intuitive. Of course, making amazing things simple requires some seriously advanced technologies, and OS X is loaded with them. Not only is it built on a rock-solid, time-tested UNIX foundation that provides unparalleled stability, it also delivers incredible performance, stunning graphics, and industry-leading support for Internet standards.

MAC OS X Lion Ease of Use

Easy access to all of your apps.

Working and playing on a Mac is all about apps, so OS X makes it simple to find and open those apps fast. The Dock is a handy place on your desktop for storing and launching your favorite apps, and it makes switching between them a breeze. The Dock also includes Stacks, folders that give you quick access to documents, files, and downloads. Launchpad is a full-screen home for all the apps on your Mac. It lets you arrange them the way you want, group them in folders, and delete them with ease. And apps purchased from the Mac App Store automatically appear in Launchpad, so you can browse thousands of apps and start using the ones you buy right away.

Getto dock

Find, organize, and share files fast.

The Finder gives you easy access to all the files on your system. It lets you find, organize, and access practically everything on your Mac — including applications, files, folders, discs, and shared computers on your network. You can sort files by kind, application, date modified, date added, or size. But with so many files on your computer, finding a specific one can be a challenge. Not on a Mac. Features like Spotlight and Quick Look make locating the file you’re looking for effortless — even if you don’t know the filename. Say you’re searching for a document, and the only thing you recall about it is the phrase “surrealist painters.” Open Spotlight, start typing “surrealist painters,” and your Mac generates a list of files that contain those words. And with Quick Look, you don’t need to open an application to verify that you’ve found the right file — view a full-screen preview by hitting the space bar. Want to share a file with someone nearby? Just drag and drop to send it to the person wirelessly with AirDrop.

Get quick access to drives, servers, and shared computers from the sidebar.

See everything running on your Mac. In an instant.

OS X offers systemwide support for gorgeous, full-screen apps that use every inch of your Mac display. You can have multiple full-screen apps open at once — along with multiple apps in windows. And it’s easy to switch between full-screen and desktop views. Mission Control gives you a bird’s-eye view of all your windows and full-screen apps, and allows you to instantly navigate among them.

Dashboard gives you quick access to your widgets.

Built-in apps you’ll use every day.

OS X also comes in a single version that includes a collection of Apple-designed applications. Not only do they let you surf the web, make video calls and have text chats, manage your contacts, and accomplish other day-to-day tasks, they also work together to make you more productive — and let you have more fun.

For the launch of the Galaxy SII in France, Samsung brought JayFunk, the internet Finger Tutting phenomenon, from Los Angeles to Paris to deliver an incredible and surprising choreography. Have a look at the video!

And even if you find the first 40 seconds boring, be sure to watch the video until the end!

In what really has to rank as one of the oddest examples of over-enthusiastic fanboy behavior ever seen (yes, that is a rather bold statement but stick with us), German Google devotees were so annoyed at the cheek of people who had opted to have their houses blurred out from Street View, that they egged the gaffs in question.

The perfect crime...

Yep, someone really is that dumb.  This all happened in the Bergerhausen district of Essen, West Germany and in what is possibly the saddest element of the whole thing, it’s been reported that the misguided scamps also taped notes to the mailboxes of conscientious objectors stating, ‘Google’s cool’. Continue Reading

The FBI, you would assume, only employs the very latest technology when choosing to spy on enemies both foreign and domestic. So it comes as something of a surprise to find out that they recently used a GPS device similar to something OJ Simpson’s character in ‘The Naked Gun’ might have attached to a suspicious van (before being hilariously dragged away after getting his sleeve caught in the exhaust), to spy on a US student.

Detective Nordberg not pictured.

Their target was a 20year-old California resident Yasir Afifi, who, while fiddling about with his car, spotted a cluster of suspicious looking wires in close proximity to the right rear wheel of his vehicle. He then found them to be connected to an ancient looking tracking device (pictured above). Continue Reading

The man who gave us the world wide web – British inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee – is becoming increasingly concerned with the number of net-related laws and regulations being introduced by various governments, some of which can result in people being cut off from the internet altogether.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Calling the raft of new legislation around the globe “a blight”, in a major speech in London, Berners-Lee added, “There’s been a rash of laws trying to give governments and Internet service providers (ISPs) the right and the duty to disconnect people.” He added that a French law that comes into effect this year and the British Digital Economy Act passed in April could see people lose web access without a trial. Continue Reading

It appears that Iron Man-style exoskeleton ‘power suits’ won’t be just confined to overblown summer blockbusters for too much longer, in fact they may be employed by soldiers in war zones around the world in a mere five years.

Coming to a war zone near you… well hopefully not that near you. Still cool though.

US defence technology firm Raytheon Sarcos are developing the suits – called the XOS2 and pronounced ‘exos’ – which will apparently allow the soldier to carry 70kg with apparently little or no effort and punch through four planks of wood at once. Whether it will help if Mickey Rourke comes after them in a bigger, stronger suit is unknown, though we’re guessing if that situation arises just offering him a bottle of Jack Daniels as a peace token should suffice.

Continue Reading

China will require identification from everyone who wants to buy a mobile phone as of yesterday. The move, the Chinese government says, is designed to counteract the rise in the amount of spam messages being sent.

But critics say the move gives the government a new tool for monitoring its citizens as emerging economies still struggle to come to grips with information sharing and privacy.

Continue Reading