what is a good deal for 120/240 SSD and Win 7/10?

suicidal_monkey · January 07, 2017, 01:40:26 PM

I'm soon going to try getting an old HP xw4600 workstation running for my dad. It's ex-business so no OS license (that I am aware of) and probably no hard drives. To that end I was going to try find a deal on an SSD and a copy of Windows (Not sure I want to remotely support him trying to install MS Word on linux

). The HP website only shows HP drivers up to Windows 7 64-bit, but it's likely that Windows 10 would work for all the main components (...I think?!)

I seem to be finding that normal starting points seem to be ~Â£40 for ~120Gb and ~Â£60 for ~240Gb and & deals rarely shave more than 1 or 2 quid off that. Is it worth considering trying to find a second hand one? ...maybe one of you has upgraded :flirty:

Windows 10 seems to come in a great many flavours, but never seems to be on any sort of deal. I'm a bit apprehensive about whether Win10 will work well enough to be worth it, ...but then I'm not sure I can even get Win7 (cheaply and legitimately?) anywhere?

Thanks in advance! :thumb:

TL;DR: Is it worth trying to get a 120/240Gb SSD second hand? ...and any ideas where I can get a cheap legit copy of Windows 7 anymore? :ph34r:

Dilli · January 16, 2017, 01:34:26 PM

Windows 10 Pro license. Best price I have found, we've bought a number of these at work and all is good. Their Microsoft Partner ID checks out fine.

https://www.rad-it.co.uk/products/microsoft-windows-10-pro-professional-1pc

smilodon · January 16, 2017, 01:58:21 PM

I believe W10 actually has a lighter footprint than older versions of Windows and scales quite well on older hardware.

Personally I'd be reluctant to use a second hand SSD. Unless you know the history and that it hasn't been flogged to death, I'd grab a new one. A small SSD for teh OS and apps plus an additional cheap (secondhand) HDD for files etc might be an idea.

suicidal_monkey · January 16, 2017, 05:50:22 PM

Are licenses from places like rad-it above, and (eg) softwaregeeks legit? They seem to get reasonable reviews and suchlike and aren't being closed down but also seem to be a bit too-good-to-be-true.:g:

Itchy · January 16, 2017, 06:03:32 PM

I'd avoid second hand SSD's. When I first wanted to try one out I bought a second hand one on Ebay. It was fine for about six months, and then the rot set in, eventually not booting. You could repair it, and it would run, but sooner or later it would do it again. After five times I bit the bullet and bought new and never looked back. No opinion on w10, only used a few times when looking at troublesome PC's, use W7 64 myself.
Are rad-it and softwaregeeks, because I need a couple of OS's for new builds I'm doing (extended family IT support guy........)

Chaosphere · January 16, 2017, 06:07:39 PM

There are W10 licences on ebay for less than a fiver... I will be testing one soon, so if you can wait a few more days I can let you know how it works for me - but for the cost it is worth a punt.

Itchy · January 16, 2017, 06:11:51 PM

Off topic, but, ooooooh, nice guitar! What is it?

suicidal_monkey · January 16, 2017, 06:15:54 PM

So new SSD then.

Think 120 going to be enough? ... will it fill up with windows update/checkpoint bumph so that I get called (likewise I am also extended family IT support). I do okay myself with 120 but then 240Gb is only another Â£20...

Chaosphere · January 16, 2017, 06:22:40 PM

Quote from: Itchy;421039Off topic, but, ooooooh, nice guitar! What is it?

Its an Agile fanned fret 8 string

Back on topic..

No, get a 240 GB SSD - for the minimal extra cost it is just not worth the hassle of 120gb IMO.

Itchy · January 16, 2017, 06:27:26 PM

I'd go for the 240Gb. I did a build with a 120 SSD/2Tb HDD, with instructions to install programs on the HDD, and keep their files there also. Guess how well that worked out

Itchy · January 16, 2017, 06:28:36 PM

Your Agile, or an object of desire?

Chaosphere · January 16, 2017, 06:35:57 PM

Its mine

suicidal_monkey · January 16, 2017, 06:45:57 PM

Quote from: Itchy;421043Guess how well that worked out

Heh. That's what I fear

So, new 240Gb SSD, and probably worth having a go with rad-it or softwaregeeks. I'm too much of a cynic when it comes to ebay (and "amazon" equivalent):flirty:

Itchy · January 16, 2017, 06:46:46 PM

Awesome! What kind of music do you play on it?

Chaosphere · January 16, 2017, 11:29:42 PM

All sorts really. Started out with lots of heavy rock and metal, lots of djent, prog, and that sort of tech stuff. Now I'll play anything that I enjoy

even a few classical bits and pieces haha