Re: OT - Computer Help Please!

jules wrote:

As I said, I'm ignorant when it comes to this stuff. Am I right in thinking
PSU stands for Power Supply Unit? 
>
Yup!
>

And if so, is that the electrical box
thingy at the back top of the case? It's about 5 or 6 years old, so that
very well could be it. And as I said, it is making an odd whirring noise.
>
It always make a slight noise like any fan does, but nothing that should sound unusual. Are the fan blades turning once the power button has been pressed?
> 
Ah...forgot to mention the huge amount of dust inside - yes, I let it go for
about 6 months without hoovering/air dusting it out (naughty jules!). I
wanted to get in there and open up the PSU to give it a good clean but it
looked riveted together and to the case.
>
You never open a PSU. If it fails, then it has to be replaced, but it's not expensive. Dust is a computer's worst enemy. Can cause overheating of the processor, which will fail if overheating too often. That is expensive. 6 months is not a long period to remove dust. You shouldn't be accumulating that much dust in that time. 

I'm leaning more towards a new computer now as my parents have offered to
buy me one for my birthday (shock!). Having used my husband's Dell Latitude
notebook for the past few days, I find I'm quite enjoying it. It's nice and
quiet, small and tidy, very speedy. I'm thinking of converting to laptopdom
now. Still really want to get my life off that hard disc, though.

So what, in everyone's opinion, are the advantages and disadvantages of a
laptop vs desktop? As I said before, I don't do gaming or DVD's or anything
like that. Just mainly eBay, writing, emails, photos etc...

Quite briefly: laps look nicer, take up far less space, you can use them away from home or while on the move, and some twats think they're some kind of fashion accessory.
On the other hand, laps are less durable than desktops; more prone to accidents, like being dropped; they are easily stolen, and often are; they are difficult and costly to repair, which means they are more often than not thrown away when something goes wrong.
> 
Any ideas? Opinions on Dell? I really don't know where to start and feel
rather out of my depth. I want to make a solid and informed decision but
don't know where to start.

As long as you do not have technical problems, then Dell is fine. Once your warranty expires and you develop problems and need technical help, you might as well get blood out of a stone when it comes to seeking help from Dell. Same goes for Compaq/HP really. I would not personally buy a Dell computer or come to that, any one made by the big brand manufacturers.

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