JUST get an external drive to house all that..........."cough"

If you have space, get a desktop. I've found them to be cheaper (for similar spec machines) and more reliable.

That's why I said Macbook, 'cos people don't usually buy a laptop if they "all about the gaming".

Also if you buy a desktop pc you have the benefit knowing that you can keep upgrading it rather than replacing the whole thing. Laptop upgrades are very limited, usually to memory/hard drive and a change of cd/dvd

Once your CPU/Graphics are dated your stuck with them.

Check places like ebuyer.com scan.co.uk as well as plenty of others. Do not get sucked into buying a named brand \IE Dell, HP, Packard Bell etc although you can sometimes get a good deal more often then not you are paying for stuff you do not need.
. Also get a rough idea of what you are after and check at your local computer stores as well for competitive prices.

definately a buyers market, even in PCWorld, if the OP states a budget then it will be easier, a lot of people buy more memory than the OS can actually use, unless you buy a 64 bit OS then anything above 3.2GB is pointless.

As stated, for real gaming I'd buy a £300 console and then sign up for a mobile broadband laptop (effectively getting a laptop for nowt), unless a real multi-function PC is needed.

Only do this if you have another internet connection as your main connection, or if you want really slow, unreliable web access.

the trick is to get a mobile broadband laptop, for £20 a month, and then connect it to your home broadband, they offer good kit, but you are right that the mobile broadband is garbage.

If your going to that though Standee, much better to get the free console with the phone. Plenty of cheapo laptops about nowadays that will function just fine as an online surfing machine and simple basic usage.

Bigpockets and many more are offering some cracking deals on used laptops with wifi that will do just that job.

I agree it is a buyers market, just make sure you get plenty of quotes and drive a hard bargain with them because at the end of the day they need your custom more than you need them.

PS If you do buy a gaming console take out the extended warranty because they are all made with lead free solder nowadays and that causes malfunctions due to excessive heat. (RROD & YLOD are examples of this)

so you end up paying £500 when you could probably get the same spec machine for about £300

I would recommend going to town with the sales of goods act. The place you purchased the machine are legally obliged to repair / replace electrical goods providing they have been used for non commercial reasons and are within "a reasonable length of life"
An LCD TV for example has a manufacturer reasonable length of life as 6 years.

Admittedly this will be a hassle, but is your legal consumer right

maybe they've improved then, my last one was an Acer (bought it about 4-5years ago) and its cooling system was so poor it'd practically be on fire after about 10mins use!

Standees advice is on the nail really. Expense wise. Get a console for games. Mainly because of no need for upgrades etc...
Then any medium spec lappy should be good for the net.
If the budgets a problem. try Gamestation etc...for the console, good quality second hand ones with a guarentee.

I still use an Acer that was bought about 4 years ago and it has that problem as well, I keep on telling myself I'll buy a new one eventually but never get round to it! It's burning a hole in my desk as I type...

My one and only Acer laptop had exactly the same problem. Constantly going back to them to have the heatsink repaired as it got so hot all the thermal paste burned off and the thing kept cutting out.

Currently using a Dell that I've had 3-4 years and I must admit it's been rock solid.

I bought a dell for the first time.A dell 17 with windows 7 and got to admit it's bloody great.