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I would spend around £700plus vat (bare unit with OS but no screen or other software).
Although that's my choice! Hope it helps!
I've thought about it myself and it always comes down to the maths.
Compare the buying outright vs leasing over 3 yrs. If you buy outright you would want to get at least 3-6 years out of your IT equipment, whereas if you're on a lease, you can renew your equipment after 3yrs and continue to pay your monthly sum, which as you say is deductible.
It comes down to personal preference and whether you want/need to use the latest technology to do your work. Can you use second hand equipment or do you need the most up to date and powerful IT hardware? I personally use a second hand laptop i bought off ebay because it ran Windows XP and was compatible with my old software. I use Autocad 2005 and Adobe Photoshop and this second hand laptop runs just fine for me, but i have an interest in IT so can be a bit more creative than the average joe when it comes to IT.
Good luck choosing!
Buy it in bits and stick it together, it's all color coded inside and really hard to go wrong with. The only think that you need to watch is the static.
£400-500 and your into an Intel i5 processor and enough memory that you will never use. Easily last you 5 years...
The other thing to watch out for is new software and apps that will enable less talented people to do stuff that perhaps once required skill, experience and knowledge. eg. garden design, estimating, networking.
Darren
Not all new software and hardware are improvements on the older versions. Sometimes features change and the design too...just look at the difference between windows xp and windows 8. Even microsoft word got updated and changed the user interface, which i found terrible to use and so i started using Open Office instead - which was free anyway!
Both side of the argument are perfectly valid, it just comes down to your personal circumstances and which suits you best. You might not have the capital to buy outright but on the flip side you might prefer the freedom to choose where you buy your IT from instead of only what PC Smart have to offer.
It really is down to you.