So it seems that my house has been cursed in the last month by a PC killing witch. Either that, or 3 PCs just decided to die all within a month of each other. I'm going with the witch thing. Anyway, I was able to re-use one windows 7 key as it was retail and I had bought a Windows 8 key when MS were doing them cheap. But now I find myself about to build the 3rd PC and wondering where the cheapest place to get a retail Windows key would be. I've checked out the obvious places but I don't fancy paying £150 if I can help it. Of course, I could go OEM but recent experience kinda makes me want to grab a copy that can be transferred if I want to upgrade the mobo/cpu... So, am I missing something? Is there a cheaper way to buy (legally), or do I just have to bite the bullet?
Looks like the retail non-pro version of 8.1 is £99.99 direct from Microsoft. Best price elsewhere I could find from a recognised shop was here: http://www.dabs.com/products/micros...--32-64-bit---english-international-93L0.html (£86.74). Otherwise there is this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microsoft...6-x64-English-DVD-Retail-SEALED-/331169796089 ???
Or sign up to a college course, and use the college email addy to sign up to dreamspark......free is a nice price
Hmm, I might try that. Thanks for the heads up Sparkyboy. As for the college course, I think there comes a point where you might (just) be going too far for a bargain. As for everyone else, thanks for your help and suggestions. Much appreciated.
Well the good news is I seem to have solved my own problem. Walked into Currys this afternoon and managed to pick up THIS PC for £115. Seems I can claim a free copy of Battlefield 4 as well. I would prefer to build my own PC but at that price I couldn't say no. Weird thing is that it seems to have a GT620 card added with the mobo video outputs covered up. Why on earth you'd replace built-in graphics with a discrete card that is worse, I've no idea. Still, hopefully I can remove the card and restore the built-in graphics. Maybe use the Gt620 in a media server.
Just dumb luck. I'm pretty sure it was the display model but at that price who cares? Mind you I still have to get around to hooking it up so I'm not celebrating until I've tested it! Overall it's been a pretty good week. First I got a refurbished MSI GTX 670 OC for £83 then I got a full PC for a silly amount. Of course, it does mean an Easter weekend of tinkering rather than sitting on the sofa watching TV but I'll live.