I'd like an inexpensive computer for my neighbor

[ripcord]

NASA had various machines but IBMs 7090 series were the big Iron throughout the Moon years. For a time NASA was considered as having the most computational power in the world and the fastest computer in the world.

Other proprietary machines were used to store digital imagery from Satellites resulting in some moderately recent attempts to recover and restore tons of data tapes.

I saw this article talking about the 7090 series IBM mainframes. Pocket calculator power that only took up a room's worth of space.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/ibm-mainframe

 

[Rmay635703]

I saw this article talking about the 7090 series IBM mainframes. Pocket calculator power that only took up a room's worth of space.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/ibm-mainframe

And 99.999999% of the cpu power is wasted on turning over the OS and security decryption with the remainder actually doing something

 

[Shel_B]

This old thread came up when I was reading another thread. I just felt like posting an update.

The BeeLink computer is working very well. I had a little trouble setting it up because I made a small mistake which complicated the setup. Once I found the error and corrected it, everything was smooth sailing.

I did become a bit of her IT guy, but that was mostly because she screwed up her passwords and some personal information, and asked the local idiot to help her because she didn't want to bother me. Straightened out that business and everything's been quiet since.

Yesterday she told me she needs some speakers, and I have a set here that I'm not using. Hope they work.

I decided to make her a gift of the computer and screen. Overall, including the frustrations and small obstacles, the whole process was a rewarding experience.

And thanks to everyone for their suggestions and comments.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

My neighbor is a 90yo woman with almost no knowledge about computers. Her current machine is an ancient HP that barely runs. I'd like to find a desktop/tower machine that can fit under her desk that offers good wireless accessibility and which will be used almost 100% for online shopping, watching sports and streaming services like Netflix, and, of course, email. I just need the box as I have a really nice, big, Dell screen that I'll give her. She'll need speakers of some sort, probably something like Bluetooth. Sound needn't be high-end, but her hearing is bad, so the sound must be clear and able to have some volume.

She's been happy with the HP brand, and it's comfortable for her. I have a Dell account and can get interest-free financing. That's helpful, but not a requirement.

I've seen some all-in-one machines that look interesting, similar to this in style and features. What are your thoughts on these?

HP All-in-One

Is there something out there that'll last her the rest of her life (remember, she's 90) for about $500.00 or so, maybe less? More than likely I'll be loaning her the $$ if not making her a gift of the machine.

DELL Technologies refurbished Optiplex computers. DELL's commercial machines. Very well built and reliable.