Recommend SIMPLE desktop for mom in law

[97tbird]

Guys, Mom in law needs a new desktop. Her old one (with windows Me on it, died, and it took like 10 min for a page to load anyway; I also want her to get a new one so I can check my email when I visit her LOL)..

anyway, these are her needs:
-already has monitor, so just needs a desktop.
-simple word processing
-e-mail
-VERY basic web browsing.
(afaik, she doesn't do any multi media stuff)
-HD doesn't need to be very big.
-she does have Comcast with MacAffee a/v.
-needs to be cheap, but does simple stuff well.
-preferably bought NOT online .

Is it possible to find anything with XP on it still? or will she have to go with Vista? I know that very few desktops come with enough RAM to run vista. (installing XP is out of the question; she just wants to buy one, and use it as it is).

Are there any special, good deals that you guys know of?
any advice/input is appreciated.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Mac Mini is about as cheap & usable as she needs. $599 for a base config that will serve her well.

NewEgg has a really nice CyberPower PC on sale this weekend for $449:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229055&Tpk=83-229-055

Dunno why it's called a "gamer" PC as the video is the built-in Intel generic video...no one plays 3D games on this video card! But it looks like a really nice computer for what comes in the box! A 3.0GHZ CPU, 4GB RAM, 250GB hard disk, DVD burner, Vista Home Premium. IMO, this is one of the best spec'd cheap PC's I've seen in quite some time!

 

[Audi Junkie]

My $400 Dell is amazing. UNless she has a flatscreen LCD monitor, I'd ditch the CRT and get one. So cheap it's a non-issue and MUCH nicer to work on. Tell her it's cleaner- no dust.

 

[97tbird]

Hey Thanks; will check it out.
I should add that she needs a MS based one, (No Macs)
she's trying to stay around $300 - $350...

what about this one?:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103183

 

[jorton]

My son built me this pc with xp when he was 20. He installed the operating system, and the browser is Mozilla Firefox. Antivirus is AVG free edition, adware is Spybot Search & Destroy. This is a simple system. Previous store bought systems had too many issues and malfunctions.

I recommend a custom pc for your MIL. This technology seems to come second nature for young folks - maybe you already know someone who can build you one.

 

[97tbird]

thanks but she needs it like right now; Just buy and use.
(she's someone who learned only an yr ago that she can cut and paste stuff in word documents, just to give you an idea how simple her needs are)

wonder if this one is any good: (I have to check if she can be persuaded to buy online)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103183

 

[hate2work]

Tbird, the one you posted is an OK system, but Vista is a RAM hog. It needs a full gig by itself just to operate.

The Cyberpower one would be better with it's 4 gb of RAM, plus it has the home premium version rather than the home basic.

But if the cheaper one is upgradeable with more RAM ( some are not, you have to check ) it would work for her.

 

[simple_gifts]

M.I.L=Ubuntu Linux; set it up, train her in 10 minutes, never hear about it again.....

Too much security nonsense in Windows to be recommended for casual users.

http://www.jncs.com

http://www.jncs.com/php/sys/index.php?id=sys-jncs-100ax

My friend set up one for his M.I.L; she loves it.

edit; sorry, saw your addition req'mnts.

 

[Bill in Utah]

I just bought a Dell Vostro 220 with 20" LCD monitor (It will be here tomorrow along the a new Laptop)

from Dell for $499.

Has BOTH XP and Vista.
2 gig of ram
250gig HD
DVD DL burner
media reader
2.0gig Intel duo processor
everything but the speakers and in home 3 year warranty.

My Dad bought close to the same unit last year with a 19" and its been a excellent unit. His first computer @ the age of 73.

Also grabbed a Vostro 1400 Laptop for $350.

Vista
1gig of ram (have 4 gig here for it)
2.0gig duo processor
128gig video card
160 gig hd
9 cell battery
DVD DL burner

That will be my wife's new laptop. I've got the same thing with a faster processor (typing the on it right now) and love the laptop. Her old Dell will become my one of my daughters laptop. Wife needs something a little more portable.

Take care, bill

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
M.I.L=Ubuntu Linux; set it up, train her in 10 minutes, never hear about it again.....



The low end users like your MIL are the ones best suited for a good Linux install such as Ubuntu. I'm tech support for my wife and I know that Ubuntu would be easier to support for her than Windows. One of these days I'm going to convert her laptop to dual boot Windoze/Ubuntu that jumps right into Ubuntu and see how she likes it. Firefox is her main application, so she might not notice a difference

It's the mid range users (most users) that it's a bigger problem for because they are likely to have become attached to applications that won't run on Linux and don't have good enough Linux world substitutes.

The high end users are more likely to be able to make anything run under Linux.

 

[deepsquat]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4173153&Sku=S445-DT0010

try that http://www.tigerdirect.com $209 ..refurbished..everthing she needs +++

 

[rockyrunner99]

x2 on the tiger direct. You can get a refurbished desktop with xp still, and really cheap.

 

[XS650]

Tiger Direct has quite a reputation. Might want to check into that before spending much money there.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

I suggest staying far away from eMachines computers. My neighbor bought two of them about 2 years ago. I got to work on both of them just *after* the warranty was up. They both needed Power Supplies & Motherboards.

He didn't buy eMachines after that. Very low-end parts-bin offerings IMO.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
I suggest staying far away from eMachines computers. My neighbor bought two of them about 2 years ago. I got to work on both of them just *after* the warranty was up. They both needed Power Supplies & Motherboards.

He didn't buy eMachines after that. Very low-end parts-bin offerings IMO.


Hence their price. My motherboard costs more than an E-machine.

 

[97tbird]

Funny. Her desktop which [censored] out WAS an e-Machines !

 

[MONKEYMAN]

Do you have a Office Depot close? They have a two day sale on a Acer Aspire for $229.99 on the first page of their ad:

http://officedepot.shoplocal.com/officed...t.shoplocal.com

I am using an Acer Aspire right now I bought at Office Depot this spring. It has been pretty good. I disabled a lot of features in Vista and the Acer has a some programs I disabled that are resource heavy. Other than that, I am very pleased.

 

[ZZman]

Dell has a great $ 399.00 deal right now that includes a 19" flat panel! However Tigerdirect has good deals on just the CPU.

 

[DragRace]

Funny all this talk / bashing on Emachines here

My custom built gaming computer died about 2 years ago,so I ended up,just to get by,I purchased a Emachines W3118 and have had no hardware problems at all,and now goin on 3-years of use goin into 2009.

In the future,I plan on puchasing / building another custom built computer,for the time being though,not worried one bit about the Emachine that I'm currently using

 

[97tbird]

I'm a bit irritated; Now MIL says (after I've done the research) that someone told her her desktop just had some "glitch" and that it will be ok again...whateva.

Sorry to have bothered you guys , and thanks a lot