Mom’s computer crapped out and it isn’t worth repairing. All she does with it is surf the web once in a while and email stuff. The ability to play (NOT make) CD’s and DVD’s would be nice.
Just need a Windows based OS and a CPU box (desktop). I figure 512M of memory should be just fine. Already have a monitor, printer and speakers.
I could put one together, but I am not savvy enough to pick the parts out (I had help rebuilding mine).
Looking at the sub $500 price point.
Any suggestions? I have looked around a bit online- just looking for some feedback on what to stay away from or maybe there is a screaming deal out there that is worth mentioning.
Replies
look at http://www.buy.com. they have some good deals but I'm not sure about the <$500 part.
Wound up getting wife a refurbed dell laptop last year for around 450 been a great little computer
check out the dell site for refurbs , more computer than she is likely to ever need
Our local Wally World had a sale ad in the Sunday paper touting a Toshiba notebook computer for $398. Don't know any details but Toshiba is pretty good and the price is right.
Mine runs on 98SE (for now) and has 256M of ram. It runs fine and unless she's going to run on Vista (which would be overkill for someone who surfs the web and reads CDs, you should be able to find something pretty reasonable. Dell has one for less than $500 and it's a whole system.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Edited 11/7/2006 8:43 pm by highfigh
For the best deals in computers- go to Slickdeals.net, under forums, go to hot deals. A lot of computer stuff comes up there.
Right now the Dell E521 series looks like a good buy, though not a screaming deal. You can get a nicely set up computer with 17" lcd screen for around $430. For laptops, I think there's the walmart deal someone else mentioned, as well as an Office Depot laptop for around the same price (400).
Or, there's always craigslist, for a used computer. There are good deals if you know what you're looking for and how much computers cost right now. If you don't you can get taken very easily- computers are always getting better and cheaper.
zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"
Office Depot, Office Max, Best Buy (as mentioned before) has been running Compaq systems with printer for under $400. They sometimes have E-machines deals like that too. Some of them are rebate intensive and you have to wait for money back but some of the recent ones were "instant savings". Either would take care of that.
I am supposed to get one for a neighbor/customer if I can not get her old beast to work with her printer. It is running windows 95, is that a clue. Oh yeah it does not have usb port either. I cannot get the driver to work for her canon bjc-250.
Get a Mac mini. No viruses and really easy to use.
What's the $ on Mac Mini? Do you still have to buy them at the Mac kool-aid store? (;-)
Edit:Just looked, $539 with no monitor, keybd, or mouse. But you can use your old one. No thanks. I guess I have too much baggage from former employer/best friend who expected us to run his multi mil co with a pre 386 PC while he bought $10k worth of Mac stuff to play with at home, but it was his $.
They are a whole lot different animal and pretty cool though. Still think for the $385 I saw last weekend she could have a machine that would do what he said he wanted for her with a throw away printer.
Edited 11/8/2006 12:27 am ET by rasconc
One thing about Vista is that it's a memory hog and if basic programs are being run, Vista and dual-core processors are NOT needed. For a simple system, just keeping the OS current and a decent amount of RAM is fine. I'm going to change to XP soon because I can get the software free (I'm taking an IT networking class at the local tech college) and with a 500MHz processor (PIII), 256 M of RAM will work fine unless I'm trying to run too many programs or applications at one time. If an older computer is bought and it has an older OS, it may be possible to upgrade and knowing a college student wouldn't hurt since they get software discounts.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Thanks for all the info.
What is a Mac kool-aid store?
Wait until the Friday after Thanksgiving and line up at Staples. Shorter line ups than Best Buy. They will have a limited number of specials, but they will be well worth it. We bought two fairly powerful $900 HPs last year for the kids at about $400 each.
Dirt cheap, full warranty, and a chance to make new friends at 5 AM. What's not to like ?
Gavin Pitchford
"Sail fast - live slow" (build even slower)
Back in the day you could basically only get them from an Apple franchisee. Since it was so cultish I was doing the old cult- poison Kool-aid poor taste joke/metaphor.
You'll be able to get a quite decent desktop computer complete this Christmas season for under $500 and maybe under $400.
I do not include E-Machines as decent myself but one is already selling for $398 at Wal Mart.
Wal Mart states (from the Sunday business section of the local paper) that they will strongly compete using price this holiday season.
The way I look at it, if you've been running an older computer (>5 years), you'll be ahead even with the least expensive new machines.
Good Hunting...
If you are willing to go the used route, try
http://www.pcretro.com/webstore/catalog/default-nopopup.php
Even though the user may not tax the machine, the operating system does. Be sure to keep in mind the OS requirements, particularly if you think it might get upgraded to Vista. Be sure that you can install enough memory (at least 1 GB) and that there is at least a DVD reader.
Yet another resource to confuse you. Not all have operating systems, but deals can be had.
http://stores.ebay.com/Dell-Financial-Services_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm
Here's a good deal on XP Pro, and their service is unbeatable.
http://www.viosoftware.com/Windows+XP+Professional/Windows+XP+Professional+with+SP2+CD+Only.html
PJ
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Are there any used or surplus computer stores near you? There are several here in San Jose and I've heard that there are some good deals in those places.
See if you have a local repair shop - not a Compusa type store, but a mom and pop type shop. The normally have rebuilt units for sale. I recently bought a Dell with 98SE, 512K ram, CD rom for less than $200 for a similar purpose. Your old computer may be of interest to them as well.
"Let's go to Memphis in the meantime, baby" - John Hiatt.
http://grantlogan.net/
I think you can probably buy a complete system for cheaper than you can build one. Less hassle too and it comes with a warranty and at lease some legal software.
Don't get her a notebook/laptop unless she really wants/need it. The ergonomics of the keyboard, pointing device and monitor viewing take a lot of getting used to. I have been using a laptop for 2 or 3 years for work, but if I have some serious typing, spread sheets, cad, etc to do, I still do most of the work on my home system which is a regular unit with a regular keyboard and a decent flat screen monitor. Sure, you can buy all the auxililiary devices for the laptop, but that gets pricey. I use the laptop for small stuff, like E-mails, and for editing and dialing in the big projects I do on my home system.
Now all I need is internet access from my jobsite trailer. One of the neighbors has a wireless network, but it is secured so I just gotta figure out which one it is and see if I can buddy up... :-)
BTW anyone know anything about those combo printer/FAX/scanners/copiers? I want cheap, somewhat portable, with decent performance.
My wife and I have had the HP 6110 four function machine for about three years and it seems to be holding up just fine. She works in real estate so the fax function gets lots of use.
My daughter recently got a Dell system with one of their printer/fax/scanner/copiers. She hasn't had it for very long, but she hasn't complained about it.
>> BTW anyone know anything about those combo printer/FAX/scanners/
>> copiers? I want cheap, somewhat portable, with decent performance.Don't know a lot about them, but have an HP combo that's a piece of junk, and had a Brother (the brand, not the relative ;) that was also junk. I've heard that Canon make the best multi-function printers. I think as long as you aren't expecting to much in terms of print performance (slow, mediocre color) then you're probably going to be OK. Fax and Copy functions are the best of the 4 in these things, mainly because they don't really need much in the way of performance (except the slow printing speed will affect these as well).
I don't know if I can do fax, but I've got a canon scanner/printer/copier that works well. It uses more ink than my previous cannon printer, but the ink tanks are easy to fill. It's a pixma mp150, it came free with a $400 laptop.zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"
I bought a H-P 4215 at Best Buy and it's working great- much better than my Epson did. It also folds up nice and small. Uses the UB port instead of a dedicated printer port. Good resolution, fast enough and a lot quieter than the Epson, too. Less than $100. HP also makes flat-bed models- mine is the paper feed type."I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Edited 11/8/2006 10:42 am by highfigh
I just picked up a new Compaq notebook form BestBuy for $499.
1.6gh processor w/ 1mb L2 cache w/ windows XP and an availlabe OS upgrade when it comes out next year
15.4" screen, 512mb ram, 80 gig hd 24xdvd-rom/cdrw combo drive, built in wireless(that I using somebody's elses connection somewhere on my street since we don't yet have internet at the new house. They have it on 24/7)
I did have to buy a wireles opticle mouse w/ scroll for $29. The notebook didn't come come with a case
First check out Best Buy and your other local outlets for their cheapest box. Often there's something available in the $500 range, and it's really not worth the effort to try to cobble something together for less. Then of course check on-line, especially the Dell, HP, IBM/Lenovo, et al refurb sites.
Also note that often there's a local organization that recycles old computers for seniors. Check with the local senior citizens center or whatever.
hcditrading.com
they sell refurb dells for next to nothing! (cpus from $100-200) cosmetically they have some scratches, etc, but i've bought well over a dozen for work, and love them (i'm a network admin, so i kinda know this stuff)
-mike.
I bought a new home computer a few months ago at Office Depot. It's a gateway, I can't remember the exact specs on it, somewhere around 2.2 Gig, 100 gig hard-drive 512 ram I upgraded to 1 gig, out the door, the computer only no monitor was around $450.00.
For what I use it for at home I didn't need the latest and greatest, so in short, check out Office Depot, Best Buy etc. If you can wait until after Thanksgiving there should be some pretty decent sales going.
I bought a new E-machines (which are now made by Gateway, so it's really a Gateway) for $50 on sale at BestBuy a few months ago. 2.9 GHz Celeron, 160 GB drive, CDwriter/DVDreader, 512M RAM.
The deals are out there, you just have to watch for them. BB will have a pretty good computer for $150 on the day after Thanksgiving, including an LCD display.
the computer only no monitor was around $450.00.
LoL!
I bumped into my local guy to price up a new CPU only for my home desktop. Mine priced out about $400-450, too, excepting for the $800 video card <sigh> . . . (I do need latest & greatest at home, but that video card is $2300* . . . )
*In case you are curious about a video card costing more than some of y'alls' first two cars, a body does get a lot for the price--separate power supply, huge box fan, metal "low boy" drop chassis, card caches bigger than some machine's total ram, that sort of thing. Just not for the timid or impoverished.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
you must like watching some pretty high def porn to spend that kind of scratch on a video card
Edited 11/8/2006 4:54 pm ET by CAGIV
must like watching
LoL!
Nope, it's the multi-level editing that's eating up capacity <g>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&lob=DIM&MODEL_DESC=Dimension%201100/B110&s=dfh
Dell desktop, refurb, windows XP, 80 GB hard drive, 256 ram,
with DVD, price $219.00
Richard P. Feynman
Picked up a bare bones Dell Dimension E521 for $370 with free shipping. It works just fine.
The Windows software wasn't "current" according to Windows Update, and there were 50MB of stuff to download.... Yikes. I probably could have spent some time and weeded through the list, but it was easier to take it to my DSL hookup and get all of it. That is the only complaint.