Attempt at "cheapest viable Facebook / browser build".

[cbn]

Yeah, I know that the PSU is overkill for the rest of the parts, but I don't want to risk the liability of going with a lesser-quality PSU. It seems that every PSU significantly below $40 or so, is basically crap..

I think that is a wise decision, but I only wish you had more confidence to do rebates.....at least for Power supplies. (re: I am 25 for 25 on computer hardware rebates myself.....25 rebates approved and just waiting on the last rebate I filed to come in the mail)

 

[mikeymikec]

VL. Windows licences for $20. You're not falling for that are you?

 

[Torn Mind]

Refurb Pre-builts are better.

Such as Arrowdirect. Win 10 key is included, although SSDs are not and you will have to clone. A complete Sandy Bridge i3 is about 144 there. I haven't checked Dell outlet yet.

 

[Yuriman]

The only part I'm highly skeptical about is the 16GB OS drive. My Windows folder is 43GB.

 

[whm1974]

The only part I'm highly skeptical about is the 16GB OS drive. My Windows folder is 43GB.

Yeah even my Linux / partition is 26 GB out 58. Even Linux will balloon in needing more storage once the end user starts adding more applications.

 

[Torn Mind]

Another thing that just came to mind regarding Facebooking is that flexibility on WHERE you can facebook--however insecurely it might be, it is not me doing it, such as using WiFi in a restaurant. Here, the LAPTOP is superior, although finding one with a really nice screen is a bit harder. For example, Dells come with crappy ones on their Latitudes, generally speaking.

-------
Microsoft's official specs has 32-bit Win10 need 16 GB of space and 64-bit Win10 needing 20 GB. Given that the actual GBs is less due to filesystem and how bytes are counted, there will be no room for anything else after that(including the many Windows Updates), and that is a no go for a Windows box.
----------

An A4 Llano and SSD will work, sure. But space for Windows or even Linux requires more than a 16GB SSD.

----------------
I say steer them to a CHROMEBOOK, bro.

Basically, if they want Windows, get a off lease desktop. If they just want to browse in a mobile package with something new, Chromebook.

 

[Yuriman]

2 years ago I picked up a Chromebook with a Haswell Celeron for ~$125, and it has been an amazing web browsing machine.

 

[freeskier93]

For Nothing but Facebook and browser?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01C...spberry+pi&dpPl=1&dpID=61LxoDAa3PL&ref=plSrch

Or a Chromebook as suggested above.

 

[whm1974]

Something like this should be more suitable:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834266058
Yes I know it cost more. But...

 

[cbn]

For a relatively unattended computer (at a food pantry, etc.) I would consider going with Ubuntu and then under the "updates" tab of "Software and updates" choose the "download and install automatically" option for "When there are security updates".

Then for the question "When there are other updates" (also under the updates tab of Software and updates) maybe select the "Display every two weeks" or "Display every week" then have someone occasionally type in the password to make that part of the update happen.

 

[VirtualLarry]

For a relatively unattended computer (at a food pantry, etc.)

To clarify, I'm not talking about setting up the PC(s) AT the food pantry. No, that would interfere with their efficiency with distributing food while it is open, if their clients were browsing facebook or something.

I was going to donate the computers TO the food pantry, such that the food pantry could then distribute the PCs TO the clients of the food pantry. Possibly have them put their names in a hat for one of them, and then draw a few names sometime before Christmas, and arrange to give them away then.

I do have a few monitors, or they could hook them up to a flat-screen (mobo has HDMI and VGA), I could include an HDMI cable.

Could also include keyboard + mouse, I have both wired and wireless, picked up a few Logitech over the last year, to sell with my rigs. (Haven't sold too many rigs lately, though I have some on CL.)

 

[cbn]

To clarify, I'm not talking about setting up the PC(s) AT the food pantry. No, that would interfere with their efficiency with distributing food while it is open, if their clients were browsing facebook or something.

I was going to donate the computers TO the food pantry, such that the food pantry could then distribute the PCs TO the clients of the food pantry. Possibly have them put their names in a hat for one of them, and then draw a few names sometime before Christmas, and arrange to give them away then.

I do have a few monitors, or they could hook them up to a flat-screen (mobo has HDMI and VGA), I could include an HDMI cable.

Could also include keyboard + mouse, I have both wired and wireless, picked up a few Logitech over the last year, to sell with my rigs. (Haven't sold too many rigs lately, though I have some on CL.)

OK, I see your point now.

I was thinking of some places I volunteered in the past, where the non-profit would serve meals to the clients and they would eat at a table. During this time and they had time to eat, talk, go to the restroom, etc......and I was trying to imagine some Kiosk type computers they could use for checking email at this time as well.

 

[Torn Mind]

I somehow doubt even the poor in dollars might suddenly expand their horizons and want to use their.box for something "more". Building an audio collection, League of Legends. Torrenting of any kind, typically of the illegal variety. Tax software. Porn.

And here is where waltchan logics fails. Because refurb prebuilts are better spec wise, you can clone the HDD and keep it in case the SSD dies, and the Windows key is legit for the same 200 dollars.

Also, ECS, while I grant that many of their boards will last--I used a P4 one that worked fine, still managed to build a poor reputation and perhaps might be more prone to unlucky failures.

You can get an HP 8300,with a 3570 for about 150 on Ebay.

 

[whm1974]

I'm agreeing with Torn Mind on refurb prebuilts. Or you could check techbargins.com for coupon codes to get quite a bit off. I even seen a Dell haswell i5 box for $200 once.

 

[LTC8K6]

Refurbs seem to be better deals. Lots of choices at Newegg.

 

[Insomniator]

The crap you are buying isn't even worth donating. Its all a huge waste of time... find refurb pre-builts if you want help people...

 

[Torn Mind]

Also, just another thought came to my mind.

Ipad 2s are available for $200 or less. Maybe the storage is wimpy and the interface a tad laggy. But hey, this desktop doesn't come with any monitor whatsoever.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The crap you are buying isn't even worth donating. Its all a huge waste of time... find refurb pre-builts if you want help people...

I don't see it that way. They are basically as good as a Core2 rig, WITH an SSD (rather than a HDD, in a refurb pre-built), and have better media-decoding (1080P H264, at least) than an equivalent-era or equivalent-priced Core2 rig. I would even go so far as to say they have a better iGPU than a Sandy Bridge pre-built. (I ran a SB Pentium for a while, the iGPU sucked.)

For most things, it's indistinguishable from a Haswell Celeron rig, except if you run some CPU-only benchmarks, it's a little slower. At least in Win10. (These boards seem to fully support Win10.)

 

[Torn Mind]

Yes, the systems are not garbage. Compared to a Core 2, I would take one over a Core 2 because of graphics can play modern video that even the lightest user expects to be played without hassle. However, as long as dellrefurbished.com and Arrowdirect exists, it is a suboptimal choice compared to their lowest cost i3 selections.

i3s are your main competition at the 185 dollar price point. Refurbs have legal Windows included in that price, and those at dellrefurbished.com have Office Starter as well. Windows 10 is about 100 bucks, and a 64 GB SSD can vary between 20-40 dollars, negating the price advantage of the system. 16 or 32 GBs of storage was not enough even in the days of Pentium 4.

I also would take a modern Dell mobo over an ECS board any day, even if ECS has improved from their past.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I took a look at dellrefurbished, nothing there impresses me.

Sandy i3 PCs, with 2GB RAM / 250GB HDD, for $184
Ivy i3 PCs, with 4GB RAM / 250GB HDD, for $318
Haswell i3 PCs, with 4GB RAM / 500GB HDD, for $424

And, arguably, the SB i3 would have worse graphics than what I plan on putting together, half the RAM, and no SSD... the only advantage is an included legal copy of Win7 (32-bit) in that price. But if I use Linux, and I'm leaning that way, then that's no advantage.

Plus, unless the Dell that you got was the tower model, they have far worse serviceability. You can't just use a standard off-the-shelf ATX part, you have to go hunt up Dell refurb parts on ebay.

Edit: I should say, that those prices on DellRefurbished are pretty bad. Newegg, the last few days, has had an HP 8200 and 8300 PC, with an Ivy and Sandy i5 quad-core, for variously $135 and $185, and I still have a Haswell i3 with 4GB DDR3 / 500GB HDD, an Acer, that I bought off of Acer's official store on ebay, for $235, refurb. (Looks brand new.)

 

[whm1974]

All I can see is check www.techbargains.com and and similar sites for coupon codes. AS I said in an earlier post, I've seen decent systems go for low prices using them.

 

[XavierMace]

For most things, it's indistinguishable from a Haswell Celeron rig, except if you run some CPU-only benchmarks, it's a little slower. At least in Win10. (These boards seem to fully support Win10.)

You keep telling yourself that.

 

[Torn Mind]

I took a look at dellrefurbished, nothing there impresses me.

Sandy i3 PCs, with 2GB RAM / 250GB HDD, for $184
Ivy i3 PCs, with 4GB RAM / 250GB HDD, for $318
Haswell i3 PCs, with 4GB RAM / 500GB HDD, for $424

And, arguably, the SB i3 would have worse graphics than what I plan on putting together, half the RAM, and no SSD... the only advantage is an included legal copy of Win7 (32-bit) in that price. But if I use Linux, and I'm leaning that way, then that's no advantage.

Plus, unless the Dell that you got was the tower model, they have far worse serviceability. You can't just use a standard off-the-shelf ATX part, you have to go hunt up Dell refurb parts on ebay.

Edit: I should say, that those prices on DellRefurbished are pretty bad. Newegg, the last few days, has had an HP 8200 and 8300 PC, with an Ivy and Sandy i5 quad-core, for variously $135 and $185, and I still have a Haswell i3 with 4GB DDR3 / 500GB HDD, an Acer, that I bought off of Acer's official store on ebay, for $235, refurb. (Looks brand new.)

Intel HD 4000 graphics is comparable to what is in the AMD A4 chip has, using videocardbenchmark.net as a guideline.

You pretty much have to use Linux because a legit Windows license is either $100 or you have to use Win8 for maybe $50 savings. Now, imo, Linux is either used in the simplest manner possible, as in point-click-use, like Android managed to implement, or for nerds who know it in and out. There is NO inbetween.

Two mini-tower are available for $184. Copy and paste the link because clicking on it redirects it to Dell's main site.
https://www.dellrefurbished.com/des...lter_memory=83&filter_processor_brand=353,352

Mini-towers are more expensive than their SFF counterparts, but some do match the pricing of their sff and small desktop counterparts. .

Indeed, the HP units are better spec'd CPU-wise, but that just means they're even better than the Dells vs Llano A4+ECS board+tablet level storage.

Oh, and the Dells include mice and keyboard. That's another $5-$10 saved.

Standard warranty is 100 days. If something breaks that is due to defects, you have something instead of nothing.

64 GBs of storage space is cramped even for tablet users.

Benches between i3 2100 vs A6-3650. The A6 has more cores but can't even win the multithread benches.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/289?vs=403

i3-2100 vs a8-3850
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/289?vs=399

Chop the A8's benchmark in half and that is pretty the approximate benching ability of the A4. If some poor soul wants to use Movie Maker on his meager home video camera, the SSD might provide speed in file loading and transfer, but the encoding will be a win for the i3, hands down.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You keep telling yourself that.

Let me ask, have you ever compared an FM1 A4-3420 2.8Ghz dual-core, versus a Haswell G1820 Celeron 2.7Ghz?

Their graphics is comparable, and the Haswell probably has maybe 30% CPU advantage.

If you remember, LLano has a tweaked IPC over Athlon II / Phenom II, and Athlon II / Phenom II IPC was comparable to Core2, at least in games. (Core2 overclocked higher, though.)

So, if LLano is Athlon II + 7% IPC jump, which is equivalent to Core2 + 7%, then Haswell is definitely faster, but not hugely so. Not quite 50% or higher faster.

OK, maybe my personal comparison was skewed a little bit. I had my A4-3420 overclocked to 3.15Ghz most of the time, and as you know, the Haswell Celeron G1820 does not OC at all, so it's stuck at 2.7Ghz.

I'm talking primarily in the web-browsing dept. here, not gaming performance. With an SSD, and adequate RAM.

Anyways, Haswell IS faster, but it's not like it's a night-and-day difference here.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Intel HD 4000 graphics is comparable to what is in the AMD A4 chip has, using videocardbenchmark.net as a guideline.

That was my understanding, too. That the Haswell iGPU and the AMD FM1 iGPU were of similar performance.

Now, imo, Linux is either used in the simplest manner possible, as in point-click-use, like Android managed to implement, or for nerds who know it in and out. There is NO inbetween.

I'm not sure why you feel that way about Linux. Linux Mint is mostly usable about like Windows 7.
Surely, the user will be able to figure out how to launch Firefox, and possibly even how to update regularly.

Standard warranty is 100 days. If something breaks that is due to defects, you have something instead of nothing.

I can offer a warranty. Since it's free, though, I think something like 30 days is more appropriate.

Benches between i3 2100 vs A6-3650. The A6 has more cores but can't even win the multithread benches.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/289?vs=403

i3-2100 vs a8-3850
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/289?vs=399

Chop the A8's benchmark in half and that is pretty the approximate benching ability of the A4. If some poor soul wants to use Movie Maker on his meager home video camera, the SSD might provide speed in file loading and transfer, but the encoding will be a win for the i3, hands down.

Ok, so now we've moved the goalposts from a web-browsing / Facebook-level machine, to video-editing, in order to justify an i3? LOL. The A4-3420 web-browses just fine, a friend of mine deployed one for his GF just recently. (Edit: Ok, technically, he deployed an A4-3300, which is mostly the same APU, just running at 2.5Ghz instead of 2.8Ghz.)

Anyways, the SSDs in question that I ordered, benchmark REALLY slowly in write speed, but that might be because they are 90% full. (I had to reduce the test size, because the free space left on the drive after Win10 64-bit 1607 was installed, wasn't enough to run the default test size in CDM.)

Edit: Ok, maybe I'm behind the times, and more people edit video these days than they used to. (YouTube, Facebook, Cell Phone, etc.)

I remember editing video (after capturing it) @ NTSC analog rates, on a 1.4Ghz Athlon XP CPU. (That's back when you had to own a capture card, to do anything with video.)

Surely, a decent dual-core could handle 1080P video.

Edit: But if we're speccing a video-editing machine, AMD FX CPUs are tops there. Forget a sub-standard i3 CPU, you should go with an FX-6300, 6350, 8300, 8320e, etc.