Cheapest Computer

[mechBgon]

Oh, and how about a 40GB Seagate ATA/100 drive? Not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but quiet fluid bearings and 5-year warranty.

For an optical drive, Lite-On combo drive?

If you order any hardware from MWave.com then you might also want to score the Microsoft Works Suite 2004 DVD edition for $39, that gets her full-version MS Word 2002, Encarta 2004 Standard encyclopedia and some other dodads.

 

[TwoBills]

Harddrives can be had for .40 - .50 per gig. Grab a Seagate that's on sale. edit: What mechBgon said re: 40g.
If Granny's never used a computer before, why not load a Fedora Core 1 os in there. She'll never know the difference.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: TwoBills
If Granny's never used a computer before, why not load a Fedora Core 1 os in there. She'll never know the difference.

I was gonna recommend Mandrake myself...

 

[Frew]

Ive never even used Linux before. So I couldn't show her the ropes very easy.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: LeadFrog

Originally posted by: mechBgon
FYI, Win2000 Professional has longer support at Windows Update than WindowsXP Home Edition does, and WinXP Professional is the longest of all (ending Dec 31 2008). I can also vouch for Win2000Pro doing pretty well on 192MB of RAM, so a single 256MB module would be pretty good.

Whatever you do, set up Gramma with a Limited user account so that if she gets bamboozled into trying to install a piece of software that she shouldn't, it will be thwarted. Those advertisements purporting that :QOMGYOURCOMPUTERMIGHTHAVEPR0NONIT!!!1!!1one! or so forth, you know what I mean. I also made a list of other preventive measures here under the Ongoing prevention header halfway down.

Windows 2000 is more expensive isn't it?

Yea, I will be sure to inform her on the "evil dooers."

Win2000Pro is more expensive than XP Home, and about equal to XP Pro. For the record, support expiration at Windows Update:

WinXP Home: Dec 31 2006
Win2000Pro: June 31 2007
WinXP Pro: Dec 31 2008

Win2000Pro has extended self-support resources through 2010 and WinXP Pro goes a year beyond that. WinXP Home has no extended support because it isn't a business OS. I use WinXP Pro for my mom & dad's riggie and my sisters' rigs too, since I know they'll keep them a long time. There's worse ways to blow $50

 

[Frew]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: LeadFrog

Originally posted by: mechBgon
FYI, Win2000 Professional has longer support at Windows Update than WindowsXP Home Edition does, and WinXP Professional is the longest of all (ending Dec 31 2008). I can also vouch for Win2000Pro doing pretty well on 192MB of RAM, so a single 256MB module would be pretty good.

Whatever you do, set up Gramma with a Limited user account so that if she gets bamboozled into trying to install a piece of software that she shouldn't, it will be thwarted. Those advertisements purporting that :QOMGYOURCOMPUTERMIGHTHAVEPR0NONIT!!!1!!1one! or so forth, you know what I mean. I also made a list of other preventive measures here under the Ongoing prevention header halfway down.

Windows 2000 is more expensive isn't it?

Yea, I will be sure to inform her on the "evil dooers."

Win2000Pro is more expensive than XP Home, and about equal to XP Pro. For the record, support expiration at Windows Update:

WinXP Home: Dec 31 2006
Win2000Pro: June 31 2007
WinXP Pro: Dec 31 2008

Win2000Pro has extended self-support resources through 2010 and WinXP Pro goes a year beyond that. WinXP Home has no extended support because it isn't a business OS. I use WinXP Pro for my mom & dad's riggie and my sisters' rigs too, since I know they'll keep them a long time. There's worse ways to blow $50

Why would she need support past 2006?

 

[mechBgon]

Why would she need support past 2006?

Do you expect her to pass away before then, or something? Just the obvious reason, my friend... the virus/trojan/worm writers aren't likely to stop writing viruses, trojans and worms for WinXP promptly at the end of 2006

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: LeadFrog
My grandma wants a computer. She will only do email, solitare, and news on the internet. I was thinking somthing with onboard lan, video, sound and basicaly as much as will fit. Processor I am going to say AMD because of price. I want to keep this as cheap as possible. ANY advide will be appreciated.
So far I got this...

AMD XP 2000+
Biostar M7NCG
256mb Corsair Value
ANTEC Solution Series
Seagate 40gb

So far, total is $64 CPU + $68 Mobo + $42 RAM + $68 Case + $55.50 Hard drive = $292.50.

You still need Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, OS, Optical Drive, Floppy Drive (?), Virus Scanner, etc. As much as I hate Dell, it is hard to beat their price for a computer that will be used like this. On top of that, they come with technical support so your grandma can call them instead of you.

 

[Frew]

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser

Originally posted by: LeadFrog
My grandma wants a computer. She will only do email, solitare, and news on the internet. I was thinking somthing with onboard lan, video, sound and basicaly as much as will fit. Processor I am going to say AMD because of price. I want to keep this as cheap as possible. ANY advide will be appreciated.
So far I got this...

AMD XP 2000+
Biostar M7NCG
256mb Corsair Value
ANTEC Solution Series
Seagate 40gb

So far, total is $64 CPU + $68 Mobo + $42 RAM + $68 Case + $55.50 Hard drive = $292.50.

You still need Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, OS, Optical Drive, Floppy Drive (?), Virus Scanner, etc. As much as I hate Dell, it is hard to beat their price for a computer that will be used like this. On top of that, they come with technical support so your grandma can call them instead of you.

I have a keyboard, monitor, and virus scanner already.

Mouse. Nothing special will due.
OS. Thinking about using the windows 98se I got.
Optical drive. I can pick up a 40x or 52x CD-ROM.
Floppy. No need ( if needed I have an external one to use).

 

[Frew]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Why would she need support past 2006?

Do you expect her to pass away before then, or something? Just the obvious reason, my friend... the virus/trojan/worm writers aren't likely to stop writing viruses, trojans and worms for WinXP promptly at the end of 2006

No! She will live forever :heart:

 

[gokuhama]

Originally posted by: LeadFrog

Originally posted by: dc5
ANTEC Solution Series

Nice, But what to do about cooling it. Doesn't come with fans.

Are case fans really necessary? She's not going to be gaming on it or anything. I think that a good cpu fan is all that is really necessary. I actually used this case a month ago to build a computer for my parents. Total price was $300.

 

[Frew]

Originally posted by: gokuhama

Originally posted by: LeadFrog

Originally posted by: dc5
ANTEC Solution Series

Nice, But what to do about cooling it. Doesn't come with fans.

Are case fans really necessary? She's not going to be gaming on it or anything. I think that a good cpu fan is all that is really necessary. I actually used this case a month ago to build a computer for my parents. Total price was $300.

could you give me the specs?

 

[gokuhama]

Actually, OfficeDepot currently has a Maxtor 2mb buffer 60GB hard drive for $45 - 25 rebates = $20.

 

[Jeff7]

Just be aware though - the M7NCG has some memory compatibility issues. I couldn't get it to work with GeIL Golden Dragon Value, but it did work with a stick of Buffalo RAM.
Users at Newegg report:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitely picky about the RAM. Paired it with 2 PC-3200 256MB sticks of Crucial Value RAM and the system was unstable.
Took out the Crucial and put in some Elixer RAM and it works beautifully.


Great mobo, stable as a rock, good features, even though I could NOT use the onboard video with KingMax PC-3200 ram


Hates some RAM types.
Actually, if you read the other reviews for other NForce AGP with integrated graphics, they ALL have problem #2. We put some PNY 512 PC2700 in initially and the graphics would have problems. NO amount of tweaking with the BIOS settings would help. We replaced this with a pair of Kingston value RAM PC3200 512 sticks (which work at PC2700 speeds too), and it booted right up with no problems. This RAM is using micron chips (crucial's parent company). The stuff in the PNY was some odd (Chinese?) brand chip.


I had an extraordinary amount of system errors putting this thing together until I swapped the Mushkin RAM for the Kingston Value RAM. After that, it worked great.


I did have a lot of frustration though, as the board was incompatible with some Corsair Valueselect RAM (PC3200, CL 2.5) that I had. It would reboot when subject to minor graphics tasks. I'd ignored other users reports for a while, thinking it was a power problem. I exchanged for some Kingston value RAM with similar specs and things are working great now.


Stick with Crucial or Samsung from what I can tell, I tried Kingston, Geil, and PNY, all failed miserably, couldn't even get Windows installed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I see Kingston Value mentioned a lot as working, though the last user reports otherwise.
Other advice - reduce the frame buffer in BIOS to as low as you can go, which is probably 16MB. She won't even need that much, but at least it'll free up more RAM for the system to use.

Don't forget to equip the PC with Spybot, Ad-Aware, and a good antivirus program.

 

[gokuhama]

Originally posted by: LeadFrog

Originally posted by: gokuhama

Originally posted by: LeadFrog

Originally posted by: dc5
ANTEC Solution Series

Nice, But what to do about cooling it. Doesn't come with fans.

Are case fans really necessary? She's not going to be gaming on it or anything. I think that a good cpu fan is all that is really necessary. I actually used this case a month ago to build a computer for my parents. Total price was $300.

could you give me the specs?

P4 2.0 - $110
Vantec AeroFlow II - $16
Arctic Ceramique - $4
Kingston 256mb ram (single stick) - $20
Western Digital 8mb 120gb hard drive - $40
Foxconn 650M02-G-6L Motherboard - $50
Antec Solution Series Case - $50

I was lucky though and found a lot of good deals with rebates and whatnot.

 

[mechBgon]

Yeah, if you're using an AthlonXP 2000+ then Crucial PC2100 would probably be a very solid bet. PC3200 often is made with chiplets that are expecting 2.6 volts, not the default 2.5 volts, and some microATX boards (Asus A7N8X-VM for example) don't offer a way to raise the memory voltage.

 

[Frew]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Just be aware though - the M7NCG has some memory compatibility issues. I couldn't get it to work with GeIL Golden Dragon Value, but it did work with a stick of Buffalo RAM.
Users at Newegg report:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitely picky about the RAM. Paired it with 2 PC-3200 256MB sticks of Crucial Value RAM and the system was unstable.
Took out the Crucial and put in some Elixer RAM and it works beautifully.


Great mobo, stable as a rock, good features, even though I could NOT use the onboard video with KingMax PC-3200 ram


Hates some RAM types.
Actually, if you read the other reviews for other NForce AGP with integrated graphics, they ALL have problem #2. We put some PNY 512 PC2700 in initially and the graphics would have problems. NO amount of tweaking with the BIOS settings would help. We replaced this with a pair of Kingston value RAM PC3200 512 sticks (which work at PC2700 speeds too), and it booted right up with no problems. This RAM is using micron chips (crucial's parent company). The stuff in the PNY was some odd (Chinese?) brand chip.


I had an extraordinary amount of system errors putting this thing together until I swapped the Mushkin RAM for the Kingston Value RAM. After that, it worked great.


I did have a lot of frustration though, as the board was incompatible with some Corsair Valueselect RAM (PC3200, CL 2.5) that I had. It would reboot when subject to minor graphics tasks. I'd ignored other users reports for a while, thinking it was a power problem. I exchanged for some Kingston value RAM with similar specs and things are working great now.


Stick with Crucial or Samsung from what I can tell, I tried Kingston, Geil, and PNY, all failed miserably, couldn't even get Windows installed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I see Kingston Value mentioned a lot as working, though the last user reports otherwise.
Other advice - reduce the frame buffer in BIOS to as low as you can go, which is probably 16MB. She won't even need that much, but at least it'll free up more RAM for the system to use.

Don't forget to equip the PC with Spybot, Ad-Aware, and a good antivirus program.

So you think I should ditch the corsair for kinston or new motherboard altogether?

EDIT: What about 2 of these? Text

 

[thraxes]

Never had any problems with Kingston. Even in very picky laptops it always was a Kingston module that worked in the end.

 

[Joony]

Get her a Dell PowerEdge 400SC for $234

 

[justly]

Originally posted by: Joony
Get her a Dell PowerEdge 400SC for $234

This is pathetic, did you even look at the system before recommending it. I?ll save everyone the time.

Intel® Celeron® processor, 2.4GHz, 128KB Cache, 400MHz FSB

No Operating System, Other

128MB DDR, ECC, 400MHz, 1X128MB

40GB 7.2K RPM IDE Hard Drive

48X CD-ROM

1Yr,Parts + Onsite Labor1 (Next Business Day)

 

[Joony]

justly, of course I looked at it...

you forget: FREE UPGRADE to 80GB 7.2K RPM IDE Hard Drive

from what he suggested from newegg:

$64 AMD Athlon XP 2000+
$63 BIOSTAR "M7NCG 400"
$54 Seagate 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive
$52 ANTEC Solution Series Mid Tower Case with 300W Power Supply
$24 Kingston ValueRAM 184 Pin 128MB DDR PC-2100
================================
Total of $257 + Shipping, and that's without a keyboard/mouse, and some other stuff.

For the dell, all you need to do is throw in an OS of your choice!

And a 2.4Ghz Celeron is more than enough for any Grandma

Another part is "1Yr,Parts + Onsite Labor1 (Next Business Day)", I work with Dells at work and all you do is call them up and tell them what is wrong with the part and they will send you out a replacement next day!

Now you can call me pathetic but I think that the Dell is a great deal! Especially for something in the PowerEdge class.

 

[masshass81]

Heres a cheaper Antec case with the same PSU as the other..

ANTEC Solution Series $46
Shipped its $56 as opposed to $68 with the other case

I think this would also be better for grandma since she wouldnt have to open the case door everytime she wanted to turn on the computer

 

[imported_amx]

order one of those frys combos throught outpost

 

[Budmantom]

dELL

 

[Trey22]

Originally posted by: Budmantom
dELL

Another vote for just picking up a Dell.