Computer owners that "limp along", versus "buy/build new".

[MagnusTheBrewer]

With some people, especially older ones, it's all about making up their own mind. You offer choices as well as your opinion on them and let them make the decision. Way too many computer geeks present their solutions as the only reasonable choice which annoys the hell out of older folks who are aware of their lack of knowledge but, want to understand.

 

[Zodiark1593]

I'd simply ask them if they want new, or fix up their current machines. Quite frankly, a cheapo Bay Trail machine is a side grade (if not a downgrade) performance-wise, in addition to lacking the SSD which can improve user experience greatly for these sorts of users. For the older folk, I'd prioritize user experience over greater battery life.

There's also Windows 8 to consider which can present a learning curve for them as well (unless you're willing to downgrade a new machine to Win 7).

Given these factors, I'd sleep well at night recommending fixing + upgrading the first laptop. Provided the laptop itself isn't falling apart, there should be no problems for the next year or so. Heck, you could probably part out the second machine to reduce costs for the above since a new LCD is expensive, not to mention the dead USB ports. Actually, if the cpu is a dual core i7, I might be interested myself.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'd simply ask them if they want new, or fix up their current machines. Quite frankly, a cheapo Bay Trail machine is a side grade (if not a downgrade) performance-wise, in addition to lacking the SSD which can improve user experience greatly for these sorts of users. For the older folk, I'd prioritize user experience over greater battery life.

There's also Windows 8 to consider which can present a learning curve for them as well (unless you're willing to downgrade a new machine to Win 7).

Given these factors, I'd sleep well at night recommending fixing + upgrading the first laptop.

All good points. I'll present to them the possibility of buying a new laptop. BestBuy now has the 15.6" / 4GB / 500GB / N2830 Asus laptops back in stock at our local store for $229.99 + tax. But that doesn't have an SSD, and it's a "disposable" design, non-upgradable, so putting an SSD in there may be difficult or prohibitive.

The first laptop didn't seem to have much wrong with it besides lack of RAM, HDD on the way out, and bad battery. Screen / keyboard seemed fine, as did the chassis. It was missing a couple of screws to hold the HDD caddy in place though. Not sure where to find the right screws, they are recessed heads.