I need a dirt cheap computer for my grandmother

[JDub02]

My grandmother was running an old 400 mhz HP desktop which finally gave up the ghost, or so I hear. She now has an old 166 mhz Dell laptop up and running and supporting this thing (running win98) over the phone is painful.

So I need to get her a dirt cheap PC .. budget is $4-500. I got her a Dell desktop with a 19" flat panel for her house in the north a couple years ago for < $400, but I haven't seen any deals like that lately.

Any place right now to get a cheap desktop? Might I be better off to build it and ship it to her?

My guess is that my best bet is an online retailer and ship it directly to her.



Also, anyone know of a way to talk her off of AOL dialup and onto at least a DSL so I can do remote support? Hindering me in this quest is the way DSL is horribly overpriced in her part of FL from her local phone company.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Dell Vostro 200 $399 with 19" LCD and Vista

I would upgrade the CPU to a E2180 for $10 to push it over the $399 and qualify for free shipping.

Vist Grandma, setup the best ISP service you can get locally, have the bill sent to your house

 

[JDub02]

thanks. I hadn't run across those dell deals. looks about what I'm looking for.

As for the visit, as much as I'd love to head to FL this time of year, I can't get the time away from work right now.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Dell Vostro 200 $399 with 19" LCD and Vista

I see $379 now. Couple bumps to get it to $400+ for free shipping and a nice system for a killer price. It also now comes with a 250GB HDD, unlike the standard 80GB of earlier deals.

 

[narreth]

dell really has some AMAZING deals these days, assuming the pcs will not be used for gaming. I mean seriously, $380 including a monitor?!