Is Compaq ok for...

[MistaTastyCakes]

...my mom? Let me explain. I bult her a system about 4 years ago, and it's worked great since then, but it's on its last legs. I can't afford to come out to Florida to troubleshoot the thing, and my mom's ready for a new PC anyways w/ DVD. There's no way I'm taking days and days off of work to buy plane tickets and fly there to assemble a new PC, so she's asked me to find one for her for ~$400. I surfed thru Dell and found nothing of much use, went to smaller dealers who only sold performance parts, so they were a no go, and then I found a Compaw that does EXACTLY what my mom needs and even a bit more for about $350. It has a warranty, which is a plus, but how does Compaq compare anymore to other retail computer companies such as Dell or Emachines?

I'd get a Dell but I can't manage to build a decent system under $400 there. At Compaq I've got a 2.0 Celeron, 512mb PC2100, and a 40 gig hard drive...everything else integrated. My mom Ebays, surfs, e-mails, and plays Flash games sometimes. How's this sound?

 

[Budman]

Sounds perfect for your mom.

 

[SpeedFreak03]

I think a 2.0GHz Celeron will be great, paired with 512MB ram and a 40GB HDD. Actually, this system is overkill! I wouldn't recommend Celly's for heavy gaming, DV editing, etc, but for what she uses it for, it will be fine. I built my current system around 4 years ago (a P-III 500Mhz), and just recently built a Celeron 2GHz system for a friend, and it's quite an upgrade, so your mom will be blown away! About it being a compaq, you should be alright, as HP (who now owns them) IMO always builds great systems. I remember my friend had a 166Mhz Presario in the "old days", and after it was about 2 years old things went downhill with it. Now though, since parts are so cheap, if something breaks after warranty then it's no biggy. Good luck!

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

Thanks for the input!

I know it's overkill, but she insisted she wanted 256mb or more of RAM and when I told her she could get 512 and still stay in her budget she got all excited, hehe. I'll configure it and send her the link tonight. Thanks all!

 

[FrustratedUser]

I've had my Compaq Presario since Nov 1999. Still running w/o problems.

 

[5LiterMustang]

Compaq for what she needs will be good, you may also want to check out emachines, my experience so far with them (I deal with their stuff a lot at work) so far has been very good on the newer models. If you asked me about e machines 2 years ago or even 18 months ago I would have said no way but the last several model lines have been very good indeed.

 

[Sunner]

I wouldn't buy a Compaq for my own use, but for mom&dad type use, they're just fine.
Go for it I say

 

[chocoruacal]

Compaq has always been garbage for me. You'd be doing her a favor by finding her a nice Dell instead. Compaq support=non-existent. Dell support=decent, in my experience.