Hi everyone! I need to put together a new PC for my mother-in-law. She is not a power user. She basically uses some of the office suite, emails, and putzes around the internet. She is on a dial up and doesn't have access to broadband in her area. So I am thinking a good mobo, with decent on board sound and video, hdd, CPU/Fan combo, RAM, burner... just the basics. What do you guys suggest?
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Looking for system build suggestions.
- Thread starter justcrash
- Start date
YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Those refurb dells are great deals if you get the right ones.
YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
😕 Why?
EDIT: (Oh, did you miss the 8400/9100 part?)
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1737617&enterthread=y
Because with a refurb you stand a better than even chance that there will be a problem, and with Dell's the odds go up even higher. A hobbyist will be able to diagnose the problem quite easily, but most mother-in-laws are neophytes and can get frustrated almost immediately. In addition, Dell's customer service is a horrifying experience for people who don't know computers at all (and fairly miserable for those of us who do...).
For about the same money, you can something like the following from Newegg or most other places:
AOpen ES50A Black SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 300W Peak Power Supply - Retail
$32.99
ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 Socket 754 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: K8NF4G-SATA2
$60.99
AMD Sempron 64 3000+ Palermo 800MHz FSB Socket 754 Processor Model SDA3000BXBOX - Retail
Model #: SDA3000BXBOX
$87.00
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS1GB400C3 - Retail
Model #: VS1GB400C3
$84.55
HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 -0A30356 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: HDS728080PLA380
$54.00
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 Black Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse Included - OEM
$23.00
Acer AL1714CB-8 Black 17? 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail Model #: ET.L1809.102 ** This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. **Dead Pixels Policy: Replacement or Refund for 8 or more dead pixels only.
$205.99
LITE-ON Black IDE Combo Drive Model SOHC-5236V BK RTL - Retail
Model #: SOHC-5236V BK RTL
$29.99
Subtotal: $578.51
This is a faster, more stable system...and all of the parts are new.
I do think you should get them to build it though, as that way they will be supplying customer support instead of you...🙂
YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Can't really beat something like this though
http://www.benmacre.com/images/dellxps400.jpg
Especially considering it comes with windows and there's no effort putting it together etc.
Add in a cheap monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers and there it is.
http://www.benmacre.com/images/dellxps400.jpg
Especially considering it comes with windows and there's no effort putting it together etc.
Add in a cheap monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers and there it is.
Sure you can...the system I listed above includes a $205 LCD and has 1GB of Ram. So it's cheaper and at least as fast, and it will run cooler, use less power, and they will build/test/guarantee it for $25 as well...plus the parts are better quality (mobo at least) and they are all new!
Edit...oops, forgot the XP. That's an extra $87.
LOL! Exactly! She lives an hour away and I don't want to make the trip every weekend! 🙂 Good suggestions so far guys! 🙂 Keep em' coming! 🙂 I would like to hit around the $400 mark, but that may be a dream of mine. I keep getting what she needs confusedwith what I would want... lol! 🙂
bamacre
Lifer
I can attest, 90% of the 9100's are brand spanking new. I've inspected about 60 in the past few months. I have 72 xps 400's on the way.
I am running a "refurb" 9100 right now. Added another GB of ram and replaced the x300 with a GTX. I paid less than a grand for a system with 2GB of ram and a GTX, dual dvd, 80GB sata, audigy 2 zs. I couldn't be happier with it.
My first Dell refurb was a P3 800mhz XPS T800r, it's currently used by my Dad, going on 8 years old. My brother has a Dell 8300 refurb with a 9800 Pro, it's beeing running like a champ for a little over a year now. Dell refurb's have been a great little secret for a while now, great prices, great quality. Samsung memory, nec and phillips dvd burners, intel-made motherboards, western digital, maxtor, and seagate sata drives.
Dell's support may not be the best, but at least they are the one his mother-in-law will call 😛
BTW, you think a Sempron is faster than a P4 630? Also, you gonna put Linux on the mother-in-law's box, or turn her into a pirate? Yarggh!!!
:laugh:
I am running a "refurb" 9100 right now. Added another GB of ram and replaced the x300 with a GTX. I paid less than a grand for a system with 2GB of ram and a GTX, dual dvd, 80GB sata, audigy 2 zs. I couldn't be happier with it.
My first Dell refurb was a P3 800mhz XPS T800r, it's currently used by my Dad, going on 8 years old. My brother has a Dell 8300 refurb with a 9800 Pro, it's beeing running like a champ for a little over a year now. Dell refurb's have been a great little secret for a while now, great prices, great quality. Samsung memory, nec and phillips dvd burners, intel-made motherboards, western digital, maxtor, and seagate sata drives.
Dell's support may not be the best, but at least they are the one his mother-in-law will call 😛
BTW, you think a Sempron is faster than a P4 630? Also, you gonna put Linux on the mother-in-law's box, or turn her into a pirate? Yarggh!!!
:laugh:
bamacre
Lifer
Those come with keyboard/mouse. These things come like a brand new computer. Same box, shipping material, cd's, kb/mouse, service tag, same everything.
I took some pic's of a 9100 a while back HERE. Very cool and quiet set up. Mucho airflow. The xps 400 is the exact same model as the 9100, just renamed to fit in their xps line.
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