most basic build - grandparents

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kuba

Senior member
Sep 11, 2005
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most basic build possible.
was thinking amd 3000
mobod with sound (and video) if possible
just something basic, for surfing and emails, that's it.
recommendations?
i'm assuming sempron? not athlon?
 
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Luckyboy1

Senior member
Mar 13, 2006
934
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I've got parents who are carbon dated at 84 years a piece! They tend not to understand about leaving 20-1,000 browsers open at the same time. :disgust:

So I'd get 'em a very basic 865 chipset motherboard and a Hyperthreaded Northwood 2.8 GHZ, 800 MHz front side buss CPU and a Gig of Corsair value Select RAM, I gigantic hard drive and no Raptor needed, but I'd go Western Digital for reliability. A Fortron power supply costing less than $75.00 U.S. and a plain mid sized case with a couple of 120 mm fans with filters and just leave it onboard sound because if Gramps house is anything like my Pop's place, the blasting of the TV makes it so they never have to spray for bugs! :D


Big time Edit:

Oh yeah, a 9800 Pro video card.
 
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staplemaniac

Junior Member
Sep 2, 2005
2
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my grandparents dont understand how computers are supposed to work, the whole "dont click on everything" concept escapes them. Since they have had my dad fix viruses like 3 times we were considering just getting them a cheap mac. Maybe that would work well for your grandparents.
 
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DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
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With Dell you'll get a legal copy of Windows, a warranty and restore CD (sometimes costs extra). Hard to beat $299, or $499 for a laptop.
 
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Luckyboy1

Senior member
Mar 13, 2006
934
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I advise strongly getting Norton Internet Security and having it auto-update and password protect it so they can't ah heck it up. That and a copy of Pest Patrol Pro password protected the same way and having Cousin Billy's updater set to do security updates every day should keep 'em out of trouble.

Mac being immune to script is a myth.

Cup of .java anyone?
 
agathodaimon

agathodaimon

Senior member
Jul 11, 2005
488
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0
Yes... I would recommend a brand-name computer, such as a Dell.
It's got software, monitor, decent hardware, warranty, etc.
I mean, if they don't use it for anything other than email & internet, that's all you really need.
 
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Madwand1

Diamond Member
Jan 23, 2006
3,309
0
76
Even if you get a brand name pre-built (which might be a good idea for price & support), I'd suggest getting in there yourself, creating an admin account, and accounts for your grandparents that do not have admin access.

I'd get something that can run Google Earth, which is pretty much everything these days. GeForce 6100/6150 certainly can, and you can get those in socket 754.
 
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Luckyboy1

Senior member
Mar 13, 2006
934
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Old folks tend to drop things and also have not such good vision. Laptops are not a good idea.

For our Canadian friends...

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.ph...owProduct&cmd=pd&pid=007843&cid=MB.575

Couldn't find a Northwood 2.8 GHz, 800 MHz front side buss CPU on either site. DON'T get a Celeryon or the ever overheating Prescott. The Prescott has 1 MB of cache and the Northwood has 512 MB of cache. Get the Northwood ONLY.


http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.ph...wProduct&cmd=pd&pid=004419&cid=RAM.178

http://www.logiccomputerhouse.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=9933

on that video card, call 'em and make sure it is a 128 MB, 256 bit card that is NOT an SE version or one with less than 8 pixel pipelines.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.ph...wProduct&cmd=pd&pid=009409&cid=999.821

That card if you really love them! :) ;)

http://www.logiccomputerhouse.com/site/main.php?module=shopcart

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.ph...owProduct&cmd=pd&pid=008512&cid=CS.664
 
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Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
8,808
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0
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
With Dell you'll get a legal copy of Windows, a warranty and restore CD (sometimes costs extra). Hard to beat $299, or $499 for a laptop.
Click to expand...

QFT.

Luckyboy... please, get a grip. A RADEON 9800Pro? They don't need gaming hardware to surf the web and read their email. Think onboard video here.
 
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dawza

Senior member
Dec 31, 2005
921
0
76
If you must build, a socket 754 Sempy with a mobo supporting onboard video will be more than sufficient (the Biostar 6100 mATX is excellent). Toss in a 60-80 gig HDD, a DVD burner (or CD-RW/DVD-rom if you can get it for cheap), a Forton 350W PSU, a gig of value ram, a copy of XP, and you will be fine. Get a case you can easily work in, and spend the rest on a nice 19" LCD.

I agree that an on-sale Dell would probably be best, unless you really like building and/or predict that you will end up as customer support for them no matter who they buy from. The advice to set up Windows as an administrator and have all other users on a limited account is point-on. Set up their firewall (if they are not connected through a router) so that programs they normally use (and automatic updaters) will have access, and tell them to NEVER allow anything else through. Get Avast or AVG (both free), as they leave a small footprint and update themselves automatically. Banish IE and allow them to use Firefox only. Every so often, give the system a good scan. Ghost your initial setup in case things go wrong.
 
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Luckyboy1

Senior member
Mar 13, 2006
934
0
0
Grandparents DO GAME!!! :Q

It's called...

Dad, I'll send you by e-mail all the Holiday photos!

Get a gigantic hard drive because they're not about to delete a single photo of Jr. asleep and drooling on the plate of spagetti! :camera:

Speaking of that, you got a large monitor yet for that purpose?


I'm almost 50 years old and I've watched my parents deal with Dell's supposedly customer support and people who spoke English, but simply didn't comprehend the language. Old folks will NOT put up with the nonsense we take for granted. They simply, God bless them for this, won't ever have an appreciation for it. To them, a computer is like a Television. They want to turn it on and have it work. If it breaks, they want a loved one to explain it to them. If you gotta go diagnose it for them regardless of warranty, you might as well spend the extra 15 minutes to push the new part it.
 
drum

drum

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2003
6,810
4
81
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
With Dell you'll get a legal copy of Windows, a warranty and restore CD (sometimes costs extra). Hard to beat $299, or $499 for a laptop.
Click to expand...

for what she'll need, you won't be able to beat dell's prices. that and you won't have to fix it for her either
 
drum

drum

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2003
6,810
4
81
Originally posted by: Luckyboy1
Grandparents DO GAME!!! :Q

It's called...

Dad, I'll send you by e-mail all the Holiday photos!

Get a gigantic hard drive because they're not about to delete a single photo of Jr. asleep and drooling on the plate of spagetti! :camera:

Speaking of that, you got a large monitor yet for that purpose?


I'm almost 50 years old and I've watched my parents deal with Dell's supposedly customer support and people who spoke English, but simply didn't comprehend the language. Old folks will NOT put up with the nonsense we take for granted. They simply, God bless them for this, won't ever have an appreciation for it. To them, a computer is like a Television. They want to turn it on and have it work. If it breaks, they want a loved one to explain it to them. If you gotta go diagnose it for them regardless of warranty, you might as well spend the extra 15 minutes to push the new part it.
Click to expand...

i'm sure her gaming will require a 9800pro.
may as well get her windows vista with solitaireHD and a x1900xt :roll:

last time i checked, viewing the holiday photos doesn't require a 9800pro
 
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Luckyboy1

Senior member
Mar 13, 2006
934
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I didn't elaborate enough. See, these photos and let's see, old Super 8 mm film converted to video and then later to disc and videos converted to dics and just plain ole digital video footage.

And before you say...

Good enough!

Think! The average Grandparent I know of would take out their pocket knife and cut their own kidney out if the Grandchildren needed it. They just don't look at the pictures, they love on them!

I send my Mother pics and she blows them up the size of the monitor which is 22". She adds them to her rolling screensaver show and examines every pixel. That's why I got a digital camera that takes 8 Mp/whatever!


Still, I'm just throwing out options and the other options have their upside and downside as well.


Mostly, I wanted to say...

:thumbsup:

to the guy taking the time to explore options rather than just dumbly ordering online because he's tired like the rest of us and has had a long day.

kuba, you are first rate with me! :beer:
 
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DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
^ photo viewing does not require hardware 3D acceleration.

Crappy Intel Xtreeeeme!!!! graphics work perfectly well for that.

If kuba has a burning desire to build the PC, follow Madwand1 and dawza
's advice and get a socket 754 board with nvidia 6100 chipset (northbridge field in Newegg.com search). A Sempron 2800+ should be fast enough and $50 cheaper than a socket 939 A64.
 
bamacre

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
21,029
2
81
I would still HIGHLY recommend a Dell from Dell Outlet, but if you prefer to build, this seems fairly inexpensive and pretty sound...

Antec Solution SLK1650B Black Steel ATX Mini Tower Case 350W PSU - Retail
$68.98
http://tinyurl.com/eyfho

Asus A8N-VM nForce 410/GeForce 6100 Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR M-ATX Motherboard
$72.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=247027

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor (Venice) Socket 939 Retail
$123.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80699-5

Corsair VS512MB400 512MB DDR400 PC3200 CAS2.5 Value Select Memory Retail
$36.90
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80098-6

Western Digital WD Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer
$50.00
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101206-1

SONY Black 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM
$25.89
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131013

Total Price Shipped:
$376.77
 
K

kuba

Senior member
Sep 11, 2005
298
0
0
wow overwhelming, but this helped tons, thanks guys, really appreciate it.
 
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