Parent's are upgrading everything

[roguerower]

My parents are upgrading their entire technology system because it's all 6 yrs or older. The last computer I built them has been slowly dying and they are looking to skip the custom built and just get one that's built by a PC company like Dell. They also are looking to set up a household network w/ a new desktop, laptop, and stereo system, preferably all wirelessly.

Here's what I'm thinking...

-Desktop
Dell Slim Studio - get a base system and then upgrade all the guts myself rather than get shafted by their prices

-Laptop
Dell Mini 9/10/12 - small, good battery life, exactly what they need (mom will mostly be using it and she's a teacher so she can take it to work w/ her)

-Stereo
Unknown. They have iPods so something compatible will work best. Any ideas? Are wireless speakers feasible? Any way to set it up to play music from the pc w/o a cable?

-Wireless print center
So they can print from wherever in the house

Any help or other ideas that you guys can come up will be most appreciated. Not a fanboy of any PC builders (i custom built mine), just looking to get best bang for buck and look somewhat stylish.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: roguerower
-Desktop
Dell Slim Studio - get a base system and then upgrade all the guts myself rather than get shafted by their prices

Try to get an Acer with a Phenom processor. The prices are greatly reduced because the Phenom didn't sell very well. The best way to find one is to just go to a local Best Buy and look around.

-Wireless print center
So they can print from wherever in the house

Or you could just share the printer across the network and pay nothing. Windows has had this feature for at least 10 years now.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Originally posted by: roguerower
My parents are upgrading their entire technology system because it's all 6 yrs or older. The last computer I built them has been slowly dying and they are looking to skip the custom built and just get one that's built by a PC company like Dell. They also are looking to set up a household network w/ a new desktop, laptop, and stereo system, preferably all wirelessly.

Here's what I'm thinking...

-Desktop
Dell Slim Studio - get a base system and then upgrade all the guts myself rather than get shafted by their prices

-Laptop
Dell Mini 9/10/12 - small, good battery life, exactly what they need (mom will mostly be using it and she's a teacher so she can take it to work w/ her)

-Stereo
Unknown. They have iPods so something compatible will work best. Any ideas? Are wireless speakers feasible? Any way to set it up to play music from the pc w/o a cable?

-Wireless print center
So they can print from wherever in the house

Any help or other ideas that you guys can come up will be most appreciated. Not a fanboy of any PC builders (i custom built mine), just looking to get best bang for buck and look somewhat stylish.

Why would you need to upgrade anything in the Dell Studio? Just get it the way THEY want it and leave it be. As far as wireless printing, just get a printer with a wireless card in it and you're set. No need to make things more complicated than it needs to be.

 

[Aarondeep]

Before buying your mom that mini9, go show her at some store what kinda screen she will be using. Many people (especially older folks) have a tough time looking at those really small screens.

DESKTOP: I think your on the right track when selecting your desktop system. I would just wait around until a good dell deal comes along.(keep an eye on the hotdeals forum or slickdeals)
STEREO: Maybe look into a windows media extender. These devices can be wireless while the desktop computer can be wired. I don't have much experience with these. Maybe check www.thegreenbutton.com forums for more info

PRINTER: Not sure what exactly you need, do you want a Multifunction device (scanner/printer/fax)? This can also be wired ethernet as well (i dont recommend the printer sharing thing, its much nicer when each client can connect to the printer regardless if the other PC is on or not.)

 

[roguerower]

ShawnD1
-the reason for the studio slim is getting a very small desktop that can be put right behind the monitor (19" WS) and not be seen. Don't want a midtower desktop.
-parents don't leave the pc running all the time. It goes off and on depending on use. With a good laptop it might not go on for a couple of days. A wireless printer doesn't require the desktop to be on.

Jeffrey
-The cost for upgrading dell systems are insane. It costs 75 bucks to upgrade from 2gb of ram to 4gb (w/ me having no ability to choose what kind of ram). I can buy a good 4gb pair of sticks for less than $40. Same goes for CPU. Get the stock cpu, buy the upgrade, sell the stock and save $70.

Aaron
-Will keep my eyes out for a deal.
-I'll post on AVS looking for a system
-Printer probably needs to be a multifunction...need to clarify with the folks tho.

Thanks for everything and keep it coming

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you wait for a deal and stick with all Dell parts it will be under Dell's warranty. If you replace the RAM and CPU then it's up to you to fix any issues, and if you sell the Dell parts you might not be able to get other parts replaced like the motherboard. It's also better to have your parents mad at Dell than at you

 

[roguerower]

Ah...good point, hadn't thought of that angle.

 

[RebateMonger]

When they get their new PCs, they might want to look at Vista's "Sleep Mode", rather than turning them off and on. My 60-Watt AV computer drops to (measured) 5 Watts when sleeping and all the fans turn off.

 

[elconejito]

Originally posted by: roguerower
-Desktop
Dell Slim Studio - get a base system and then upgrade all the guts myself rather than get shafted by their prices

You're on the right track here. Like has been mentioned, just shop for a good deal/sale and you'll find the specs you want at the price you want. If you are short on time, then your other option of buying a base unit and upgrading is OK as well.

Originally posted by: roguerower
-Laptop
Dell Mini 9/10/12 - small, good battery life, exactly what they need (mom will mostly be using it and she's a teacher so she can take it to work w/ her)

It's also been mentioned, but make sure she puts her hands on it before you buy. They keyboard and screen are very small. Also look for deals/sales on these.

Originally posted by: roguerower
-Stereo
Unknown. They have iPods so something compatible will work best. Any ideas? Are wireless speakers feasible? Any way to set it up to play music from the pc w/o a cable?

Do you mean setup the home stereo unit to play music from the PC/laptop? I set this up for my folks with a Creative X-Mod. I got it on sale for $75 (or thereabouts). I think they are discontinuing it because I see it frequently on Creative's website for sale. Retail cost is usually double that. It works great, there is a little box that connects by USB cable to the computer and it acts like a soundcard (so disable on-board audio). You attach the other unit to the stereo. It comes with remote control so you can adjust volume and some basic functions like pause/play/RRW/FFW to control the PC playing the music. There is line-in jacks so you could connect an ipod or other source to it.

It is wireless and uses the 2.4Ghz band so that might cause you some trouble. The phones (5.8Ghz) were unaffected, but I did have to fiddle with the Wi-Fi on the router to avoid interference. Basically I just changed the channels till I got one that didn't drop the connections. Once I got past that, it worked like a champ.

Or you could just get a stereo system with an ipod dock. To get a nice sounding one you'll have to spend some $$$ though.

Originally posted by: roguerower
-Wireless print center
So they can print from wherever in the house

At home an HP 6300 officejet (multi-function) that plugs via cable into the router. The whole household prints to it.

I setup at a client's site a Brother MFC-7840W (multi-function) which has wireless built-in. Also works very well.