Questions looking for the cheapest facebook machine for a coworker.

[DougFrippon]

So a co-worker of mine came to me today and told me he wanted a simple desktop computer mostly use for web browsing. He want a fast machine that does just that.

I asked him if he was going to watch/store music and/or videos? He said not.

So I told him he should get a computer with a SSD drive since he doesn't need the extra space, you know..
70$ for a 500gb drive that hes never going to use even 20% of the space
or
100$ for a 128gb SATA3 Crucial SSD

The SSD is the no brainer for me since he wants a fast machine. So anyway, I made him a quick custom build machine to see how much the whole thing would cost. Then I started looking for pre-build HP/Acer kinda stuff to compare with, just looking for a very basic desktop machine with a SSD drive. There's none? WTF? Why do company like these keep thinking everyone prefer big drives over faster drives? I don't get it...

I would've like to find a good prebuild computer for him, because it would be much simplier for him since he doesn't know much about computer, also those computer are usually much cheaper (somehow?) and are already built.

I have no knownledge on prebuild computers (I've always assemble my own computers), is there a site that'd be easy to search for them? (I'm canadian btw).

edit: I forgot to tell you guys he doesn't want a Laptop, and he already owns mouse/keyboard/monitor

 

[VirtualLarry]

get a cheap laptop/netbook for $300, add an $80 120/128GB SSD, bingo!

 

[krnmastersgt]

So a co-worker of mine came to me today and told me he wanted a simple desktop computer mostly use for web browsing. He want a fast machine that does just that.

I asked him if he was going to watch/store music and/or videos? He said not.

So I told him he should get a computer with a SSD drive since he doesn't need the extra space, you know..
70$ for a 500gb drive that hes never going to use even 20% of the space
or
100$ for a 128gb SATA3 Crucial SSD

The SSD is the no brainer for me since he wants a fast machine. So anyway, I made him a quick custom build machine to see how much the whole thing would cost. Then I started looking for pre-build HP/Acer kinda stuff to compare with, just looking for a very basic desktop machine with a SSD drive. There's none? WTF? Why do company like these keep thinking everyone prefer big drives over faster drives? I don't get it...

I would've like to find a good prebuild computer for him, because it would be much simplier for him since he doesn't know much about computer, also those computer are usually much cheaper (somehow?) and are already built.

I have no knownledge on prebuild computers (I've always assemble my own computers), is there a site that'd be easy to search for them? (I'm canadian btw).

The reason why is that most of these cheap budget systems are meant to do a bit of everything, and storing files of whatever variety is sort of expected nowadays. Ten years ago people would scoff at 500 GB hard drives, now it's expected as the bare minimum for many people even if most of them won't ever fully utilize the drive there are plenty that will and even add on more storage. SSD's aren't really in the mindset of budget systems, even if the performance they provide for the cost is more than worth it they need to become cheaper and more commonplace before people accept them in budget pre-built systems.

I do agree with VirtualLarry's suggestion, for the most part it will be fine though there will be some issues with a system that cheap (typically pretty old CPU's, and stupid RAM configurations though you can just swap it around to what you want). If you spend a bit more and your co-worker doesn't mind a laptop it would pretty much take care of everything you needed with an M4 128GB for <$450 pretty easily. If you need a desktop however, look for cheap refurbished systems from Dell's outlet for the best price/performance/quality and service history.

 

[lakedude]

Don't know if you can buy a Dell where you are but here is an idea:

$349.99 Free Shipping & Easy Returns!

Inspiron-620
Intel® Pentium® processor G630 (3MB Cache, 2.70 GHz)
90 days Premium Phone Support + 1 Year In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis
DataSafe 2.0 Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 2 DIMMs
1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache&#8482;
McAfee Security Center, 15-Months
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Intel® HD Graphics
My Accessories
Trusted ID,IDSafe, 12 Month Subscription, Digital Delivery
Integrated 8 in 1 Media Card Reader
Standard USB 2.0 + 10/100/1000 Ethernet
Integrated 5.1
Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
Inspiron 620 Minitower w/ Black Bezel
Dell KB113 USB Wired Entry Keyboard
Dell USB Optical Mouse


Of course a laptop would be cheaper because a laptop already has a screen.

 

[lakedude]

I posted a desktop because that is what the OP asked for.

A desktop is also going to be easier to upgrade if need be.

Your coworker might have said he is not going to watch videos etc. but people do things they don't think they will sometimes. This is especially true if they start out unfamiliar with what a computer is capable of. Now the coworker may never watch a video on their PC but it is likely that this could change as they become more comfortable with the computer.

 

[DougFrippon]

I forgot to tell you guys he doesn't want a Laptop, and he already owns mouse/keyboard/monitor

 

[Zap]

$349.99 Free Shipping & Easy Returns!

Do this, plus buy an SSD that comes with a 3.5" adapter and a cloning kit that includes software at minimum. This way you get a cheap system ($350 for hardware + Windows) with a warranty. Then, for $100 or so more you get the SSD. Don't know about other brands, but Dell will not void the warranty for switching drives.

Examples:

Kingston 120GB V+200 $100
Not the crappy V200, but the Sandforce based V+200, comes with cloning software (but IDK which one) and 3.5" drive rails.

Corsair Force Series 3 120GB $115
Comes with an Apricorn USB adapter and EZGIG cloning software, and a 3.5" drive sled.

There are others, but not all come with the 3.5" adapter, which may or may not matter (SSDs are durable and can be just taped into the case). For instance Samsung drives come with Ghost 15, and Crucial offers all their drives in a "transfer kit" with the Apricorn adapter+software, but sans the 3.5" adapter.

 

[lakedude]

The reason the Dell is attractive is that it comes with W7. It is hard to beat a pre-built in the lower price ranges if you need Windows because unless you get a discount W7 is around $100 by itself. That does not leave much money to buy parts with...

 

[piasabird]

2600k (joke).

There is fast and fast. How fast do you have to be to look at a few web pages? My E7200 is kind of fast.