X-Box for my gf???? need some input here pls...

[EmoshBZ]

Hey dudes,


Excuse my ignorance but I just had a thought here........


ok my gf has a 100 mhz puter and 64 edo ram yada yada and so on.......yes it sucks bad yet she has a fast cable modem hooked up to this ancient dinosaur...hehe!!! go figure


anyway, she just surfs the web and downloads music and so on but her son is a gamer. So I was wondering if I could kill two birds with one stone and get an X-box.


A 800 mhz system or e machine costs like 700 to 800 dollars but an x-box costs like 300 or so.




So what are the pros and cons of the xbox in this situation?
make sense to get one?

 

[PeteyPete]

I don't know about any cons, but one very nice pro is that you can have an XBOX, reguardless of whether you bought it for her or not,

Your giving me ideas...maybe i should buy my GF an exhaust for my car for her birthday....hmmmmm

 

[yg17]

but shes still stuck with that computer

 

[erub]

well you can't play computer games on an xbox, and you can't play xbox games on a computer I love my XBOX (my first console system since the SNES0 but I never really was much of a computer gamer. If he is big into CS/Q3 etc, those games aren't on XBOX...

and she won't be able to download music or surf the web on the xbox. Although it has a lot of computer hardware in it, it is not a computer.

 

[Rand]

Get her a better computer, because it sounds like she is interested in more then just gaming which the XBox provides.

 

[iluvdeal]

Can you browse the web and download the music with an X-Box? I don't know. But it sounds like the kid would be more thrilled with the gift than your gf. Provided you use the the current monitor, mouse, and keyboard she has, I think you can build a fairly nice machine for around $500 but don't quote me on that.

 

[Wolfsraider]

why not a ps2 as they are getting harddrive mice keyboard? at least they have it in japan

don't mind me i own a gamecube lol

 

[Nefrodite]

um just get the xbox, getting a true gaming computer is gonna cost way more then an emachine, and surfing on the old one isn't that stressful just use opera i like the gesture system, very convenient.

 

[Fiera]

If I had to choose, I'd go for the new computer.
If you want to do any internet gaming with the x-box using gamespy tunnel you need to have a decient machine to run the tunnel software.

 

[Z_Amon]

If you're clever about the entire thing, you can manage a new computer for under the cost of an XBox and games - check the sales that Computer Geeks run every week or two for Emachines. They're not top fo the line boxes, but for <$300, you can't really go wrong. (I've used one of their 366e boxes as a router box in the apartment for almost two years).

If you're willing to spend a bit more, Dell keeps running sales that can drop a P4 into the $5/600 range as well. Mind you, that's typically without a monitor, but with the rest of the trimmings.

An X-box is great for games, but I suspect that the kid would be just as happy with an older console and more games, or you putting a decent video card into a computer. I have yet to see an Xbox used as more than a powerful gaming console/DVD/CD player, so I wouldn't count on using it as a capable web browser, even if you do get a keyboard for it. It's just not the same as having a full featured PC - and the PC can have a burner hooked up, so all that music can go with her.

Z.

 

[ShallowHal]

Your gf doesn't want an XBOX for her birthday. The XBOX is something you get your little brother or sister. If you're not going to get her something she obviously needs (computer) smarten up and ask her what she wants. Years of experience talking here.

 

[cornelio]

Hello,

Even if the Xbox could connect and browse the internet, nothing beats internet browsing than a computer. Try to buy a better hard disk, upgrade the cpu or get more ram and check if the computer supports faster ram, that will extend the life of that computer.

I hope this helps.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

100 MHz computer and EDO ram: NOT WORTH UPGRADING. You'll feel really stupid when you pay $50 or so for a 32mb chip of EDO. My $.02.

 

[$pade]

upgrade her comp, spend roughly 300 on cpu/fan, motherboard, and 256mb ram. 100 dollar on new hd and another 100 on a new 3d vid card. Your total will be 500 but all this can be done for less than 400 if you shop wisely. i am assuming you can resuse the mouse, keyboard, monitor, speaker, nic, and soundcard.

 

[EmoshBZ]

Thanks for all the replies...


On second thought I guess her kid would get more use out of the Xbox than her.


My gf hates games and uses her computer for typing out papers.....web surfing.....downloading music.....

she could do fine with a 300 or 500 mhz lets say with a basic video card and upgrade from windows 95.


So my best bet would be to do a little upgrade like ram...case....video card...ram...processer and mobo and recycle the rest of components she has already like mouse...keyboard....monitor..printer and so on....



cheers.....

 

[AA0]

Asus nForce board - $110
CPU - 1Ghz $80
HD - 60 for a 5400 rpm drive, 70 for a 7200 rpm drive, 30 gigs
RAM - DDR266 128 megs, $50
case + psu - generic, $30 should work
sound, nic, and video are on board.
HSF $20

reuse the monitor, mouse, keyboard, for now. You may need adapters, probably a serial mouse, din5 keyboard.

mouse is $20 for an optical, keyboard $15 for an internet keyboard, speakers can be cheap is she doesn't have any, $20.


Thats only $350 for a 1Ghz machine, stable, good sound, decent video, lots of HD space, only 128 RAM, but you can upgrade as you go if you want. Make it $400 and you can get a nice keyboard, mouse, and speakers for her.

IMO, that is a much nicer gift then a game system. Game systems make guys look greedy, get something that she wants and uses, not you.

 

[murphy55d]

<< Thanks for all the replies...


On second thought I guess her kid would get more use out of the Xbox than her.


My gf hates games and uses her computer for typing out papers.....web surfing.....downloading music.....

she could do fine with a 300 or 500 mhz lets say with a basic video card and upgrade from windows 95.


So my best bet would be to do a little upgrade like ram...case....video card...ram...processer and mobo and recycle the rest of components she has already like mouse...keyboard....monitor..printer and so on....



cheers..... >>



Get her a laptop then. If you don't mind used, head over to the FS/FT forum. I bought a used laptop there and I love it. I do just what you said, typing, surfing the web, doing silly crap like that. Plus it's mobile. 300 mhz P2 laptop for $400...is what I got. I'm sure you could find a similar deal, or one better suited to what she needs.

 

[tech]

Get her an XBOX and you won't have a GF. Anyways, you can't surf, type, etc. with the XBOX. Only video games and that's it.