help me find a new inexpensive computer for mom

[Scott Pruett]

so my mom needs a new computer. her 4gb C: drive keeps filling up (there is an 80gb slave in there too, but whatever). her 15" CRT is about to bite the dust. this thing is just old & i've convinced her that it's time to bid it farewell.

uses: web, email, ms office. nothing terribly taxing on hardware.

ballpark budget: $500, prefer an XP machine. laptop vs. desktop is undecided.

any suggestions for something cheap but not junk? where are those sites that list good deals? I'm not sold on just going through Dell...

TIA. :)

[PN]

Hi Scott,

Nice of you to help your Mom find a computer. Take a look at Slickdeals (http://www.slickdeals.net/) along with Gotapex (http://www.gotapex.com/) and Fatwallet (http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/). If you want XP I think you have to go with Dell. You can also check out XPbargains (http://www.xpbargains.com/) but I have not been there in many moons. Wait for more members to chime in.

Good luck!

[betheny]

Just bought an Acer laptop for my kid at Walmart, 120 gb hard drive, dual core processor, Windows Vista, I put my extra Office license on it, $600 I believe. Real small and lightweight, wireless internet natch. You probably get what you pay for but he just needs it for jr. college, mainly word processing, plus myspace, some games, IM's etc.

If you have questions ask and I'll find out, as the above is the gibberish I submitted to my father to get it covered by the family college fund. :p

[wheelchairTITAN]

Hey Scott

I found this full system at BestBuy ... $ 444.97 was 619.97


eMachines T3616 Desktop with 17" LCD Monitor, Printer, Cable & Surge Protector ... Save $175 instantly on this sensible PC package with widescreen LCD monitor upgrade and accessories

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=999976800050004&type=product&id=pcmprd76700050004

[ala]

I have bought many computers over the years and built one.There are so many choices, so I'll just recommend a notebook. We have three Toshibas and one Gateway in our house now, and that's just the notebooks. We really like the Toshiba notebooks. The deals keep getting better on notebooks. The last one we got for my son for college. It's a Toshiba Satellite w/ dual-core Intel, 80G., 1G Ram, DVD/CD dual layer writer, 15" screen, 56k modem, wireless, ethernet... It cost $399 at Office Depot(after $200 rebate--hate rebates). They had a 40G wo/DVD write capability for $349.

You have to watch for these sales if your going to buy local. They run them a lot in their weekly ads. My daughter has worked for Staples for 5 years (their machines are usually more $$) , she says she has never seen a Toshiba returned. They return loads of Compaqs, HP and some Acer. My son works for Dell in Tech. and he isn't crazy about most of their stuff.

Notebooks are great space savers. If your mom has wireless like us it's so cool. Work outside or in bed, while watching TV. Notebooks suck if you want to expand though. My desktop has over 600G with all the drives in it. Try that with a Notebook.

Good luck finding XP though everything new is Vista.

If you want to buy online, you'll have to search around. Newegg.com has had a good rep. for many years.

[sjean423]

I've had very good luck with newegg as well. My son has also had good luck with TigerDirect. But you can sometimes get just as good a deal on a special sale at any bog box store. As far as expanding a notebook, unless she gets into gaming, I doubt your Mom will need expanding. If she runs out of storage there is always external drives. I'm not the computer buyer-builder in our house (I'm the one always screaming leave it alone! It's not broken!) but I have a compaq laptop that I am only so-so about. Minor issues, mostly speed. It has lasted 2 years without any other problems, just had to add an external for picture storage. Hubby bought it quickly when I ended up on bedrest (pressure sore, different forum lol) and didn't shop around as much as usual.

As far as notebook vs laptop, since she already has a computer, she knows how and where she uses it. If she doesn;t have wireless, and isn't likely to work anywhere but her desk, stay with the desktop. If she has wireless, and can picture herself working in bed, or on the sofa ,etc, go with the notebook. If I bought another I would go that way.

edited to add, The other notebook here is my husbands, a compaq that went to college with my oldest in 2000. He has had some minor issues with it over the years, but when he upgraded to an IBM with the airbag type technology, to protect it from falls (which might well explain his problems with this one!) we inherited it, and it is still in use. So maybe I don't really have a problem with compaq.

[mike]

I think that Dell has some great deals. When you look at what you can get with the Inspiron models for under $500 it is just amazing. I am presently looking at getting a new computer and I was looking at HP, Dell and others and found that by customizing and using parts off of my present machine, I could get a pretty neat Dell machine. In addition the last time I called Dell for support, I did not get an Indian on the other line, as many people have complained about offshore support apparently Dell has listened.

[Scott Pruett]

Perfect, thanks!

Paul - those were some of the links I couldn't recall. :)

I know more of the performance systems (and Mac pro stuff, blah blah) for my line of work, but when I have a smaller budget to work with, it's sometimes tricky to figure out where corners are cut for these lower-priced systems. Regardless, it's crazy how much you can get for little $$ these days.

and yeah, I'm well aware of the pros/cons of laptop vs. desktop. I use both. We'll see what she springs for.

[sjean423]

and yeah, I'm well aware of the pros/cons of laptop vs. desktop. I use both. We'll see what she springs for.
Sorry, wasn't trying to make it sound like you didn;t (altho re-reading, I did) .... trying to look at it from your mom;s pov, since I suspect she isn;t much older than I am. LOL.

[Scott Pruett]

no worries, thx. :)

[Steven Edwards]

Drop MS Office and install OpenOffice instead... it may save you some cash.

[Scott Pruett]

yeah, if I can convince her to.

It's kinda hard to teach an ol... *cough* mom... new tricks. :D

I'm running OpenOffice on my computers.

[Steven Edwards]

I understand completely.

Why not wait for a good Mac-Mini deal? The whole teaching moms new tricks thing? :D

[rebajane]

Thanks Scott ,for asking this question. I have been looking for a laptop or notebook so that I can stay on-line even more than I do now LOL. My desktop still works but want the convience. I have checked the Dell outlet on-line and they do have some good deals on refurbished, including warranties. But I will check out these web sites others have suggested.

[sjean423]

Sounds like you need something for that cough!

[Clint]

Have you checked out www.craigslist.org? It's a free selling/buying community that we have had excellent experience with. A word of caution - read the scam notices and it's best to buy locally.

[Patonb]

Hehe, I'm actuAlly watching Peoples Court with a case about a computer from craigs list.

[mattblan]

My brother just bought my parents a brand new computer from emachines for $250 including the printer, but not the monitor. Came with a dvd-rw and vista basic too.

[Scott Pruett]

update: went w/ this: http://slickdeals.net/?permadeal=10289#direct_deal_10289

Dell SB (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=1&afsrc=1) has Vostro 200 Desktop with 19" LCD and a choice of Windows XP Home (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=2&afsrc=1) or Windows Vista Home Basic (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=3&afsrc=1) for $389 with free shipping. Thanks mikeopp2
Specs:

Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2160 (1.80GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800FSB)
Genuine Windows XP Home (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=2&afsrc=1) or Windows Vista Home Basic (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=3&afsrc=1)
Dell 19 inch Widescreen E198WFP Analog Flat Panel Monitor
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz - 2DIMMs
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
1 Year Limited Hardware Warranty with Next Business Day On-Site Service

[PN]

Hi Scott,

It looks like plenty of computer for your mom. I would caution against selecting Windows Vista Basic Edition!

Good luck!

[Scott Pruett]

Hi Scott,

It looks like plenty of computer for your mom. I would caution against selecting Windows Vista Basic Edition!

Good luck!
Thanks! It was ordered w/ XP (home), per her request, believe it or not. Upgraded to an optical mouse (+ $20) & added a basic set of 2.1 speakers (+ $30-40). Tax was like $23, grand total aound $470 w/ free shipping. There was something like a $280 discount for whatever promotion this fell under... would've been over $750. Mom was happy.

They shipped it out yesterday. Not too shabby of a turnaround time.

[PN]

http://www.xsltblog.com/archives/24805BP~The-Simpsons-Mr-Burns-Excellent.jpg

[SCI_OTR]

update: went w/ this: http://slickdeals.net/?permadeal=10289#direct_deal_10289

Dell SB (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=1&afsrc=1) has Vostro 200 Desktop with 19" LCD and a choice of Windows XP Home (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=2&afsrc=1) or Windows Vista Home Basic (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=3&afsrc=1) for $389 with free shipping. Thanks mikeopp2
Specs:
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2160 (1.80GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800FSB)
Genuine Windows XP Home (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=2&afsrc=1) or Windows Vista Home Basic (http://slickdeals.net/?pno=10289&lno=3&afsrc=1)
Dell 19 inch Widescreen E198WFP Analog Flat Panel Monitor
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz - 2DIMMs
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
1 Year Limited Hardware Warranty with Next Business Day On-Site Service
That's a pretty nice desktop for the price.

[Patonb]

It's because it's the Dual core, not a C2D chip.

But yes it is a good system.

[sjean423]

Sounds great! Glad you went w/ xp. My daughters new laptop has vista, and she is having LOTS of problems.

[Wise Young]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/image_maps/07/1179000000/1179824483/img/navigation2_416.gif

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6994957.stm


'$100 laptop' to sell to public
By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News

Students at a school in Nigeria

Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called "$100 laptop".

The organisation behind the project has launched the "give one, get one" scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198).

One laptop will be sent to the buyer whilst a child in the developing world will receive the second machine

The G1G1 scheme, as it is known, will offer the laptops for just two weeks, starting on the 12 November.

The offer to the general public comes after the project's founder admitted that concrete orders from the governments of developing nations had not always followed verbal agreements

Nicholas Negroponte told the New York Times: "I have to some degree underestimated the difference between shaking the hand of a head of state and having a cheque written.

"And yes, it has been a disappointment."

Walter Bender, head of software development at One Laptop per Child (OLPC), told the BBC News website: "From day one there's been a lot of interest expressed in having some way of people in the developed world participate in the programme."

Price hike

The XO laptop has been developed to be used by children and is as low cost, durable and simple to use as possible.

It packs several innovations including a sunlight readable display so that it can be used outside. It has no moving parts, can be powered by solar, foot-pump or pull-string powered chargers and is housed in a waterproof case.

cost breakdown

The machine's price has recently increased from $176 (£88) to $188 (£93) although the eventual aim is to sell the machines for $100 (£50).