How's this computer look for Mom??

[rferoni]

Here's the list of products I want to build my Mom and Grandma's computer
with. Please tell me if you think I should change anything. I posted a few
days back about building computers for them. I went to new egg and picked
out what I thought was decent stuff, not real cheap but not expensive
either. My goal here is to build stable computers for the both of them.
All they really use is email and internet browsing. Only games they play
are games like online euchre and such. It may be a little overkill so if
you all have any advice on changes I should(could??) make, it would be much
appreciated. Couple questions.....should I get a DVD drive instead of the
cd one? Do I even need to get a floppy drive?

regards,
Ron



http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=500937

 

[jeffc]

Here's the list of products I want to build my Mom and Grandma's computer
with. Please tell me if you think I should change anything. I posted a few
days back about building computers for them. I went to new egg and picked
out what I thought was decent stuff, not real cheap but not expensive
either. My goal here is to build stable computers for the both of them.
All they really use is email and internet browsing. Only games they play
are games like online euchre and such. It may be a little overkill so if
you all have any advice on changes I should(could??) make, it would be much
appreciated. Couple questions.....should I get a DVD drive instead of the
cd one? Do I even need to get a floppy drive?
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=500937

I'd save a bit on the power supply, and also get a DVD drive and also a
floppy drive. Sounds pretty well balanced, but if you wanted to save a few
more bucks, the 512M RAM is plenty in amount, but might be overkill in brand
(Mushkin is really top of the line, which might be what you want if you are
overclocking or something), and then next I'd look to save a bit on the
video card. Even if the board doesn't have video, you can still get by with
a much lesser video card.

 

[Patch]

Here's the list of products I want to build my Mom and Grandma's computer
with. Please tell me if you think I should change anything. I posted a few
days back about building computers for them. I went to new egg and picked
out what I thought was decent stuff, not real cheap but not expensive
either. My goal here is to build stable computers for the both of them.
All they really use is email and internet browsing. Only games they play
are games like online euchre and such. It may be a little overkill so if
you all have any advice on changes I should(could??) make, it would be much
appreciated. Couple questions.....should I get a DVD drive instead of the
cd one? Do I even need to get a floppy drive?

regards,
Ron

It looks to me that what you have chosen would be all they would ever need
for surfing & simple games. As to the floppy, it's only $8 & sometimes comes
in handy.

 

[\(\) |\\/| 3 G /-\\]

do NOT underestimate the need for a good quality PSU. for todays computers a
quality 350w minimum is recommended for stability.. also, alot of the
cheaper PSU's have 'dirty' voltage lines, and dont come anywhere close to
their rated wattage. also, alot of the time, the amperage is where you dont
want it. (eg, all amps on 12v rail, when the 3.3 & 5v rails are just as
inportant).

you dont need mushkin ram, high-ish spec ram that. try geil etc. aslong as
it's branded then go for the cheapest.

fdd- cheap enough, never know when your gonna need to take around a bios
flash utlity, or a small program to get something to work, also, should your
relatives do any finances on computer, they can backup to floppy.
winXP however does not need a boot disk - it can boot from cd.

video card - somewhat overkill as i cant see them playing half-life, quake3
or anything newer. then again, the mx440 is about the cheapest around, and
is also rock solid stability - all nvidia kit that i`ve owned is.
it might however be worth seeing if you can get an alternative mobo with
onbaord VGA. spend $15 more on this, will save on a seperate GFX card.

DVD drives are just about the same price as CD drives, so fwiw get a dvd
drive.

tim

 

[jeffc]

video card - somewhat overkill as i cant see them playing half-life, quake3
or anything newer. then again, the mx440 is about the cheapest around, and
is also rock solid stability - all nvidia kit that i`ve owned is.
it might however be worth seeing if you can get an alternative mobo with
onbaord VGA. spend $15 more on this, will save on a seperate GFX card.

Yeah, that sounds like a better idea.

 

[jeffc]

do NOT underestimate the need for a good quality PSU. for todays computers a
quality 350w minimum is recommended for stability.. also, alot of the
cheaper PSU's have 'dirty' voltage lines, and dont come anywhere close to
their rated wattage. also, alot of the time, the amperage is where you dont
want it. (eg, all amps on 12v rail, when the 3.3 & 5v rails are just as
inportant).

Yeah, but you said "today's computers" - some of the high-end CPUs and
graphics cards take a lot of power, as do multiple CD/DVD drives (for
copying), multiple hard drives, etc., which his computer doesn't have. I
just think $75 is a pretty expensive power supply for that computer. You
can find online reviews for quality power supplies which *do* supply their
rated voltages, and more, for $50 or less. I think 300w would be fine for
that computer. That Antec probably puts out in the neighborhood of 375w.
It's only $30 difference we're talking about, but if I remember he is buying
2 of them.

 

[Wooducoodu]

There's a newer version of that case that's black unless you like the
metallic bronze or the Sonata is similar. I agree about saving some money on
the RAM. Maybe put it into that DVD or even a CDRW or Combo drive is pretty
cheap if you think there's any chance they'd use one. I'd avoid Sony though,
look at Lite-On. A couple things in there might make it kind of loud. See if
you can find a motherboard with a passive chipset cooler. Take a look at
this Samsung hard drive (it's one of the quietest available and it still has
a 3 year warranty) and I don't see a CPU cooler on you list. (most AMD
coolers use a 60mm fan, avoid them like the plague.)

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=22-152-008
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=35-150-010

 

[Ralph Mowery]

"> Here's the list of products I want to build my Mom and Grandma's computer

with. Please tell me if you think I should change anything. I posted a few
days back about building computers for them. I went to new egg and picked
out what I thought was decent stuff, not real cheap but not expensive
either. My goal here is to build stable computers for the both of them.
All they really use is email and internet browsing. Only games they play
are games like online euchre and such. It may be a little overkill so if
you all have any advice on changes I should(could??) make, it would be much
appreciated. Couple questions.....should I get a DVD drive instead of the
cd one? Do I even need to get a floppy drive?

regards,
Ron



http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=500937

Where is the monitor and operating system ? For $ 8 a floppy is worth it
and a cdrw is not much more than a cdr. Did not see a fan for the
processor, did I overlook that ?

Here is my broken record again. I have not checked them out but saw on TV
where Dell had a free cdrw and shipping for $ 500 afrer a rebate. The
specials seem to change every week. Also check out the prices of some
bundled software . It is almost like the printers, almost give away the
printer and make it up on the ink. If you buy seperate software it costs a
lot more than if you get it at the time you get a computer.

 

[Lefty]

Here is my broken record again. I have not checked them out but saw
on TV where Dell had a free cdrw and shipping for $ 500 afrer a
rebate. The specials seem to change every week. Also check out the
prices of some bundled software . It is almost like the printers,
almost give away the printer and make it up on the ink. If you buy
seperate software it costs a lot more than if you get it at the time
you get a computer.

i use www.bloglines.com to monitor a few things (not just 'blogs', including
the feed from www.techbargains.com

that makes it very easy to click and see what's new. when a dell deal
matches what you want, it's hard to beat.

(bloglines can monitor extremetech and ars.technica as well.)

 

[jeffc]

It is almost like the printers, almost give away the
printer and make it up on the ink.

I'd say it's exactly like that.

If you buy seperate software it costs a
lot more than if you get it at the time you get a computer.

Good point. Although he might already have a copy

 

[Alan W. Blackmon]

I'd say it's exactly like that.


Good point. Although he might already have a copy

Or he could look at some of the software outlets for older versions to save
some money.

www.9software.com www.softwareoutlet.com for example.

Alan in Boise

 

[Larc]

| Here's the list of products I want to build my Mom and Grandma's computer
| with. Please tell me if you think I should change anything. I posted a few
| days back about building computers for them. I went to new egg and picked
| out what I thought was decent stuff, not real cheap but not expensive
| either. My goal here is to build stable computers for the both of them.
| All they really use is email and internet browsing. Only games they play
| are games like online euchre and such. It may be a little overkill so if
| you all have any advice on changes I should(could??) make, it would be much
| appreciated. Couple questions.....should I get a DVD drive instead of the
| cd one? Do I even need to get a floppy drive?

First off: Yes, get a floppy drive. The actual cost is $13 since it's $8 plus
$5 shipping. I always add shipping and any sales tax to the price of items when
I'm comparing. That gives a truer basis.

Mushkin RAM is often overkill in the kind of systems you'll be building, but $85
including shipping is a very good price for PC3200 RAM. You could save $3 by
going with either Kingston or Corsair, both excellent quality.

I'd suggest a DVD-ROM rather than a CD-ROM. There will be an increasing need
for DVD. The one in your list is $18 plus $5 shipping or $23. For only $9 more
($32), you can get a Sony DVD-ROM shipped.

As has already been suggested, you could save a little by buying a motherboard
that includes video instead of getting a separate video card. The Asus nForce2
Ultra 400 is a very good board for $118.99 including shipping. That's $40.99
more than the Epox nForce2, but it's $13 less than the Epox AND the Gainward
MX-440 8x video card.

DIFFERENCES:
Corsair RAM - ($3)
Sony DVD-ROM - $9 (including deletion of $5 shipping for CD-ROM)
Asus mobo - $40.99
No video card - ($53.99)
TOTAL - ($7)

Your original total $426.99 (actually $436.99 including shipping) less $7 from
merchandise and shipping = $429.99 including $5 shipping for the floppy drive.

Larc



§§§ - Please raise temperature of mail to reply by e-mail - §§§

 

[jeffc]

First off: Yes, get a floppy drive. The actual cost is $13 since it's $8 plus
$5 shipping. I always add shipping and any sales tax to the price of items when
I'm comparing. That gives a truer basis.

Not if you buy it all from one place.

Mushkin RAM is often overkill in the kind of systems you'll be building, but $85
including shipping is a very good price for PC3200 RAM.

Is PC3200 needed?

 

[rferoni]

First off thanks all for the advice. Good stuff here. So I talked to Mom
and Grams and they are going to go with bundled software. They have some
Sony I guess at best buy for about a $1000 after rebates. Comes with 17"
flat panel, printer, blah blah blah. I still wish they would let me build
them one.

ron


|
| | >
| > First off: Yes, get a floppy drive. The actual cost is $13 since it's
$8
| plus
| > $5 shipping. I always add shipping and any sales tax to the price of
| items when
| > I'm comparing. That gives a truer basis.
|
| Not if you buy it all from one place.
|
| > Mushkin RAM is often overkill in the kind of systems you'll be building,
| but $85
| > including shipping is a very good price for PC3200 RAM.
|
| Is PC3200 needed?
|
|

 

[Larc]

|
| | >
| > First off: Yes, get a floppy drive. The actual cost is $13 since it's $8
| plus
| > $5 shipping. I always add shipping and any sales tax to the price of
| items when
| > I'm comparing. That gives a truer basis.
|
| Not if you buy it all from one place.

Not necessarily. The OP indicated Newegg. But even from that source, whether
or not there are shipping charges should be taken into account when comparing
prices of different brands/models. Shipping charges are just a way of adding to
the price of a product.

| > Mushkin RAM is often overkill in the kind of systems you'll be building,
| but $85
| > including shipping is a very good price for PC3200 RAM.
|
| Is PC3200 needed?

Probably not with an Athlon XP 1800+ since I believe it's 266MHz FSB, but maybe
rferoni wants to prepare for future CPU upgrades.

Larc



§§§ - Please raise temperature of mail to reply by e-mail - §§§

 

[bogustxtburnetga]

Here's the list of products I want to build my Mom and Grandma's computer
with. Please tell me if you think I should change anything. I posted a few
days back about building computers for them. I went to new egg and picked
out what I thought was decent stuff, not real cheap but not expensive
either. My goal here is to build stable computers for the both of them.
All they really use is email and internet browsing. Only games they play
are games like online euchre and such. It may be a little overkill so if
you all have any advice on changes I should(could??) make, it would be much
appreciated. Couple questions.....should I get a DVD drive instead of the
cd one? Do I even need to get a floppy drive?

regards,
Ron



http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=500937

Lite On LTC-48161H 48x24x48x16 Combo Drive, 2MB, OEM $50 @newegg
for $32 xtra you get a burner and a dvd ( just too cheap not to )

The nforce2 mobo would be best suited with 2 dimms
2 x 256 instead of 1 x 512

 

[Steven M. Scharf]

Here's the list of products I want to build my Mom and Grandma's computer
with. Please tell me if you think I should change anything. I posted a few
days back about building computers for them. I went to new egg and picked
out what I thought was decent stuff, not real cheap but not expensive
either. My goal here is to build stable computers for the both of them.
All they really use is email and internet browsing. Only games they play
are games like online euchre and such. It may be a little overkill so if
you all have any advice on changes I should(could??) make, it would be much
appreciated. Couple questions.....should I get a DVD drive instead of the
cd one? Do I even need to get a floppy drive?

I think that's overkill. They don't need a seven slot motherboard. For their
needs they can get by with 256MB of DDR. If you want 512MB get two 256MB
Crucial modules. The motherboard is overkill. The graphics is overkill. An
all-in-one Micro-ATX motherboard will be a better choice. Get the DVD-ROM
instead of the CD-ROM, it's a small difference. Get a case with front audio
and USB. Keep the floppy.

Here is my advice:

http://nordicgroup.us/homebrew

Scroll down to the recommendations for mom/grandmother PC. Use a more
reliable brand of motherboard such as Gigabyte or ASUS. A Celeron CPU is
more than enough, and runs cooler than the Athlon.

 

[rferoni]

All right.....

I know this system is overkill but its the cheapest componets I could
find on Newegg!! If someone wants to take the time and build me a virtual
system(with brand names and part#'s) that would be great. As I said
Mom/Grams only use internet for web browsing, email. Some specific things I
want are ---front usb ports, seperate video(NOT integrated). I don't mind
going cheaper as long as the stuff is of decent quality. After all, it IS
Mom and Grams. I picked the componets in the link below because these were
the brands I went with when I did my own computer.

Ron


| Here's the list of products I want to build my Mom and Grandma's computer
| with. Please tell me if you think I should change anything. I posted a
few
| days back about building computers for them. I went to new egg and picked
| out what I thought was decent stuff, not real cheap but not expensive
| either. My goal here is to build stable computers for the both of them.
| All they really use is email and internet browsing. Only games they play
| are games like online euchre and such. It may be a little overkill so if
| you all have any advice on changes I should(could??) make, it would be
much
| appreciated. Couple questions.....should I get a DVD drive instead of the
| cd one? Do I even need to get a floppy drive?
|
| regards,
| Ron
|
|
|
| http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=500937
|
|
|
|

 

[JAD]

YB02-BA14402-BA19756-BA03056-BA02459-BA08551-AA00693-AA13780 AMD ATHLON XP SYSTEMS
(ANTEC SLK1600; AOPEN MK79G-N-MB; AMD XP 1900+(266Mhz); KINGSTON 256MB DDR333; MITSUMI 1.44 FDD; LITE ON 16X DVD) $269.96 $269.96

AA19500- WD 40GB WD400JB EIDE ULTRA-ATA/66-100 8.9MS 7200RPM 8MB BUFFER HARD DRIVE (Bare drive) *Limit 1 Per customer (NO DATA
CABLE) $59.00 $59.00

Sub Total $328.96