Hi all. Father in law wants to upgrade his desktop. Only for surfing, writing letters and watching youtube. He doesn't need anything great but doesn't mind spending some money to get something current. Saw this on ebay. What do you think? I've seen the ones from CPL and this seems to be better spec'd.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281243819674?ssPageName=STRK:MEWA…
Looking to buy a new desktop for father in law
tatnal on 21/08/2014 - 21:26
Comments
Thanks for the response. Yes I can put a computer together but have been out of the game for some time. Just getting myself up to speed on what is out there. He's currently using an old acer (probably a good 10 years, can't remember what processor), only 512mb ram already filling the 2 slots, etc. Trust me, it's slow. As I said, he's happy to spend a bit and doesn't want just anything that will just do. So I'm think he would be happy spending anywhere from $500 to $800.
As I said, he's happy to spend a bit and doesn't want just anything that will just do.
No problem. My advice particularly about the CPU however, is that you shouldn't over-invest as it has zero benefits as to how long the computer will last — the weakest link of all computers nowadays is with storage speed, but now with SSD's becoming mainstream, a budget PC equipped with an SSD will be sufficient for the above tasks for years to come.
Web browsing and Youtube are tasks that even outdated CPU's from 2006 can handle, and don't require any fancy quad cores to run. Allocate the budget towards a sizable SSD and other parts. Don't underestimate the capability of a Haswell Pentium, they are in fact very powerful and will be much faster than CPU's from half a decade ago.
That said, if the computer he's using is that old there's also a chance he may want some new peripherals like a better mouse, keyboard, audio and LCD display.
Intel G3240 3.1ghz dual core $69
ASUS H81 Plus mobo $69
Thermaltake Versa Case with 500w psu $78
Kingston 4GB DDR3 Valueram single dimm $49
Samsung Evo 840 250GB $149
Windows 8 OEM $115
DVD burner $19
BenQ 1080p monitor $129$677
Appreciate your response. Noted.
Maybe swap out windows 8 with windows 7 if that's what he's used to. Unless he's eager to learn how to operate windows 8 (keep in mind the learning curve of windows 8). As for main storage you could probably recycle the old HDD from the acer and use that as his main stoage. But other than that solid choice of parts!
He can also install Classic Shell or one of the many Start bar replacements after building the system.
The user experience of Windows 8.1 will be roughly 95% identical to Windows 7 without the modern UI.
There are benefits to using Win 8.1, mainly the ability to simply 'refresh' the operating system without having to delete personal data and as such certain problems may be easier to troubleshoot. There's also OS level USB3 support, better file transfer dialogs and a more informative task manager.
It's probably important to have a bit of data backup storage as well. Highly recommend setting up cloud storage or install a secondary HDD for the occasional incremental backup.
Based upon his usage needs maybe a Chromebook might be a good option. In theory much harder to break for the computer illiterate (not saying he is) with long battery life and cheaper cost.
Buying a full desktop for a few letters/ emails and some YouTube feels overkill.
Sure Ozbargainers could find better prices but here a guide:
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/chromebooks/Another thought is a tablet (ie iPad) again meets the usage needs (maybe paired with Bluetooth keyboard) with lots of other side benefits?!
For that usage my mum loves her tablet- uses it all over th house(ipad), and my partner loves a haswell pentium desktop i put together for her (dual 24inch monitors).
For a desktop put in a SSD, 4gb ram, quality case and psu (with fan filters). I used a 128gb SSD since she has several terabytes of ext hdd. The pc flies -10+ tabs, word docs, large pdfs. Especially compared to her core2duo laptop which struggled to play some mp4 movies. I spent an hour + cable routing… But I expect it to last until the psu/mobo dies or it needs a graphics card for the next gen movie compression not yet invented.
One step up would be an i3 (no benefit for single/dual threaded aps, 25% benefit in multithreaded apps… the only one i can think of is large excel spreadsheets).
Why not an i7? I have an office box I built with a 4770 and I know that I will never run out of grunt and can easily repurpose or onsell it. A poky old dual core in 2014 makes no sense. You got fat old Java and flash and Web 2.0 sucking up cycles easily. A dual core is the bare minimum, and its not a Core 2. You also want a better mobo than a $50 frisbee if you want it to last and at least 8GB of RAM, if not 16GB. You also don't want a cheapo Thermaltake PSU in a flimsy case either. If you don't want something that will "just do" build a box for a $1K and it will last for years.
There is also this, should be enough for what your in law need.
Add another $100 for a monitor and you should be good to go. Medion has decent customer service. Had one when 2nd gen i3 first came out, did an RMA once and everything was done for you, booking the courier for pick up and delivery etc.
Yes had saw this. Thanks for reminding me.
The only thing that attracted you to it was the Core i7, which would be overkill for a computer that would literally be idle most of the time. Everything else about the computer is cheap and nasty.
Funnily enough the seller decided to brand it as a 'gaming pc' even though it lacks any sort of discrete GPU.
These tasks are not CPU intensive, if this is all the PC is required to do, you could even perform it very well on an old Core 2 Duo machine. 99% of modern desktop processors out there will in fact service your pop's needs very well, especially a Haswell-era Celeron.
What are his current system specifications?
If you want to speed it up, I suggest upgrading the mechanical drive to an SSD.
Also, is anyone in your househould computer savvy? You don't sound like technical person, so I assume you won't know how to put together a computer, or upgrade existing parts?