grandma build... watcha think?

hnzw_rui · Post by **hnzw_rui** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:37 pm

Well, not really for grandma, but for my parents. My dad's been complaining about Firefox showing "Not responding" after being left open overnight. Due to memory (or lack thereof) I'm sure, but I don't think it's cost effective to upgrade that particular PC anymore (Dell Dimension 8200?, PIV 1.7 GHz, 512MB (4x128MB) DDR2 RDRAM).

Prices are from Newegg unless otherwise specified.
Case + PSU: APEX DM-387 - $48.99
CPU + MB: Intel Pentium DC E2200 + ECS GF7050VT-M - $80 (Fry's)
RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 533 - $39.99
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB - $89.99
TOTAL: $259 before shipping and tax

Case and PSU might change depending on whether I find a small form factor case I like from Fry's. Chose the case above because I've worked with it before and found it to be pretty good (barring the extremely loud case fan which is easily replaced). No optical drive included in the cost. I'll just salvage the one from their old PC. Same with the operating system (XP Pro retail version).

So, watcha guys think?

Zertz · Post by **Zertz** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:03 pm

Looks good!

I've been thinking about getting that hard drive, just waiting until they release a 3 platter version

Alathald · Post by **Alathald** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:19 pm

If all your parent do on the computer is surf the internet and word processing try installing Linux Mint on the P4. The specs on that computer are not bad at all for those things and all the restricted software (like DVD codecs and Flash Plugins etc) is preinstalled with Mint. Great OS for the Linux newbie.

It's probably just a case of a old XP install going bad TBH.

InsolenceAndHeresy · Post by **InsolenceAndHeresy** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:55 pm

No mobo?

hnzw_rui · Post by **hnzw_rui** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:26 pm

Alathald wrote:If all your parent do on the computer is surf the internet and word processing try installing Linux Mint on the P4. The specs on that computer are not bad at all for those things and all the restricted software (like DVD codecs and Flash Plugins etc) is preinstalled with Mint. Great OS for the Linux newbie.

It's probably just a case of a old XP install going bad TBH.

Yes, well, my mom needs Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. The old one is on dual-boot with Kubuntu and I didn't switch it to WinXP for a day. Mommy dearest told me there was something wrong with the PC and I had to fix it. She's already relatively familiar with Windows and MS Office and I find myself with neither the patience nor inclination to show her how everything is done using different software.

InsolenceAndHeresy wrote:No mobo?

Mobo is ECS GF7050VT-M. Part of the MB+CPU deals from Fry's, it's $80 paired with an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200.

Alathald · Post by **Alathald** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:03 pm

hnzw_rui wrote:She's already relatively familiar with Windows and MS Office and I find myself with neither the patience nor inclination to show her how everything is done using different software.

Ah that's too bad, it always seems to be that the people that need the easy, no user involvement needed, security of Linux the most are the one's that resist the most because they are far too comfortable with Windows.

I just wiped and reinstalled my Aunt's eMachine and set it up to Dual Boot Ubuntu 8.04 after explaining to her the reasons to use Linux (no viruses ever is what sold her

) and she seemed to like it (liked the colors mainly

). I'll have to wait and see how it goes for her though...

Either way, there are lots of good reasons to get her off of IE!

Have fun with your new build, hope it goes well!

hnzw_rui · Post by **hnzw_rui** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:48 pm

Alathald wrote:
hnzw_rui wrote:She's already relatively familiar with Windows and MS Office and I find myself with neither the patience nor inclination to show her how everything is done using different software.
Ah that's too bad, it always seems to be that the people that need the easy, no user involvement needed, security of Linux the most are the one's that resist the most because they are far too comfortable with Windows.

So true. One thing I have to be thankful about with Vista, Microsoft has made quite a departure from dear old Windows XP. It'll be easier to transition from Windows XP to Kubuntu when the time comes since no one in my family likes Vista anyway.

Alathald wrote:I just wiped and reinstalled my Aunt's eMachine and set it up to Dual Boot Ubuntu 8.04 after explaining to her the reasons to use Linux (no viruses ever is what sold her ) and she seemed to like it (liked the colors mainly ). I'll have to wait and see how it goes for her though...

Good for her. Lol, the thing is, all the computers at home are basically "mine".

I just let family members borrow them. My family's pretty much trained not to download anything (programs, screensavers, wallpapers, windows updates, emails, etc) without my permission otherwise, I go all Godzilla. Ugh, I sound like such a control freak. Anyhow, that being the case, as far as they're concerned, there's no user involvement with regards to security since I take care of all of that.

Alathald wrote:Either way, there are lots of good reasons to get her off of IE!

I already got my Dad to use Firefox (as evidenced by my initial post). However, my mom insists on using IE.

Alathald wrote:Have fun with your new build, hope it goes well!

I plan to. One reason I'm opting for a custom-build instead of going OEM is the fun, frustration and satisfaction of having built your own PC.

unfaithfulsfan · Post by **unfaithfulsfan** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:28 am

I feel y'all's pain. My 73 y.o. mother-in-law refuses to let me build her a new box because her brother ( a retired Unisys network/hardware guru) gave her a simple eMachines quite a few years ago with a 633 Celeron, 256 MB RAM, a 40 GB HDD, and Win Me for simple surfing, email and greeting cards.

She's confined to a wheelchair and even refused the convenience of a cordless keyboard and mouse because it would mean giving up part of her brother's gift. It was a pitched battle to even get her to give up dial-up and let me connect her to cable. (=3 weeks of debate)

Gotta love'em.

Jack

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:49 am

otherwise, I go all Godzilla

That's not a bad thing, as it's only be you that ended up having to fix everything.

As for getting my parents to switch to FX from IE, i just swapped over all the IE links to point to firefox and gave it an IE skin

(I think they have noticed, but as all the buttons are in the same place i don't think they mind too much

)

Dan

vicaphit · Post by **vicaphit** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:07 pm

I bet you could uninstall IE, and change the Mozilla icon to the IE icon and she would never notice. (Except she might wonder why IE got so much better). After 6 months tell her that she has been using FF the whole time, and ask her if she wants to go back.

Alathald · Post by **Alathald** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:06 pm

or better yet, download and change the source code so everything from the task manager to the toolbars show IE, edit the default theme to be just like IE and integrate IEtab into the source. Then upload it to your website as the new and improve Internet Explorer and wait for the cease and desist letters to pour in from M$...

hnzw_rui · Post by **hnzw_rui** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:13 pm

vicaphit wrote:I bet you could uninstall IE, and change the Mozilla icon to the IE icon and she would never notice. (Except she might wonder why IE got so much better). After 6 months tell her that she has been using FF the whole time, and ask her if she wants to go back.

The reason I couldn't get her to switch is because she goes to sites that were designed specifically for IE (int'l banking sites). Hence, when using Firefox, the layout is out of wack and some of the buttons are non-responsive. I do have IETab installed on Firefox, but since those are pretty much the only websites she visits, I stopped trying to convince her and just let her be with IE.

hnzw_rui · Post by **hnzw_rui** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:38 pm

Final cost/parts list:
Case + PSU: RAIDMAX xB ATX-528BP - $34.99 (Fry's)
CPU + MB: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 (to be swapped w/E2160) + ECS GF7050VT-M - $119.99 (Fry's)
RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 667 - $38.99 (Newegg)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB - $89.99 (Newegg)
TOTAL: $284 + tax (got free shipping on Newegg)

I'll be swapping the E7200 with the E2160 on my media encoding rig. Wanted to get the E8400 + ECS7050VT-M combo for $159.99, but the E8400 was tray/OEM version and I was uncomfortable buying something w/o any warranty on it. Not likely to overclock anyway since it gets so darned hot here now that it's summer (~90F).

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:44 am

I like how a third of that price is just for storage >_>

They really going to need all that speed/storage?

Dan

hnzw_rui · Post by **hnzw_rui** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:37 am

DMB2000uk wrote:I like how a third of that price is just for storage >_>

They really going to need all that speed/storage?

Dan

No, but I do. I fill up hard drives quite fast and when storage on my PC is scarce, I tend to dump files on other hard drives in the house.

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