Recommend a PC for my father?

censuspro

My father is looking for a new desktop, he uses it for general internet browsing and ms office. I would like to future proof it a bit as his current desktop is about 8 years old. He wants a very big monitor 22" or more and although a dual processor would suffice is it neccessary to get an i3 or more if he's going to keep it for eight years. In terms of RAM I was thinking about 4GB???

In summary, what he's looking for is a pc that has a very big display, that he can use for internet, ms office, uploading photos to the pc from his digital camera and will last him a long time.

Any ideas?

stimpson

iMac.

I got my Mother in Law one when she wanted to upgrade her old PC. I used to field support calls on a weekly basis. After we got her set up I've only had one call - and that was down to her broadband being down.

censuspro

stimpson wrote: »

iMac.

I got my Mother in Law one when she wanted to upgrade her old PC. I used to field support calls on a weekly basis. After we got her set up I've only had one call - and that was down to her broadband being down.

TBH mac is not an option. If I even try to explain to my father that he would be using a different os, a brick wall would go up straight away.

stimpson

He's likely to be going from XP to Win 7 anyway.

In any case, you could always install his old copy of windows on the Mac using bootcamp and he could slowly transition to OSX.

ricman

Get this http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d005712&c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1&model_id=inspiron-570

it has office starter version free ,you can customise it with full ms office 2010 if you wish.choose system recovery, 5euro, for a windows 7 install ,recover dvd.
Macs cost twice as much as pcs , the mouse pads are not designed well, ie too complex ,multi touch etc you can buy a monitor from dell 22 inch widescreen,just click customise, order add monitor lcd 22inch.
unless you are a super techie ,mac expert ,i would bother with buying a mac for any relative.
windows is designed to be used on pcs.windows 7 premium is included.
an i3 cpu is not needed for office , general webrowsing.
3 or 4gb ram is fine for that pc.
windows 7 is just as good as mac os in terms of power , usability.

bette

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_02PC/01_DESKTOP/01_COMPUTE/productdetails/80000828/Asus_24_ET2400EG_E5500_4G_750G_WIN7/90PE3JZ3232EE10AMC0Q/default.aspx

Because he's worth it!

stimpson

ricman wrote: »

Get this http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=d005712&c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1&model_id=inspiron-570

it has office starter version free ,you can customise it with full ms office 2010 if you wish.choose system recovery, 5euro, for a windows 7 install ,recover dvd.
Macs cost twice as much as pcs

That machine is over a grand once you add a monitor. An iMac comes in at just 150 quid more. A Mac Mini is cheaper.

unless you are a super techie ,mac expert ,i would bother with buying a mac for any relative.
windows is designed to be used on pcs.windows 7 premium is included.
an i3 cpu is not needed for office , general webrowsing.
3 or 4gb ram is fine for that pc.
windows 7 is just as good as mac os in terms of power , usability.

Lol. Windows 7 is a long way ahead of Vista, but trust me - it's nowhere near as usable as OSX. And Windows runs fine on a Mac. Apple even provide Windows drivers for their hardware. I'm currently running Win7 on top of OSX using VMware without any issues. I can reboot and run it natively for games when required.

Mr. Presentable

He says he's looking for a PC. Why not recommend one instead of pushing Mac?

James G

stimpson wrote: »

That machine is over a grand once you add a monitor. An iMac comes in at just 150 quid more. A Mac Mini is cheaper.



Lol. Windows 7 is a long way ahead of Vista, but trust me - it's nowhere near as usable as OSX. And Windows runs fine on a Mac. Apple even provide Windows drivers for their hardware. I'm currently running Win7 on top of OSX using VMware without any issues. I can reboot and run it natively for games when required.

OSX can be run on non-mac hardware, at a small fraction of the cost. Considering that it's only going to be used for general internet browsing and ms office, it would make sense to go with a 'PC'.

ricman

I dont think you can buy a new pc with 4gb ram and a 22inch screen for
less than 650 euros .Hes asking for a pc to last years , not a cheap pc.Theres also pcs for sale in lidl/aldi every few weeks ,for reasonable prices.

May I recommend an install of 'Linux Mint' or 'Jolicloud', since the user requirements are just web browsing and using ms office, sure you will have to install ms office under wine, though I have it setup on my father's, sister's and aunt's PC and none of them are tech savvy and since implementing a Linux solution, I have very little tech call ups from them and these are installed on machines not younger that 5 years and all are running perfect, even my da can't get over how quick Linux Mint shuts down.

I think an I3 and over 2 GB of RAM is overkill for what you are requesting.

stimpson

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

He says he's looking for a PC. Why not recommend one instead of pushing Mac?

I'm not 'pushing' anything - just giving the OP the benefit of my experience in buying a machine for an older member of the family.

James G wrote: »

OSX can be run on non-mac hardware, at a small fraction of the cost. Considering that it's only going to be used for general internet browsing and ms office, it would make sense to go with a 'PC'.

OSX can be made to run on commodity PC hardware if you know what you're doing, but it's not exactly plug and play. Hardly suitable for an elderly user. My M-I-L picked up the machine and set it up herself (with just a little help to get the web up and running). And she has since progressed from web/email to photo and video editing.

It's no skin off my nose if the OP wants to get a windows PC - just suggesting an alternative.

bette

The OP wants a PC for his father. He does not want a Mac nor has he specified Linux! That yoke I recommended is an ideal stand alone machine for the OP's father. It's a no messing, tidy and compact machine.

EKRIUQ

Why should he be persuaded to buy a mac, please justify the extra cost for a computer that will be mainly for browsing the internet and Microsoft suite.

censuspro

Think I may have found one: i3 processor, 4GB RAM, 500 GB HD, 24" display, office starter, 6 usb ports, 1 HDMI and it's less than the asus.





Inspiron Desktop 580 MT Intel® Core™ i3 Processor 550 (3.20GHz, 4MB)



Item Description Quantity Total Price

Intel® Core™ i3 Processor 550 (3.20GHz, 4MB) 1 €590.06 Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit - English 1
OS Media MUI Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) Resource DVD 1
1 year of coverage included with your PC 1
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB - 1 year licence 1
Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook 1
McAfee® SecurityCenter 30-Days trial version 1
ST2420L 24-inch Full HD WLED Widescreen Monitor (VGA, DVI-D and HDMI) - UK/Irish 1
No Accidental Damage Support 1
4096MB Dual Channel DDR3 [4x1024] Memory 1
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) with DVD Burn software 1
500GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive 1
Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 Graphics 1
Dell™ USB Entry Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY) 1
NO - Dell may NOT telephone me in relation to my order and related products and services 1
Inspiron Desktop 580 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers) 1
English Documentation 1
D025802 1
Inspiron Desktop 580 Minitower Order - Ireland 1
1 year Collect & Return Hardware Support included with your PC 1
2 Meter Power Cord - UK 1
One free Dell Expert call to help with your PC queries within 60 days of purchase 1
Datasafe Local 2.3 Basic 1
Integrated 7.1 channel audio 1
No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) 1
No Modem 1
Dell MS111 USB Optical Mouse (Indigo) 1








Subtotal: €590.06 Freight: €24.79 Total Net: €614.85 Enviromental Tax: €0.00 VAT (Rate 21%): €129.12 Total: €743.97

Overheal

EKRIUQ wrote: »

Why should he be persuaded to buy a mac, please justify the extra cost for a computer that will be mainly for browsing the internet and Microsoft suite.

if you're old and/or dont want to deal with PCs?

bette

censuspro wrote: »

Think I may have found one: i3 processor, 4GB RAM, 500 GB HD, 24" display, office starter, 6 usb ports, 1 HDMI and it's less than the asus.

Compare like with like! There a minimal price difference and you are missing the point! The stand alone is an elegant machine, takes up less space than a tower and will be less prone to dust getting into the box.

You get what you pay for and Dell is not the best value for money but if it makes you happy by all means go for it for yourself. I would never recommend that stuff.

censuspro

bette wrote: »

Compare like with like! There a minimal price difference and you are missing the point! The stand alone is an elegant machine, takes up less space than a tower and will be less prone to dust getting into the box.

You get what you pay for and Dell is not the best value for money but if it makes you happy by all means go for it for yourself. I would never recommend that stuff.

Thanks for the reply, I know what you mean about the AIO and they are slick machines but are the repairs and maintenance costs of stand alone not alot more than tower?

Also, the last pc that my father used was a Dell and it's lasted for eight years.