computer for mom

[fpoverflow]

While not quite a technical problem (although mother's can sometimes be viewed in that light, especially when relating to computers), I thought this forum might best fit my question.

As you might guess, I need to get a computer for mom. If it were for me, I would build it myself, but I want her to have access to technical support (other than myself), so I was leaning towards a company like Dell.

But I was wondering if anyone could suggest any better retailers, as Dell's prices seem a little high. I'm looking for a full system for under $900. General reqs are decent gaming support, ripping and burning, and all the other usual stuff.

Any good alternatives to Dell?

TIA.

 

[MedicBob]

I would stick with Dell. No one else beats their tech support at home. Prices are pretty good IMHO. What does she plan on doing with it? should be your 1st question along with Do others need to use Mom's computer too?

 

[fpoverflow]

Primarily she will use it for the web, email, and perhaps some CD burning. I would like to get her USB 2 support as well, because I think she might hook a digital camera.

Other family members might like to fire up Q3 every once in a while But supporting that is definitely a lower priority.

I was considering the dell outlet as well, to keep the price lower.

 

[HappyPuppy]

I like your mom. She's gonna be ripping, gaming and burning. I can't even get my kids or wife into the ripping and burning part.

 

[nemo160]

if you decide you'll be willing to do tech support yourself consider:
ecs k7s5a
antec 300-350 watt psu
duron >= 1Ghz
decent but quiet hsf
256 mb pc2100 or pc133 depending on budget
liteon burner
whatever vid card you want...tv out is a nice option if you're parents don't have a stand alone dvd, radeon 7500 or 8500 le or gf2ti or gf3ti200
a nice hdd... western digital se drives are very nice..hdd is one of the main bottlenecks in a system
fairly cheap keyboard and optical mouse
modem if she's on dialup or the mobo has built in ethernet
i threw together a system on newegg with a 1.3 duron, ecs mobo, 256mb corsair sdr,80 gb wd se hdd,modem,radeon7500, cdrw and dvd,winxp home,+ case, mouse,350watt antec psu ,other essentials for only $607.48+ shipping
that's a plenty fast system for home use + light gaming
i built a similar duron 1.2 on ecs system for my mom, but salvaged a bunch of parts from their old k62 and stability has been amazing, i've had to provide very little support and my family hasn't had a problem i couldn't fix over the phone, and not too many of those phone calls either
as long as you have a good psu the ecs mobo+duron is rock solid
since you are on a $900 budget, you could bump the processor up to an athlon xp 1600+, the vidcard to a gf3ti200 or radeon 8500, throw in a real soundcard instead of using the onboard, and/or upgrade the sdr ram to ddr
just go to newegg and check it out
you could probably do all of the above and stay within your $900 ceiling

 

[amdskip]

Don't forget about Gateway, they are making a slow but steady comeback.

 

[zveruga]

Or you can wait for a "hot deal" on Dell. I did I ended up getting a p4 2.4 setup with 15" LCD for $650 total. Not bad Remember to search in google for "Dell coupon" to get an extra hundred or more off your computer purchase...

Im happy wit dell so far.

 

[fpoverflow]

Nemo, thanks for the in-depth suggestion. I actually ended up getting a refurbished dell.

dell 4550
p4 2000
256mb ddr
40gb eide
64MB GEFORCE4 MX 420 with TV Out
40X/10X/40X CDRW
16X DVD-ROM
integrated sound and eth

for $640

I actually had ordered the same system but with Geforce TI, and SB Live! sound, but somehow Dell lost the order. I was using Mozilla, so I think it was a browser problem. I waited for another system like that to show up, but never had any luck.

Anyway, I think the system above should fit the bill pretty well, and $640 isn't too bad a deal is it??

 

[Strife]

Here is my advice.
Give yourself remote access and install Norton Ghost 2003 and give her a hard drive with plenty of room for images. Ghost 2003 can now be launched from Windows, which means I can connect to her computer and backup/restore her system.

Have here keep all her documents and if possbile her email on a seprate partion.

Everytime I work on my mothers system I make a ghost image.
Once a week I log in remontely and create a new backup.
I also keep a backup with just the OS installed, just it case I feel like starting from scratch.

So as long as she can connect to the internet I can either fix the problem or restore from a previous backup. If she can't connect then I have to get her to boot from a ghost floppy and walk her through the process.

As far as harware problems, she pretty much has to wait for me to visit as her system is custom built.

However I tested her equipment for two weeks and gave her an extra mouse and keyboard.

No matter where you purchase the computer I would highly recommend that you do regular remote backups. Or if she is computer literate teach her how to backup and restore her system.