Going to build my daughter a $500 system

[Chosonman]

As much as I hate to admit it DavidKing may be right about the Dell..

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Plumcuda1
Ive never been a fan of macs ... but I havent looked at the new minis... guess I'll google em.


1.25GHz PowerPC G4
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory
40GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Combo drive
DVI or VGA video output
AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth optional

Doesnt really look all that impressive ....

Sure, the tech specs aren't impressive to us technology geeks, but then this computer isn't FOR technology geeks. It's for trendy people and kids (like your daughter) that want a cool looking and easy to use computer for basic Internet tasks. Trust me, If your daughter was a UT 2004 addict or something, I'd be recommending a totally different system.

That said, I'd personally spring for the mini with an 80 GB hard drive and 512 MB of memory. That's a bit over $600, but you won't have to worry about her running out of disk space 9 months from now. You'll probably also need to get her a USB Keyboard and Mouse, but you'll be able to reuse the monitor from the old Gateway.

 

[halfadder]

Mac Mini would be a good option IF you already had a monitor for her to use. Otherwise it will just add to the cost. The Mini already comes with just about every piece of software she would need, except maybe for MS Office, but most colleges are members of the Microsoft program and can either give you a copy for free or can sell you a $10 version. The biggest drawback I could see for a school aged girl and a Mac is that she won't be able to use the MSN Toolbar or the Yahoo Toolbar. There are Mac OS X versions of those chatting programs (or you can use the all-in-one chat client, Fire) but there are no Mac versions of their toolbars.

As for your original question, if you want to build a cheap system, AMD is the only way to go. NForce boards are rock solid reliable and Athlon XP and Athlon 64 are plenty fast even at their $100 price levels.

 

[Rock Hydra]

Hmm...I'm sure using a Windows machine and then a mac machine would confuse the poor kid. Do you know how to run a Mac with some deal of efficiency? Although, Mac OS would be cool to learn, but I'm not sure how a 13 year old would adapt to the learning curve of OSX.

 

[John P]

Teenage girls aren't going to care about processor speed and whatnot

Exactly. That's why the most important thing to get is the LCD flat panel monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse (like my neigbor just bought for his 12 year old daughter). Dell sometimes has a deal where you get a 17" LCD flat panel monitor and a nice system for less than $500.

Got Apex usually has the latest Dell deals listed. As a matter of fact I see a deal with free 17" LCD at the top of their page now.

Let her pick her own wireless mouse and keyboard and your set.

 

[justly]

I'm surprised no one has even mentioned that the Intel CPU and motherboard you listed wont work together.

An OEM is still an option, Dell does have some good deals, but some times Dells "good deals" aren't so good as they look. I have seen HP/Compaq with deals that rival Dells, so don't limit an OEM choice to only Dell, shop around if you go OEM.

Right now I would say Intels only selling point is its hyperthreading ability, if you dont think HT will make a BIG difference for your daughter AMD will probably be the better choice.

Even a 2800+ Athlon 64 will be overkill for what you said she will use a computer for. She doesn't need a high priced enthusiast board for that type of build either, so don't pay for a lot of bells and whistles she wont need or use.

 

[Plumcuda1]

Why wont a socket 478 cpu work on a socket 478 mobo? lost me there

 

[mpmdpz]

You're using a 800MHz FSB processor with a 533MHZ FSB motherboard. You need a 800MHz FSB motherboard to support that Pentium 4.

 

[halfadder]

I was looking at the Dell deals last night. It's probably the lowest entry price without doing a lot of scraping, but it's not *that great* of a deal.

The $499 package with 15" LCD has the following specs:
2.4 GHZ Celeron 400 MHZ FSB, DDR266 memory bus
256 MB, 16 MB of which is used for the graphics
40 GB 7200 RPM drive
Choice of CD-RW *or* DVD-ROM, a combo drive costs extra
Word Perfect (not the suite, just the word processor)
15 months of McAfee Anti Virus


Update: I just checked Dell's site again and they no longer have that deal. Right now the best I could find along those same basic lines is this:
2.4 GHZ Celeron (400MHZ FSB, DDR266/PC2100)
256 MB shared for system and "Intel Extreme Graphics"
16X DVD-ROM + 48X CD-RW
15" analog VGA TFT LCD
Word Perfect
$586
Add speakers for $9
Upgrade to optical mouse for $9
Add 15 months of McAfee for $62
Upgrade to Word Perfect Suite for $44

Dell is obviously in-between specials / deals right now. This is NOT a good time to buy Dell

 

[mpmdpz]

Building you own will save you money. I built my friend a A64 for only $382 and it was pretty good.

 

[Plumcuda1]

Dell likes to hide their good deals in the small business section

 

[halfadder]

I still can't find the good deals again. Dell is strange about that.

Any why do they screw so hard for optical drive upgrades on the low end systems? Why don't they just offer a nice combo drive rather than charge $79 to upgrade from a single 48X CD-ROM to two drives, a 16x DVD-ROM and a 48x CD-RW??

I didn't even know they still made CD-ROM drives. And why two drives? Does Dell think it's 1998 again?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Exactly, get her a Hot Deal Dell and a gift cert from the savings for a couple of Xbox games

SHe doent game (has an Xbox for that) Really just going to be so she can surf, downloand some mp3 and chat mostly.

(Goody Two-Shoes personality taking over)
Or if you want to teach her ethics, the Dell and a subscription to Napster Premium or Rhapsody for legal PC music listening.

At the risk of this being a semi thread-jack - on the other hand, what does it teach her in terms of ethics, of choosing to financially support companies hell-bent on removing or restricting your rights (DRM, the RIAA/music-distribution monopoly cartel), or choosing to support free and open formats.

Not all 'mp3s" are illegal duplications of copyrighted music (although I'm sure a majority probably are) - there's a lot of indy stuff out there too.

There's nothing inherently illegal or unethical about using a relatively open compression format.

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
PS - even if you don't care about ethics, at least make sure you don't end up with a multi-thousand dollar bill from the RIAA for sharing mp3s.

I'm not sure that would protect you - after all, the RIAA has even gone after grandmothers that own Macintoshes, and I think that one of the people named in one of those suits didn't even own a computer, or something.

Again, by the same token, does he want to teach her to financially support "commercial copyright terrorist organizations" like the RIAA? Or would it be better to teach her the "live free or die" philosophy?

And most of all, if you knew that you could put together a better box than Dell, and this is being done for someone that the OP apparently wants to show he cares for, then why not build the system yourself, "with love".

I think the bigger question is, do you include a webcam in with the package or not? Guess that would depend mostly more on her age.

Then again, for $500... has the OP considered a laptop? You can get fairly decent (non- or low-end gaming) laptops for around that amount - even Wal-Mart has an AMD-based one. "Balance" brand, supposedly made by ECS. (I'd try for something slightly higher-quality though, no telling how long (or short) an ECS-made laptop might last.)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Where did I say she was going to DL music illegally? geeez chill

Well, there aren't any legal download sites for major-label MP3s so it follows naturally.
If you'd said "songs from iTunes" (which are in AAC format) my goody two-shoes personality would have remained sleeping peacefully.

There are actually dozens of legal (pay) downloads sites, and even legal free ones carrying indy stuff. The question is often one of catalog - none of the sites have every label's music, so depending on what label her favorite bands are on (if one goes the paid-download route), then one would likely have to sign up for multiple services. To say nothing of if the various DRM schemes and download clients will interoperate properly on the same computer. (Almost as bad as intentionally infecting your system with spyware, IMHO. It's really not all that much different.)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: justly
Even a 2800+ Athlon 64 will be overkill for what you said she will use a computer for. She doesn't need a high priced enthusiast board for that type of build either, so don't pay for a lot of bells and whistles she wont need or use.

Speaking of bells and whistles... what about flashing the mobo BIOS with a custom logo for her computer.. something that lets her know that the computer was built just for her, while at the same time, impressing her friends? Just a thought, on something that might make a big impression, for very little (no) additional cost. Not sure what that logo could be, I'll leave that up to the OP. I still say laptop, myself, but that might be overkill for a 13-year-old, and the security risks of having it misplaced/stolen might be too great, along with the fact that she could take it over to her friend's house, and use the internet unsupervised with it. Then again, if her friend has a computer, the same thing could happen, so I guess that doesn't matter all that much.

But a laptop has a "cool" LCD screen too, something else to consider, and some of them have built-in DVD-player functionality, without even having to boot the OS. (Not sure if the Wal-Mart "Balance" laptop has that or not, but I know that some do, and some also have TV-out, etc.)

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Both of those are overkill for a "web surfing / mp3 downloading / IM" rig.

Dude, get her a ($300) Dell.

- M4H

Or a Sempron 2200 system from Outpost for $199.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: halfadder
Update: I just checked Dell's site again and they no longer have that deal. Right now the best I could find along those same basic lines is this:
2.4 GHZ Celeron (400MHZ FSB, DDR266/PC2100)
256 MB shared for system and "Intel Extreme Graphics"

Ugh. Sorry to post so many times to this thread, but... compared to a P4 Celeron with "Intel Extreme Graphics" - dude, DON'T get THAT Dell. The AMD, well, almost any AMD rig, would blow it away. If anything, get a cheap Biostar NF2-based mobo, with integrated NV GF2MX-class graphics, and a Socket-A Sempron, some cheap DDR, HD, DVD, you'll be all set, and save a bundle. The Celeron is a dog, and so is the Intel "Extreme" graphics. Yeah, it won't have much "future headroom" like an enthusiast-class S754 board would, but ... who cares. Good, cheap, now. Those should be (I think) your priorities for this build.

Originally posted by: halfadder
This is NOT a good time to buy Dell

Agreed!

 

[Plumcuda1]

She really wants a laptop ... I am sure most teenage girls do. I was thinking about building her a home PC soon and then over the summer I wanted her to "work" with me so she could earn the money to buy herself a laptop. I thought that might make her feel better knowing that she paid for it .... then again ... a free laptop would be great!

Now that I type this out I start to wonder why I would build her one THEN buy a laptop for her .... THAT is Overkill...... Its hard when you dont live with your kid .... I want her to have EVERYTHING

 

[gtd2000]

Originally posted by: Plumcuda1
She really wants a laptop ... I am sure most teenage girls do. I was thinking about building her a home PC soon and then over the summer I wanted her to "work" with me so she could earn the money to buy herself a laptop. I thought that might make her feel better knowing that she paid for it .... then again ... a free laptop would be great!

Now that I type this out I start to wonder why I would build her one THEN buy a laptop for her .... THAT is Overkill...... Its hard when you dont live with your kid .... I want her to have EVERYTHING

Go check out the Toshiba laptop for $500 after rebates that is in the hot deals section.

Save yourself a lot of time and effort and buying 2 PC's at the end of the day

Apart from that there is a deal on a Shuttle XPC that would be very cool looking indeed - somewhere around $129 for the barebone kit just add RAM, HD & CPU (Intel Socket 478).

 

[Rip the Jacker]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Both of those are overkill for a "web surfing / mp3 downloading / IM" rig.

Dude, get her a ($300) Dell.

- M4H

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Originally posted by: Chosonman
AMD Sempron 2400 + Mobo = 140.00 Shipped (Slightly better performance than a 2.4 Pentium 4)
512 MB RAM $60.00
CASE+PSU $50.00
160 GB HD $60.00
DVD-RW $65.00
Cheap Video Card $30.00

$405.00 Shipped (Better than the Dell for $399, Dell has 256RAM, no vid card, and only 80GB HD and it's a DELL!)

Add Windows XP for $80.00

Search: Pricewatch.com

AMD 64 would be expensive but 2400 Sempron is almost as fast as a 2800 AMD 64 2800
and almost $200.00 cheaper for both Motherboard and CPU

This guy hit the nail on the head. Lower end CPU to save alot of money, then spend that money on a HUGE hard drive for storing MP3's, and more RAM to help download/surfing speed and Windows XP.

 

[RickH]

Get a Dell. If she lives with you, then maybe build one. The Dell has support. I gave a friend some of my old stuff, that 4 hour drive to support it is a bitch. R

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: RickH The Dell has support.

For the duration of its 1-year warranty, you mean

"Help help, my system has an unknown virus and Norton won't run anymore, what do I do, Mr. Dell Support Person?"

What do you think Mr. Dell Support Person is going to suggest to solve this problem, and is the suggestion going to be accepted, or is she going to call Dad anyway. You tell me.

BTW, this would be a benefit of getting WinXP Professional, you can do Remote Desktop help from afar.

 

[thirdlegstump]

I'd go with the Mac Mini. With all of those things you said she'll be doing, it'll be a snap for her machine to be infected with spyware if she gets a PC.

 

[Rip the Jacker]

LOL@Giving a 13 year old girl 160GB HD....................