Help - building a system...

[RSI]

My aunt was talking about buying a computer - and she really doesn't know anything about computers, so my parents talked to me, and I decided to help her out with this.

She originally had the idea of a laptop.. but that's out of the question in my opinion, those things are the most annoying biatches to type on, and she will be doing alot of typing, etc. So I am thinking of putting together a system for her piece by piece.. something not too powerful, that can do email, internet, word processing, etc.

I want to know the best deals on cases, processors, RAM, monitors, video cards (3d not important) and hard drives (probably will not need more than 10-15GB at most).

Thanks

-RSI

 

[DaveJ]

All prices from http://www.mwave.com:

C160-32- INTEL CELERON 466MHZ (RETAILED) BUNDLE W/
(BIOSTAR M6TWG-Specs; NO BIOS SAVIOR) $159.00

A01849 IN-WIN V500 MINI TOWER W/145W MICRO ATX POWER SUPPLY 2x51/4 2x31/2 2x31/2(INTERNAL) Detail Specs*For Micro-ATX Form Factor motherboard only* $38.00

A02450 MULTIWAVE 8X64 PC100 64MB SDRAM DIMM (LIFETIME WARRANTY) $75.00

A06999 FUJITSU 10.2GB MPF3102AT UATA 5400PRM (Bare drive) Detail Specs $76.00

A00806 ACER CD640 40X EIDE INTERNAL CDROM Detail Specs $36.00

A00694 PANASONIC 1.44 FLOPPY DRIVE Detail Specs $13.90

A09440 MWAVE/ARTEC 2 BUTTON PS/2 MOUSE $3.00

007603 KEYTRONIC KT800PS2DC 104-KEY PS2 KEYBOARD $8.00

Total $408.90 plus shipping

Not bad for a basic web box...

Dave

 

[Prodigy^]

How About

Abit BE6-II motherboard
Intel Celeron 500 MHz
128 Mb RAM
Voodoo3 2000 video card
Noname 17" monitor
Any harddrive will do....but you could take IBM for stability....we had a poll once for number of bust harddrives, and IBM was clearly a winner

 

[RSI]

I will be sure to get her either a Quantum, IBM, or Maxtor. No other will satisfy me.

I want a good quality monitor though, so she can see clearly, etc. Video card isn't too important, so a low end Voodoo 3 would be appropriate. For cases, I want to make sure it's quiet, and doesn't take too much room.

Also, make sure all prices are Canadian if you're listing some. Thanks.

-RSI

 

[KarlHungus]

Get her a Matrox card, they've got the best 2D image quality. I would also suggest a Viewsonic PF775 for the monitor.

 

[Livin4Real]

1 word. http://www.pricewatch.com Or is that 2?

 

[Bleeding Jawa]

I would get a Celeron 2...they are not much more expensive that the original, but you can add 300MHz for about $30-$40 extra

ASUS P3V4X = $115 (try sg3d.com)
C2 566 @ 800+ = $110 (try cpusforless.com)
Matrox G400 16MB Single Head = $85 (try sg3d.com)
Maxtor 20G 7200RPM = $130 (Staples.com??)
Cheap Winmodem = $15 (Compusa always has something for $5 after rebate)
Cheap CDROM = $40 (Office stores always have CDROM's on sale for $20 after rebate)
Floppy = $15
128m Generic PC100 = $110 (buy it on anandtech)
Antec KS282 w/ 300w PS = $65 (shipped price at Onvia.com)
Intellimouse w/ inteillie = $20
MS Internet Keyboard = $15
Decent 17" .25-.26dpi Monitor = $1000 Total

Maybe a bit of overkill, but this machine will last for several years running basic applications. If you go too cheap, it will need to be replaced in two years.

 

[dvch]

I second KarlHungus: get her a Matrox G200 0r even a Millenium II. The best 2D.

 

[Ausm]

I have to agree with buying the parts at mwave...I have bought thousands of dollars of parts from them with no problems at all. BEWARE of fly by night vendors their customer service usually totally sucks. If you want E-mail me and i can get some prices from good vendors or do your own homework by going to http://www.resellerratings.com


good luck,

Ausm

 

[medic]

RSI

She originally had the idea of a laptop.. but that's out of the question in my opinion

Be very carefull here...I went through this with my sister who wanted a laptop last year, like you I basically talked her out of it and recommended a nice custom built, I got her to rent a PC for a month and she never liked it because her mind was set on the fact for her, she wanted the portability. I set her up with a Dell portable and she hasn't been happier.

Let her decide, get her to rent a P.C. for a week then a nice laptop and see what she chooses.

 

[Ulysses]

That's right, RSI.

Like Mr. Dell says, 'The customers always right.'

P.S.
If you do build a system, look at AT's June Value Buyer's Guide:
http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.html?i=1248

 

[RSI]

Thanks for all the input. Yeah, she wanted a portable just because it would take less room and she could put it in the closet or something. But she also plans on doing alot of typing on it - which is bad, I hate typing on laptops, they suck ass. A full sized split keyboard would be best..

Thanks again, I'll look into all this, but I have to talk to my aunt again.

-RSI