Help me with OFFICE computers

[jimrawr]

Hey guys, I am going to be opening an office soon (July 1st move in). I need to setup 5 computers. The computers will be used for EXTREMELY basic stuff. Essentially they will need a web browser for SalesForce, a RingCentral Softphone, and thats about it. The most difficult part as far as hardware is concerned is that we NEED dual monitors on each PC.

So I am trying to find the cheapest possible solution without getting a Packard Bell PC from the 90's.

I've looked at Dell, and it looks like with the two monitors, and a graphics card that can handle dual monitors, I will be at least $600 per pc. I am wondering if anyone here knows if a good alternative. If I can get the PC for around $250/$300 that would be great. Then a couple hundred for monitors.

We really dont need to be able to do much other than use a web browser, and have a dual monitor setup.

 

[radtechtips]

I dont have any specific examples but try to find dells that come witha a monitor. costco sometimes has deals with monitors

 

[Sleepingforest]

Really? Any modern integrated graphics should be able to handle 2 monitors, and the Dell Outlet and Lenovo Outlet definitely have Ivy Bridge equipped computers for only $300.

 

[Torn Mind]

What resolution will the monitors be running at? Both Intel IGPs and AMD APUs can handle dual monitors at lower resolutions and they certainly can handle dual 1080p monitors.

For example, the Asrock H87M can even handle triple monitors.

And this is an APU board: http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A75M-DGS/?cat=Specifications

As for the rest of the computer, you should be looking at

CPU for less than $120
8 gigs of RAM for about $50

 

[Mushkins]

You're missing the big one here. This is for a business.

Considering you only need 5 PCs, it's probably not a big business. Do you have any sort of IT support that's going to be able to troubleshoot issues? What happens when a workstation goes down with a mystery hardware problem and 20% of your workforce is suddenly twiddling their thumbs doing nothing? Saving a little money on the upfront cost sounds great on paper, but these PCs easily need to last you four years, and those CostCo PCs only have a 1 year limited parts warranty, and you cant mail in a workstation and just do without for three or four weeks until it comes back maybe fixed. You're paying that price premium from Dell/Lenovo/HP/etc for that 3 year NBD parts and labor warranty. When something fails, you're paying to have that Dell tech on-site swapping the part within 24 hours, because without that workstation up and running you could've bought a dozen of them with how much money your business lost by that person not being able to work for X days.

 

[radtechtips]

You're missing the big one here. This is for a business.

Considering you only need 5 PCs, it's probably not a big business. Do you have any sort of IT support that's going to be able to troubleshoot issues? What happens when a workstation goes down with a mystery hardware problem and 20% of your workforce is suddenly twiddling their thumbs doing nothing? Saving a little money on the upfront cost sounds great on paper, but these PCs easily need to last you four years, and those CostCo PCs only have a 1 year limited parts warranty, and you cant mail in a workstation and just do without for three or four weeks until it comes back maybe fixed. You're paying that price premium from Dell/Lenovo/HP/etc for that 3 year NBD parts and labor warranty. When something fails, you're paying to have that Dell tech on-site swapping the part within 24 hours, because without that workstation up and running you could've bought a dozen of them with how much money your business lost by that person not being able to work for X days.

Very good point. I assume HP would also have a warranty?

 

[XavierMace]

As somebody who's dealt with both HP and Dell's Extended warranties on servers and workstations, I'll tell you they are both a PITA to deal with but for different reasons.

HP's phone people really don't speak English (I recommend using Live Chat instead). Dell likes to argue with you and find any possible loophole they can to get out of doing anything to help you. If that doesn't work they'll start trying to insist you need to swap parts with other computers onsite to determine the issue.

Of the two, HP's support is far superior. Neither comes close to SMS however, but SMS only does servers/storage.

 

[Mushkins]

As somebody who's dealt with both HP and Dell's Extended warranties on servers and workstations, I'll tell you they are both a PITA to deal with but for different reasons.

HP's phone people really don't speak English (I recommend using Live Chat instead). Dell likes to argue with you and find any possible loophole they can to get out of doing anything to help you. If that doesn't work they'll start trying to insist you need to swap parts with other computers onsite to determine the issue.

Of the two, HP's support is far superior. Neither comes close to SMS however, but SMS only does servers/storage.

I've had good experiences with Dell Pro support, but that's from the IT side when i've *already* swapped parts from other known working systems and pretty much can tell them "XYZ is busted, send another one out or send a tech to swap it please." I'd imagine all of these support options a little frustrating from a flat end-user perspective, but I can see where they dont want to send the wrong parts out so a certain amount of guided user troubleshooting is the nature of the beast.

HP support isn't too bad if you have the business level support. The generic consumer level support sucks with all these companies.

Lenovo... Just dont. NBD apparently means "maybe in a month or so" and they'll screw it up four times in a row and have to re-dispatch four times. I seriously lost count of how many times it would've been cheaper for me AND them to just do a damn system swap and send the bad stuff over to their refurb department. And that's *with* a huge enterprise level support contract.

 

[XavierMace]

Yeah, Dell support asked us to swap motherboards with another computer in the office. That's not acceptable regardless of the tech level of the person they are talking to IMO. The point in paying for an onsite warranty is to have somebody come onsite to fix it.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Hey guys, I am going to be opening an office soon (July 1st move in). I need to setup 5 computers. The computers will be used for EXTREMELY basic stuff. Essentially they will need a web browser for SalesForce, a RingCentral Softphone, and thats about it. The most difficult part as far as hardware is concerned is that we NEED dual monitors on each PC.

So I am trying to find the cheapest possible solution without getting a Packard Bell PC from the 90's.

I've looked at Dell, and it looks like with the two monitors, and a graphics card that can handle dual monitors, I will be at least $600 per pc. I am wondering if anyone here knows if a good alternative. If I can get the PC for around $250/$300 that would be great. Then a couple hundred for monitors.

We really dont need to be able to do much other than use a web browser, and have a dual monitor setup.

Do you live near a microcenter or a similar type of store? This can really make a difference in the type of computer you buy.

 

[escrow4]

Pretty easy:

CPU - Intel G1610
RAM - 4GB kit
MOBO - Gigabyte H77M-D3H, supports VGA, DVI-D + HDMI
CASE + PSU - Pick anything with either a Corsair CX 430w PSU or a Seasonic OEM 300w unit

Skip the burner and install the OS off a USB. Done.

 

[SViscusi]

The roadblock I'm seeing is getting a pc with definite multimonitor support. Newegg has quite a few listed in the ~300 dollar range from Lenovo, Acer, HP, and a few others, but the connectors seem to be only one vga and one hdmi/displayport. What I would do in your shoes is pick out a model or two and email the manufacturer to see if both ports can be used simultaneously. If they can, find monitors with have both connectors to give you flexibility.

 

[mfenn]

Pretty easy:

CPU - Intel G1610
RAM - 4GB kit
MOBO - Gigabyte H77M-D3H, supports VGA, DVI-D + HDMI
CASE + PSU - Pick anything with either a Corsair CX 430w PSU or a Seasonic OEM 300w unit

Skip the burner and install the OS off a USB. Done.

As discussed above, building your own in a non-starter in this instance. You don't want to be on your own for compatible replacement parts in 3 years when these consumer boards are all discontinued.

 

[mfenn]

As somebody who's dealt with both HP and Dell's Extended warranties on servers and workstations, I'll tell you they are both a PITA to deal with but for different reasons.

HP's phone people really don't speak English (I recommend using Live Chat instead). Dell likes to argue with you and find any possible loophole they can to get out of doing anything to help you. If that doesn't work they'll start trying to insist you need to swap parts with other computers onsite to determine the issue.

Of the two, HP's support is far superior. Neither comes close to SMS however, but SMS only does servers/storage.

HP's enterprise support is mostly in Costa Rica. I've never had an issue understanding the guys there.

As for Dell, I dunno what to tell you. They've asked me to swap parts around within a machine before (move DIMMs to different slots), but I've never ever had them ask me to swap parts between machines. Then again, I've never gotten into an argument with them either. I usually just call them up and say "XYZ is busted, I've tried troubleshooting steps A, B, and C" and they respond "OK, would you like parts only or do you want us to send out a tech?".

 

[Cerb]

As discussed above, building your own in a non-starter in this instance. You don't want to be on your own for compatible replacement parts in 3 years when these consumer boards are all discontinued.

Also, with dual monitor support required, saving a bunch by buying used won't really work out, either (I thought about it, but came to <$100/PC less which is like ~20% less total...not worth it by a mile, all things considered).

 

[piasabird]

Probably costs $200+ just for two monitors.

 

[oynaz]

Yeah, Dell support asked us to swap motherboards with another computer in the office. That's not acceptable regardless of the tech level of the person they are talking to IMO. The point in paying for an onsite warranty is to have somebody come onsite to fix it.

They tried to pull that stunt on me as well. To their credit, they send a tech without complaint when I responded that that was out of the question.

 

[Throckmorton]

Really? Any modern integrated graphics should be able to handle 2 monitors, and the Dell Outlet and Lenovo Outlet definitely have Ivy Bridge equipped computers for only $300.

Right but they don't have two DVI outputs.

 

[sm625]

My company has 80 dual monitor stations and most of them are DVI + VGA. Its not a problem as long as you get monitors that have both, and of course have both cables.

 

[Torn Mind]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127705
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-C.../dp/B009K1PY3S

Same GPU in both links, but it has dual DVI if you really need it.

That said, $80-$90 1600x900 monitors should usually come with both DVI and VGA ports. I know the Gateway I'm in front of came with both a DVI and VGA cable in the package.

 

[XavierMace]

HP's enterprise support is mostly in Costa Rica. I've never had an issue understanding the guys there.

Everytime I've called for service on Proliant Servers covered by Carepacks, I've gotten Indian techs.

 

[mfenn]

Everytime I've called for service on Proliant Servers covered by Carepacks, I've gotten Indian techs.

Hmm, perhaps you should have bought a less fancy warranty? I've been sent to Costa Rica every single time for the basic built-in warranty.

 

[jimrawr]

Thanks for all the info guys!! Ya I didnt really think about on site support. I can manage most issues as I've built my own PC's. Right now we are a small company so no in our computer/IT guy.

The computers will be for such basic use that in the worst case I can swap out for any computer and get them up and running in minutes as everything is on the cloud. Nothing local will be happening on the PCs that will require major work to swap out a new computer. The main thing is having a dual monitor setup. I think any processory/ram combo that isnt more than 4 years old can handle the demand of the browser based software we will be using.

 

[accguy9009]

As someone else alluded too it might be wise to find a way to buy 6 so you have a spare. Good luck with the project and your new business.

 

[Ken g6]

Maybe you could set up one or two computers in a multiseat configuration? You might need one to three discrete GPUs. I'm just not sure if the software can handle multi monitor and multiseat.