My grandmother is on a garbage celeron refurbished Dell desktop that is a solid 7 years old now. I want to get her something better for Christmas.

All she does on the computer is email and check baseball scores. No general internet surfing, no video, no facebook, no word processing. She is on broadband finally, but it's slow as hell because of the computer (the current computer can't even play youtube videos smoothly).

What should I get her?

Things that are non-starters:
Macs (she tried an iMac and returned it)
Laptops (doesn't like the keyboard connected to the screen)
HTPCs (TV is too far away for her to read, she likes sitting at a desk)

I've been thinking about one of the various All-in-one's (Lenovo A600, Dell XPS One, Sony Viao JL or S, etc). A 20-22in monitor will be as big as she wants to go (even then, she really like 17" screens still, 19" widescreen is a possibility as well).

Is there some good option out there for a basic PC (non Atom) that isn't going to turn into a hunk of shit in a few years like the current one? I'd like to keep the budget under $600 for everything (pc, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers) but if something is really nice and does the job, more is okay.

Also looked at the various slimFF stuff from Dell and HP... any opinions there, versus a all in one or a full desktop?

10/28/2009 11:26:44 PM

But seriously, XPS One, or the Studio Hybrid + monitor which had some good deals lately.

10/28/2009 11:59:09 PM

yeah something like that ^

if you could tie in her email and baseball scores on the desktop it would be even easier for her, as all she'd have to do is log into her computer and bam everything she needs is up and in her face (i think RSS feeds and win7/vista can do this but i really don't know)

10/29/2009 10:52:37 AM

if that's all she uses it for, why in god's name does she need a new one?

10/29/2009 11:14:19 AM

netbook with HDMI out

10/29/2009 11:24:10 AM

Why the hell would you buy your grandmother a $600 email/baseball score machine

10/29/2009 11:27:38 AM

Quote :

"if that's all she uses it for, why in god's name does she need a new one?"

This.

Or.... the literally cheapest Dell. It's $249.

10/29/2009 11:29:27 AM

Why not an Atom? The Ion chipset plus Ubuntu strike me as a good combination for this sort of thing.

10/29/2009 11:30:26 AM

MSI Wind
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167032
w/ Windows 7

10/29/2009 11:34:42 AM

^^You are seriously recommending a tiny netbook running LINUX for an old person?

^You too. You think she can read a 10" screen?


[Edited on October 29, 2009 at 11:35 AM. Reason : ]

10/29/2009 11:35:03 AM

God, MSI Wind is not a netbook, click the freakin link.

1.6Ghz Atom, 2GB DDR2 533, 160GB, DVDRW for $250, plenty of budget for a USB wireless card, a nice 19" screen and keyboard/mouse

[Edited on October 29, 2009 at 11:43 AM. Reason : .]

10/29/2009 11:40:00 AM

Well there is a netbook called the MSI Wind so harumf

10/29/2009 11:43:53 AM

$400, just add keyboard/mouse/windows7 (all of which i'm sure you can get at the MS store)
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=11030591

10/29/2009 11:53:37 AM

Quote :

"You are seriously recommending a tiny netbook running LINUX for an old person?"

yep! I definitely said linux!

What I said was a netbook (netbooks can run windows) with HDMI out (so it can go to a bigger tv/screen)

I have a grandparent that runs a very similar setup and loves it. She pretty much uses the internet and emails using her tv and remote keyboard/mouse.

10/29/2009 11:58:00 AM

Vostro slickdeal?
http://slickdeals.net/?pno=25727&lno=1&afsrc=1

Dell SB has Vostro 220s Slim Intel Dual-Core E5300 2.6GHz Desktop w/ Samsung 24in LCD $449 + 35 shipping = $484 shipped. Thank you persian_mafia

NOTE: The Samsung 24" monitor is automatically added to your shopping cart

Specs:

* Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 (2.60GHz, 2M, L2Cache, 800FSB)
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
* 3GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHZ
* 500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
* Samsung 2494SW 24-inch Widescreen LCD Display
* Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
* Integrated Video, Intel GMA X4500HD

10/29/2009 11:59:33 AM

^great deal

10/29/2009 12:07:40 PM

http://www.dellauction.com

Many of them come with manufacturers warranty left, all of them come with 100 day warranty.

10/29/2009 1:18:19 PM

Goddammit, r-tarded reading the thread in my reply. Ignore it.

10/29/2009 2:16:52 PM

I ain't mad atcha.

10/29/2009 2:29:37 PM

there's also something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103228

10/29/2009 4:00:48 PM

^weird I just saw that on lifehacker. I want to blast XBMC on one of them.

10/29/2009 4:24:30 PM

^that's where i got it from

10/29/2009 4:50:43 PM

^^ dude thanks for that link to the Vostro deal!! that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for

I love all the small desktop Ion+Atom setups, but being honest it's just not going to cut it for grandma. Our netbook at the house works, but it's still a little sluggish at times, and she doesn't understand why anything doesn't just happen instantly.

I want to make sure that the occasional youtube/video attachment in her email she will be able to watch without issues, and maybe I can talk her into checking out ESPN360.com this christmas to watch all her blacked out baseball games.

If yall see any more deals PLEASE keep posting them

10/29/2009 7:59:15 PM

So what's grandma's team?

10/29/2009 10:19:46 PM

Cubs

10/30/2009 1:16:30 AM

Not saying this will work for your grandmother but it goes towards that 'old' people can use small laptops just fine. I had my godmother and uncle each buy macbook airs last year and they both love them. They've both always had 15" bulky laptops (usually toshiba). They are both in their 80's too.

10/30/2009 1:33:16 AM

The phone was ringing one time and my grandmother picked up the TV remote and got frustrated as hell. She's an awesome lady, but tech saavy she is not.

There is WAY too much going on with a laptop, for what she wants. But as I already said, we tried already, she doesn't like the keyboard being connected to the screen.

10/30/2009 1:35:50 AM

WebTV

10/30/2009 1:38:21 AM

^my grandpa bought that for them when he was still alive. They returned it after like 5 days. Even old people saw how garbage it was

10/30/2009 1:41:03 AM

^^^I wasn't really suggesting that...i was more responding to the assumption that old people can't use laptops

10/30/2009 1:50:50 AM

Quote :

"Cubs "

Maybe it's better if you don't get her one that will let her watch the game

10/30/2009 10:32:21 AM

My parent's bought a eMachines from walmart to replace a 6 y/o dell. They seem to be really pleased with it so far.

amd dual core 2.7GHz
6GB DDR2
750GB HDD
Win7 64-bit

http://www.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=ET1331G-03w

$398 everyday price although they got some deal (bought it on Win7 day) where they got a 21" 1080p monitor (not emachines brand) for $100 more.

10/30/2009 12:40:02 PM

Quote :

"she doesn't understand why anything doesn't just happen instantly."

lol, like the rest of us.... kinda funny though since she was around through literally every stage of modern electronics development.... you would think waiting a second or two wouldn't even be noticed by that level of perspective. shrug.

i think you're on the right track with a all-in-one job though, she won't be doing anything stressing enough on one of those systems to probably need something else for another 7 years (the web pipe coming into the computer would be the slow part by then)

10/30/2009 3:51:08 PM

does not compute = dropping hundreds of dollars on a system to check email/baseball scores - "general internet surfing, video, facebook, word processing"

You should not spend more than a $100 on a rig. Or if you were feeling super generous just make her a ~$200 Pentium D barebones or something....jeebus. I loved my Granny when she was alive too, but she'd have no idea how to utilize the full potential of a $300-600 rig. It was easier for her to just actually watch all her games.

11/1/2009 12:11:15 PM

best buy has a pretty good deal:

for $1199 you get

- a netbook
- 18.5" monitor
- desktop computer
- router
- laptop

could obviously get cheaper if you looked for it all individually, but could give her one of the computers and take the rest if you need it

11/1/2009 8:57:43 PM