Very very cheap desktop needed

Guapa1

Hi all,

My mum's computer has finally died, and because I don't want to share my laptop, (:o:A) I'm going to buy a cheapo one. I'd really like to spend £100 max, but may be able to stretch to £150 if it's a real bargain.

They use it for general web browsing, playing and storing music, downloading viruses... :rotfl:

There's a monitor and keyboard here, and while not great, can be still used.

Thanks in advance

gonzo127

few questions since the budget is so low are you

ok second hand or refurb?

or do you want to build your self and if so what other parts do you still have?

do you have a retail copy of windows or are they happy to try another operating system such as Ubuntu?

JasX

If they were happy with their existing one tbh I'd be trying to fix that, otherwise try ebay (between a crap old PC and the slightly suspect one you already have you should be able to get a working machine)

-DVD drives cost £15 ish new, you've not worked out why your hard drive isn't detected, maybe you will/will not need another one etc etc

Guapa1

I don't mind a 2nd hand or refurb.

I wouldn't mind having a crack at building it myself, I've never done it before. On the old one (dell), the hard disk is shot and the cd drive doesn't work. I don't know about the condition of anything else.

Unfortunately the OS was pre-installed. I'd prefer it to be windows, but if needs must...!

*SmallFry*

On HUKD somebody posted that Morrisons are selling a lappy for £150 http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/emachines-e510-laptop-150-morrisons/740991

Guapa1

JasX wrote: »

If they were happy with their existing one tbh I'd be trying to fix that, otherwise try ebay (between a crap old PC and the slightly suspect one you already have you should be able to get a working machine)

-DVD drives cost £15 ish new, you've not worked out why your hard drive isn't detected, maybe you will/will not need another one etc etc

The general sentiment was that the hard drive is dead? I tried looking at new hard drives but it started to look really expensive when you factor in the operating system etc, so I thought a "new" one would be more cost efficient.

gonzo127

thing is the operating system is expensive if you go with windows, however something such as ubuntu is free and is more than capable of browsing the web and playing and storing music - i personally use Ubuntu for 95% of all my normal home computing needs, only time i boot into windows is when i want a gaming session

Guapa1

Oh OK, and do things like firefox, media monkey and itunes work alright? I'll go on youtube to see some visuals. If needed, I can learn it to teach them. Thank you Gonzo127

bat999

For a new base unit and Windows 7 you're looking at £300 or so at tesco and ebuyer.
Tesco:-http://direct.tesco.com/q/N.1999739/Nr.99.aspx?Ns=P_HIDDEN_Stock_Available|1||P_SORT_Price&btnResultSort.x=36&btnResultSort.y=3

ebuyer:-http://orders.ebuyer.com/customer/shopping/index.html?action=c2hvd2NhcnQ%3D

rhythmsoup

Guapa1 wrote: »

Oh OK, and do things like firefox, media monkey and itunes work alright? I'll go on youtube to see some visuals. If needed, I can learn it to teach them. Thank you Gonzo127

I second the post gonzo127 makes, Ubuntu is a good bet. For many apps there is a linux equivalent. Firefox works on Linux too, itunes doesnt and never will, but you can sych iPods and iPhones using RhythmBox or other players. Ive been running Ubuntu for just over 2 years now and only needed windows for some work-based sites which insist on using IE and Active-X controls.

But dont take my word for it, do some research on the web:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingToUbuntu/FromWindows

You can download and burn the Cd and run up the PC from the CD without even needing a hard drive, you may even get to recover some files off the old dead hard drive, you never know

gonzo127

well this is usually the main sticking point with people coming over to ubuntu, windows programs are not designed to run on Ubuntu, you can get some to work through things such as WINE however some will not even work through wine although even getting some programs to work that are not designed for the operating system in my mind is quite impressive, this is because they are designed to run on windows and not ubuntu, i know this might seem like common sense but it is quite hard to get peoples heads around the fact Ubuntu is not windows and therefore things designed to run on windows might not work.

this however isnt a problem in most cases as there are plenty of totally free programs made for Ubuntu which do the same thing as the windows programs

itunes does not currently work however there are plenty of free alternatives such as Banshee or Rhythmbox

media monkey can be replaced with Amarok

Firefox comes as standard

Open office comes as standard as well

https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/switching/C/index.html has a lot of information which might be helpful in deciding if Ubuntu would be suitable

and as for programs this coul dbe helpful
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Linux_software_equivalent_to_Windows_software

also one thing to remember as well you do not need any anti virus software on Ubuntu as it just doesnt get virus's