Cheap computer for elderly mother... .

David333

My mum is looking to buy a computer for less than £300, just to get on the Internet, browsing and sending e-mails. She might watch iplayer once a month and might transfer photos from her digital camera onto the computer. It won't need a great deal of hard drive space, won't need to play DVDs and won't need to be particularly powerful.

I've found this: http://callright.x2tek.co.uk/product/ASUS-EEE-BOX-EB1006-W-112-A003-N270-2GB-160GB-WINDOWS-VISTA-HOME-BASIC-WHITE_21963.html and was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on it. I have an old CRT monitor which she can use with it... . I know people don't like Vista but it has to have some version of Windows on there for me to help talk her through stuff if I need to. However the eee box seems to have an easy start up Linux version as well which would get her online really quickly if she wanted to. 2 gig of RAM, wireless, slow processor but she won't be doing processor intensive work. I quite like the fact that the eee is energy-efficient so she might actually leave it on and therefore use it more... .

Basically I'm just looking for an entry level machine for her... . She doesn't want to go with second hand by the way... .

Niv

I am behind webscene so cant follow your link. However, I do think it is a shame she is anti second hand as the sort of thing your mother needs would be pennies on the second hand market if not free! I personally have a couple of pc's at home and if i knew someone in your mothers position, close to me, i would give one to them. Why is she anti second hand on this? Do you know?

David333

Niv wrote: »

I am behind webscene so cant follow your link. However, I do think it is a shame she is anti second hand as the sort of thing your mother needs would be pennies on the second hand market if not free! I personally have a couple of pc's at home and if i knew someone in your mothers position, close to me, i would give one to them. Why is she anti second hand on this? Do you know?

She's had a couple of second hand computers in the past (several years ago) and whenever there has been a problem with one she has struggled. I think that it's more of a psychological thing. Computers crash sometimes but she thinks she's done something wrong so is then unwilling to try it again. I think with a new computer she would feel more comfortable (especially with the presence of a warranty - however useful or useless that is in the real world!) and therefore would be more able to take the time to use a computer properly... .

gonzo127

issue i can see, doesnt seem to have a vga out for the old crt monitor, only specs a HDMI output so you would need to make sure it does have the correct output

this might be worth looking into http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225757 or this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225755

the other idea might be something like this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/218928 and add a wireless card + put on your own operating system, something like Ubuntu of course would be the cheapest option however with your remaining £70 of the budget you could get a copy of windows

spakkker

What's wrong with this one at ebuyer - £250

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/227137
Atom n270 cpu is weak so is athlon k125 - your choice would be quiet and economical but what you buy you are stuck with .

David333

gonzo127 wrote: »

issue i can see, doesnt seem to have a vga out for the old crt monitor, only specs a HDMI output so you would need to make sure it does have the correct output

this might be worth looking into http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225757 or this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225755

the other idea might be something like this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/218928 and add a wireless card + put on your own operating system, something like Ubuntu of course would be the cheapest option however with your remaining £70 of the budget you could get a copy of windows

Thanks for noticing the problem. There's another eee: http://callright.x2tek.co.uk/product/ASUS-EEE-BOX-EB1007-D410-1G-160GB-WHITE-WINDOWS-XP-HOME_33422.html which is a similar price but does seem to have VGA output. Can you get a VGA-HDMI converter for the original one I saw...?

Both the Acer and emachines computers look like they would do the job. I'm just trying to keep the price closer to £200 than £300; as Niv says, I could get something for 50p if she would go with second hand!

David333

spakkker wrote: »

What's wrong with this one at ebuyer - £250

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/227137
Atom n270 cpu is weak so is athlon k125 - your choice would be quiet and economical but what you buy you are stuck with .

See, I quite like quiet and economical! I quite like the idea of her not really having to bother with it; it just being there for her to look at something on the Internet if she wants to. An ipad would be perfect (apart from the lack of connection to a digital camera) but it's just too expensive. I thought the eee 'easy start' thing was quite good; Linux's plus points without moving away entirely from Windows! That Zoostorm looks pretty reasonable though (although less RAM); are they reliable enough machines for the money?

Niv

Ok dave, thats fair enough. I understnad some people do have those sorts of mis-givings with second hand bits, especially electrical technology type stuff.

Sorry I cant be of more help, I hope you/she finds what is needed.

David333

Okay, slightly revised thoughts: assuming I still go with the Eee box (should it be capitalised or not?!) primarily for price reasons and secondly for easy start up and energy efficiency, Amazon are doing the 1007 version for £230 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-160GB-eSATA-Keyboard-Mouse/dp/tech-data/B003N0I45W/ref=de_a_smtd). According to the specifications on the dabs site (http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-eb1007-d410-1gb-160gbxp-home-738N.html) it has a VGA output, although that isn't mentioned on Asus' site (http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=otsaLTK1j5gCMf6t)... .

However, the Zoostorm is dual core... . But with Asus I have a netbook which is reliable and Zoostorm might not be... .

Donnie

David333 wrote: »

Okay, slightly revised thoughts: assuming I still go with the Eee box (should it be capitalised or not?!) primarily for price reasons and secondly for easy start up and energy efficiency, Amazon are doing the 1007 version for £230 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-160GB-eSATA-Keyboard-Mouse/dp/tech-data/B003N0I45W/ref=de_a_smtd). According to the specifications on the dabs site (http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-eb1007-d410-1gb-160gbxp-home-738N.html) it has a VGA output, although that isn't mentioned on Asus' site (http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=otsaLTK1j5gCMf6t)... .

However, the Zoostorm is dual core... . But with Asus I have a netbook which is reliable and Zoostorm might not be... .

My mum is really happy with her laptop. I really doubt that your mum will want to leave the chunky old CRT on.
Don't waste money on an underpowered Nettop.

dunkmat

If its just surfing the web, email and photo's etc why not get the IPAD. Its very user friendly superb for surfing the web and email etc.

Can use it anywhere in the house and if you get a wireless printer she can print out anything she needs.

No good if shes using documents or spreadsheets but its brilliant for basic needs.