Building box for 70+ Mom

M

Milehigh

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
248
Hey guys, been a while since I've done a build, but Mom needs a new computer and that old Compaq POS is about to die... I offered to build her a box since most her stuff is fine, in fact she has a fairly new Samsung 19" widescreen monitor.

I'd like suggestions on a case, motherboard & processor combo, powersupply and video card... I'm think Vista 32 bit for her needs, and get her to upgrade to Office 2007. Her primary uses are emails and surfing her financial sites.

I'd like an ESATA connector on the back so I can backup her hard drive on occasion, and want a quiet / cool solution for her. The box would sit in a desk that is enclosed except for the front and back, but a mid-tower is probably best form factor.

Suggestions for a box would be awesome, thanks guys :)
 
really, for your 70+ year old mother, you are better off just buying a system from a store. She isn't going to need much more, plus she then has the ability to call for support help and not have to bother the heck out of you all the time.
 
I gave my 80 + mother my old HP she does all she wants. I don't have to worry about
expensive parts being ruined if she happens to error with it.
 
The point is that I do support her, and her old machine is gonna die soon anyways. Her mouse, monitor (brand new), keyboard, printer, etc... are doing great. She just needs a box, so what I'm asking for are recommendations for some basic hardware I listed in the first post as I'm a bit out of date.

Does that explain my needs better? Besides, Mom will always come to me first for advice or troubleshooting, and the boxes we build are 10x better than the crap from standard tier vendors.
 
Well, the guy just wanna build her a box... what's wrong with it!

Newegg has some fairly good deal for PC's.
-you might like the antec three hundred pc case, it's good and cheap ($60), it has 2 slot in the front for 120mm fan, and 1 on the back.

Since you gonna run vista, you should get at least 2GB ram.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9420351

I made a simple wishlist on newegg. You might want to change some parts, this is pretty minimalistic. You still need to pick a power supply, dvd rom, etc.
The motherboard suggested has onboard Video & Two e-sata.
 
Milehigh said:
and the boxes we build are 10x better than the crap from standard tier vendors.
Click to expand...

That's just wrong.

Anyway, I would recommend checking out delloutlet.com Look for the lower end vostros, inspirons and optiplexes. They are an excellent value, and come with a warranty that treats it as brand new.

You're probably going to end up spending more money, and time building a low end box.
 
Wow, nice price on the wish list, as my Mom isn't poor a couple things I would like is at least a dual processor (budget $150 for processor maybe?)... also, I have a bad taste in my mouth for HP and onboard video. A 1 year old laptop with built-in nVidia graphics bites the dust, the video chip is fried, and they want $400 for a new motherboard, no warranty replacement...

Onboard video sucks! I would like a decent low end video card though so she can explore dual monitors if she wants down the road.

I should mention, she is a pretty active 70 year old and doing great, so I want at least a fast machine, 2 meg minimum of memory for sure. With Vista 32, I'll stay with that memory size...

I love Corsair power supplies and have a 620 in my box, would a 520 be overkill for her? Other cheaper options that are good? Thanks all :)

Agashka said:
Well, the guy just wanna build her a box... what's wrong with it!

Newegg has some fairly good deal for PC's.
-you might like the antec three hundred pc case, it's good and cheap ($60), it has 2 slot in the front for 120mm fan, and 1 on the back.

Since you gonna run vista, you should get at least 2GB ram.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9420351

I made a simple wishlist on newegg. You might want to change some parts, this is pretty minimalistic. You still need to pick a power supply, dvd rom, etc.
The motherboard suggested has onboard Video & Two e-sata.
Click to expand...
 
I like the PS, case and DVD burner... but would prefer an Intel / Mobo combo... what are decent Core2 processors going for these days? Go solid motherboard with ESATA?
 
Milehigh said:
I like the PS, case and DVD burner... but would prefer an Intel / Mobo combo... what are decent Core2 processors going for these days? Go solid motherboard with ESATA?
Click to expand...

I have this board:

$45 - Foxconn M7VMX-K

It would be well-paired with this CPU:

$83 - Pentium Dual-Core E5200 (2.5GHz)

The HEC case I mentioned has a front ESATA port which (I think) plugs into a normal SATA port on the motherboard.

This makes for a total of $339.
 
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