Cheap Build For The Basics

hey guys,
A friend of mine has been asking me for months to fix their computer but i have been putting it off because I dont have the time. That might sound a bit mean but the computer they have is running xp on 128mb ram with a 1ghz processor and as you can imagine doing anything takes a lifetime. Couple that with the fact the pc is riddled with viruses and I would have quite a task on my hands. Therefore even though i have been told the pc is perfectly fine i have taken it upon myself to build them a machine for their b'day. I have around £250 to spend and the machine is literally only used for email, internet and word processing. So far i have come up with this but I dont really own any of this kit so any opinion on my choices or any better suggestions would be appreciaited.

MotherBoard
CPU
RAM
HDD
Case + PSU

Also I am comtemplating installing a variation of linux on the machine to help stop the machine becoming full of viruses because it seems no matter what is emailed to them or what pop ups appear they feel the need to click on them lol. I was thinking Ubuntu as it seems the most user friendly linux. Anyone have any suggestions about that as well?

Thanks in advance :)

The NSK1480 is £51 on Ebuyer:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141005

RAM is cheaper too:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116755

This should save you £35 at least!! :)

You can get a 500gb Samsung for £44:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500-G...ache-89-ms-NCQ

Apart from that the motherboard and CPU look fine!!

I have used Ubuntu 8.10 and it installed without much issues. Wireless support is much better than before!! :) You do need to still tweak it to enable smooth media playback though.

If you need a wireless card I used the following with no problems:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Edima...eless-PCI-Card

It installed under Ubuntu 8.10 with no issues as it was recognised by the OS.

Once you have configured everything it is very easy to use.

I would totally agree with Cat-the-fifth's suggestions, what he has specced up looks like some good improvements and they should have a nice system for what they need.

Hawker