Help me help my neighbours

[Steve]

Well, my dad's neighbours actually.

They have a 5 year old girl and a 2 year old boy. They're thinking about buying a PC for the elder child to use, and start to get used to. They will also be doing their own things with it too.

From what I can gather:

- They don't want broadband at the moment.
- They won't be playing games (but a lot of people say that, then change their mind.)
- Digital camera work and scanning may be done on the computer.
- By extension of the above, a decent printer will be required.

Now, I want to save myself frequent tech support visits by finding a nice round package if possible, with a good warranty - I aren't guaranteed to be around, so it will be better for them. My concern is that "bundled printers" are often rubbish, so it may be necessary to buy one separately. Digital camera will probably be a separate affair too.

So, are there any hot deals out there at the moment? I'm quite out of touch with pre-built systems, so the wisdom of you all is much appreciated.

Cheers,
Kez.

[Butuz]

Well i think anything from the Big manufacturers will be fine. Dell, Evesham, etc. Just make sure they do not go into PC world!!!! Packard Bell etc are a sucky no no.

Something from 2.0 - 2.5Ghz with 256 or 512MB ram and a low spec gaming card like a Radeon 9xxx should be fine. Places like Dell do a 3 year warranty for not much extra, may be worth it if your neighbours are total PC nubbins

Buy the printer seperate. Order it online, Dabs.com or whatever. I can reccomend the HP DeskJet 5650 printer as it has paralel and USB, and is very quiet and pretty fast - can be had for around £80 i think. (just had one in for one of the teachers, im pretty suprised has been losing faith in HP printers for a while now but this one is good).

Just remember, whateve you do steer them cleer from PC World.

Butuz

[GreenPiggy]

Seconded, Just beat the knowledge into them that PC world are evil, no matter how many times that man keeps stamping down on price

[Steve]

I've been looking at the Dell stuff and it seems good. I was also thinking of a Canon printer as recently I've read many praises.

512MB RAM is a minimum in my opinion - I don't care what any "system requirements" box says.

Thanks for the info guys - I'll have a look at the other companies suggested too.

[Howard]

Dell's PCs are good, if a little expensive.

They provide Lexmark printers usually, which are average. I love Canon

And the digital cameras provided with most PCs are pitiful, so get a nice seperate one as you said

[Twigman]

Dell PC
HP Printer
Canon (or other digital camera)

Cant go wrong

[Butuz]

Lexmark printers are below average. Steer well clear of those Dell/Lexmark printers.

Butuz

[Steve]

I hate Lexmark printers. My dad has one and it's nothing but trouble.

Cheers guys.

[Butuz]

What about this? Seems very good value with 3 year warranty and 15" TFT.

Dimension 2400
£778
Includes VAT & Shipping

Processor:
Intel® Celeron® Processor (2.6GHz, 128K cache, 400MHz FSB) 2139 [210-12689] 1


Operating System:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition 8213 [619-10401] 11


Support Service:
PROMO:Upg to 3Y NBD (Next Business Day On-site) including Online Training 10310 [706-10101][680-12052] 30


Memory:
512MB Single Channel DDR (1x512MB) 4162 [370-10912] 3


Hard Drive:
80GB (7200 rpm) IDE Hard Drive (Was 40GB!) 12130 [310-10599][400-11216] 8


Floppy Drives:
3.5in 1.44MB Floppy Drive 4479 [385-10146] 10


Monitor:
Hyundai ImageQuest L50S 15" Value Flat Panel Monitor with built-in Speakers 13730 [480-11834] 5


CD ROM/DVD ROM:
8x/4x DVD+R/+RW 5268 [429-11189][429-11154][429-11160] 16


Speakers:
No Speakers 6655 [520-10217] 18


Security Software:
McAfee Security Centre with VirusScan,Firewall and Privacy (90-day trial) 12060 [650-10124] 40


Dell Picture Studio:
Dell Picture Studio - Photo Album Standard (60 Day Trial) 11920 [640-10339] 85


Paint Shop:
Dell Picture Studio - Paint Shop Pro 8.0 (60 Day Trial) 11922 [640-10340] 86


Modem:
Dell v92 Data/Fax modem 6716 [530-10559][640-10270] 14


Keyboard:
Dell QuietKey Keyboard 7234 [580-10209] 4


Mouse:
Dell PS/2 Scroll Mouse 7187 [570-10189][570-10088] 12


Microsoft Application Software:
Microsoft® Works 7.0 9078 [630-10933] 25


Gedis Bundle Reference:
Dimension 2400 June D0627h 13896 [200-24581] 22

[Steve]

Hmmm, looks OK, but I'm a bit weary of suggesting a Celery.

[Efaill]

I would just look to see if theres an option of going p4 and how much it is. Be better in the long run.

[Butuz]

Nowt wrong with a Celly. Its castrated for Games, Video Editing, running SQL databases and things like that - but then i thought you specified the PC for simple office work, and i always specify a PC to what the client NEEDS and now that they think they need coz more often than not they have no idea what they need

Just remember for office work the limiting factors are:

A) Ram size (256 min, 512 preferable)
B) Hard disk speed (7200rpm, 8mb cache preferable)
C) CPU

In that order.

Butuz

[Jonny M]

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en...9-8336161.html

available from

http://www.dabs.com/uk/shopbybrand/h...quicklinx=345M

[BenW]

do they really need 80GB?

[petrefax]

do they really need 80GB?

probaably not, but considering the price difference between a 40gb and an 80gb, its worthwhile getting it in any case since if they're completly new to computer use they'll have plenty of room to play about with

with no disrespect intended, people with limited experience that i've built for have quickly filled HDDs you wouldn't imagine them to by doing things like never doing any housekeeping and saving everything about 4 times because they can't remember where they saved the previous copy etc. do this with a handful of high-res photos & you've filled a few Gb filled fairly easily