Building a PC for my Aunt and Uncle for about $350?

Basically the title says it all. I'm obviously going for an AMD
processor. They aren't gamers, and will use the PC for word
processing a few spreadsheets and maybe a few kids' games. The kids
are no older than 5. I'm hoping to get them a 17 inch CRT monitor as
well - the LCDs are too expensive for now.
What would you suggest I get?

I would like the case to have front USB ports too.
Oh yeah, thats $350 US.

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 08:50:58 -0400, Ed Nuxters wrote:

Basically the title says it all. I'm obviously going for an AMD
processor. They aren't gamers, and will use the PC for word
processing a few spreadsheets and maybe a few kids' games. The kids
are no older than 5. I'm hoping to get them a 17 inch CRT monitor as
well - the LCDs are too expensive for now.
What would you suggest I get?

I would like the case to have front USB ports too.
Oh yeah, thats $350 US.

For that use: why not choose a socketa. There are some dirt cheap
motherboard, and the sempron is cheap too.

If they are not going to get the OS X64, why then go with a 64 bit cpu
?

http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwb/ulti...c/30/4651.html

This budget is ultralow.

Then for an all-in-one solution with an amd64 3000+:
the msi rs480m2.
http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q2...s/index.x?pg=1

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2004/msi/ms-7093/g1.htm

It's onboard graphics is the best ever seen onboard. I have one
myself, I got in 3DBenchmarks2001se 1024x768x32 6000, which is
respectable, and good enough for a few kids games.

best regards

John

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 15:07:53 +0200, JK
wrote:

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 08:50:58 -0400, Ed Nuxters wrote:

Basically the title says it all. I'm obviously going for an AMD
processor. They aren't gamers, and will use the PC for word
processing a few spreadsheets and maybe a few kids' games. The kids
are no older than 5. I'm hoping to get them a 17 inch CRT monitor as
well - the LCDs are too expensive for now.
What would you suggest I get?

I would like the case to have front USB ports too.
Oh yeah, thats $350 US.

For that use: why not choose a socketa. There are some dirt cheap
motherboard, and the sempron is cheap too.

If they are not going to get the OS X64, why then go with a 64 bit cpu
?

http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwb/ulti...c/30/4651.html


Yes, I was not going to go with a 64 bit CPU - I was going to go with
a Sempron.


This budget is ultralow.

Then for an all-in-one solution with an amd64 3000+:
the msi rs480m2.
http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q2...s/index.x?pg=1

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2004/msi/ms-7093/g1.htm

It's onboard graphics is the best ever seen onboard. I have one
myself, I got in 3DBenchmarks2001se 1024x768x32 6000, which is
respectable, and good enough for a few kids games.

best regards

John

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 08:50:58 -0400, Ed Nuxters wrote:

Basically the title says it all. I'm obviously going for an AMD
processor. They aren't gamers, and will use the PC for word
processing a few spreadsheets and maybe a few kids' games. The kids
are no older than 5. I'm hoping to get them a 17 inch CRT monitor as
well - the LCDs are too expensive for now.
What would you suggest I get?

I would like the case to have front USB ports too.
Oh yeah, thats $350 US.

Why not buy them a good second hand system?

A lot of people tend to update computers fairly often (every 18 months in my case) and sell off the old gear
cheap.

I would not build them a computer then any problem they have comes back to
you. if they live next door fine but if not much better buying one that has
a mfg warranty.

I would go for something like this for basic stuff should work fine

System Price $394.00
Promotion Discount ($10.00)
Discounted Price $384.00
Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional


Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home
Memory: 256 MB DDR NON-ECC SDRAM 400MHz (2 DIMMs)
Floppy Drive: No Floppy Drive
Hard Disk Drive: 40 GB EIDE Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
CD Read-Write Drive: 48X CD RW/DVD Combo Drive
Softwa Software
Image Restore Software
H and R Block Promotional Software
Dell Support Software
AOL 9.0 ISP Software
Earthlink ISP Software
Earthlink ISP Software
AOL 8.0 ISP Software
McAfee Virus Scan - 90-day Trial
Music Match Software
Power DVD Software
Photo Album 5.1 Standard
Resource CD
Software
QuickBooks Simple Start Special Edition
CD RW Software
Windows Media Player
WordPerfect Productivity Suite 12.0
Operating System CD
Paint Shop Pro Studio Trial
AOL 9.0 ISP Software
Dell/My Way Home Page
Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Reader
Misc: Logitec 2-button Scroll Mouse
QuietKey Keyboard
No Modem Option
Altec Lansing ADA215 Speakers
Shipping Material
Documantation

"Ed Nuxters" wrote in message
...
Basically the title says it all. I'm obviously going for an AMD
processor. They aren't gamers, and will use the PC for word
processing a few spreadsheets and maybe a few kids' games. The kids
are no older than 5. I'm hoping to get them a 17 inch CRT monitor as
well - the LCDs are too expensive for now.
What would you suggest I get?

I would like the case to have front USB ports too.
Oh yeah, thats $350 US.

Wayne wrote:
I would not build them a computer then any problem they have comes
back to you. if they live next door fine but if not much better
buying one that has a mfg warranty.

I agree, and a Dell $400 box should be fine for their application. I
don't think I could build a comparable system (with monitor) for this
price.