Searching for Basic PC Recommendation

On 29/09/2011 20:53, RnR wrote:
On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:51:34 +0100, wrote:

On 29/09/2011 17:33, RnR wrote:
On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:43:05 +0000 (UTC),
wrote:

Paul in Houston wrote in
:

Daave wrote:
A little old lady I know has a PC that's about nine years old (it has
XP Home). She basically uses it for general Web browsing and
occasional word processing. She would like a more modern PC. She
doesn't even want a new monitor.

She asked me to recommend one. Since I have had good experiences with
Dells, I went to their site and found these PCs on sale:

Inspiron 570 for $350
Inspiron 620 for $500

I'm thinking for how she will use it, that the 570 will still run
circles around what she currently has. But I'd like to know more
about certain parts/specs I should consider with respect to quality
(and perhaps other brands of PCs). Which OEMs issue full-fledged
Windows OS installation DVDs these days?

Lastly, I know that if she goes with the more expensive Windows 7 Pro
(instead of Home), she can run a virtual XP environment for any old
apps she has. I'm pretty sure the only really old app she has is some
genealogy program. I'll ask her the name and version. Perhaps other
users of this program once I find out what it is might be able to
tell me if it might even run on Windows 7. (How common is it for an
old program to be able to run on a much newer OS?)

TIA.

Consider getting a laptop. It may be ideal for her.
Small, lightweight, portable, wireless, bluetooth,
built in webcam, etc.
I like my Lenovo T410 for work and email programs.
It is great for that but it is terrible for gaming.
frys.com
microcenter.com

My experience placing laptops with older users is that the native
resolution is just too small for older eyes. I'd stick with a desktop
style monitor. YMMV.


You do know tho Windows has a magnifier built in.

Yeah, a crappy little magnifier that is guaranteed to be too complex to
use for people needing it.
-- choro --


Crappy maybe but complex, I don't agree.

Hope you are referring to CTRL+ the + or - key on the numeric pad.
That's simple enough but it doesn't magnify everything. And that is not
what is meant by the "Magnifier". The so-called "Magnifier" is crap!

On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:20:53 +0100, choro wrote:

On 29/09/2011 20:53, RnR wrote:
On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:51:34 +0100, wrote:

On 29/09/2011 17:33, RnR wrote:
On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:43:05 +0000 (UTC),
wrote:

Paul in Houston wrote in
:

Daave wrote:
A little old lady I know has a PC that's about nine years old (it has
XP Home). She basically uses it for general Web browsing and
occasional word processing. She would like a more modern PC. She
doesn't even want a new monitor.

She asked me to recommend one. Since I have had good experiences with
Dells, I went to their site and found these PCs on sale:

Inspiron 570 for $350
Inspiron 620 for $500

I'm thinking for how she will use it, that the 570 will still run
circles around what she currently has. But I'd like to know more
about certain parts/specs I should consider with respect to quality
(and perhaps other brands of PCs). Which OEMs issue full-fledged
Windows OS installation DVDs these days?

Lastly, I know that if she goes with the more expensive Windows 7 Pro
(instead of Home), she can run a virtual XP environment for any old
apps she has. I'm pretty sure the only really old app she has is some
genealogy program. I'll ask her the name and version. Perhaps other
users of this program once I find out what it is might be able to
tell me if it might even run on Windows 7. (How common is it for an
old program to be able to run on a much newer OS?)

TIA.

Consider getting a laptop. It may be ideal for her.
Small, lightweight, portable, wireless, bluetooth,
built in webcam, etc.
I like my Lenovo T410 for work and email programs.
It is great for that but it is terrible for gaming.
frys.com
microcenter.com

My experience placing laptops with older users is that the native
resolution is just too small for older eyes. I'd stick with a desktop
style monitor. YMMV.


You do know tho Windows has a magnifier built in.

Yeah, a crappy little magnifier that is guaranteed to be too complex to
use for people needing it.
-- choro --


Crappy maybe but complex, I don't agree.

Hope you are referring to CTRL+ the + or - key on the numeric pad.
That's simple enough but it doesn't magnify everything. And that is not
what is meant by the "Magnifier". The so-called "Magnifier" is crap!


"simple enough" to me means not complex so we agree. As to the rest,
well I just go along with "crappy" based my brief useage and
recollection of it in XP. Actually it's not too crappy in windows 7
as I just tried it for the first time and this is likely what she
would use now if she gets a new pc. Personally I would prefer
reading glasses myself to the magnifier but each has it's pros and
cons.

On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:29:37 +0000 (UTC), dg1261
wrote:

Ken Blake wrote in
:

But I disagree with that, strongly. How much RAM you need for good
performance (in any version of Windows) depends on what apps you run.
Since she does hardly anything but general Web browsing and occasional
word processing, it's very unlikely that adding RAM will make any
discernable difference.

And doing a clean installation is hardly ever necessary, and often
causes lots of problems. You have to restore all your data backups,
you have to reinstall all your programs, you have to reinstall all the
Windows and application updates, you have to locate and install all
the needed drivers for your system, you have to recustomize Windows
and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.


Boy, so wrong on so many levels.


Feel free to believe whatever you want.

I just purchased an Inspiron 620 and absolutely love it. As far as old
programs working on a newer OS, I haven't had good luck. Sometimes the
the extra speed of the clock and RAM makes the program run too fast;
this has been especially true on games. Otherwise, it seems like the
newer OS code just isn't compatible with older programs especially if
you are skipping OS versions in the middle.

On Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:03:11 -0400, Christopher Muto
wrote:

On 9/27/2011 9:58 PM, Daave wrote:
A little old lady I know has a PC that's about nine years old (it has XP
Home). She basically uses it for general Web browsing and occasional
word processing. She would like a more modern PC. She doesn't even want
a new monitor.

She asked me to recommend one. Since I have had good experiences with
Dells, I went to their site and found these PCs on sale:

Inspiron 570 for $350
Inspiron 620 for $500

I'm thinking for how she will use it, that the 570 will still run
circles around what she currently has. But I'd like to know more about
certain parts/specs I should consider with respect to quality (and
perhaps other brands of PCs). Which OEMs issue full-fledged Windows OS
installation DVDs these days?

Lastly, I know that if she goes with the more expensive Windows 7 Pro
(instead of Home), she can run a virtual XP environment for any old apps
she has. I'm pretty sure the only really old app she has is some
genealogy program. I'll ask her the name and version. Perhaps other
users of this program once I find out what it is might be able to tell
me if it might even run on Windows 7. (How common is it for an old
program to be able to run on a much newer OS?)

TIA.



no cross posting please.

i think that the $349 inspiron 570* with the amd anthlon ii x2 245 (or
better) is a good basic machine and one of the only machines that you
can order from dell wihtout a monitor. however a new monitor for well
under $200 would greatly improve the computing experiance. not just
becuase of the increased size but because monitors today are much
brighter and more contrasty than old monitors were on their best day.
wide perspective monitors under 22" are actually smaller in height than
a 17" traditional square monitors making them actually a downgrade to a
traditional 17".

i would not consider the $299 inspiron 570 with the sempron processor.

you might also consider the $349 inspiron 560 with intel e6700 processor
if you are partial to intel over amd. this machine is roughly identical
in performance to the inspiron 570 with amd 245 but the integrated
graphics in the 560 is not as good as that in the 570. the only real
advantage one might argue that the $349 inspiron 560 has over the
inspiron 570 is that it includes the 15 month subscription to mcafee
antivirus (something that i assign negitive value as i am no fan of
mcafee), and there are those that believe that intel based machine are
generally more reliable and stable than amd (something that i do not
believe - a reputation amd machines have aquired as they were often home
built systems that were over clocked to run well beyond speification
which can lead to instability).

the $449 inspiron 620** with i3-2100 for $100 more would be a good
choice too but the fact is that it is 30% more money and unless she is
doing things that are processor intensive (read games) it will not feel
much faster than the inspiron 570 with the 245 processor. yes, despite
the processor that is more than twice as fast, and better graphics
'card' of the inspiron 620 it will not seem remarkably faster. to open
internet explorer means reading it from the hard disk and these two
machines have the same make/model hard disk.

it doesn't sound like a laptop is an appropriate choice. you will pay
more for a laptop, get less performance, and have a much smaller screen.
plus laptops are way more vulnerable than a desktop (spills, theft,
being dropped, etc) and essentially require you to pay for an extended
warranty or face a possible costly repair that would not make economic
sense (repairs can cost more than replacement machines).

as for software compatibility you are correct that only windows 7
profession, enterprise, or ultimate will run xp mode. but you may find
that the old program works fine as is. if it from the windows 98, 95,
or 3.1 days then you are probably going to be out of luck. why not try
installing the software on another machine to see if it works before
wasting money on windows 7 professional?

* antholn ii x2 245 (passmark 1659), 4gb, 500gb, dvdrw, radeon hd4200

** i3-2100 (passmark 3843), 4gb, 500gb, dvdrw, intel hd graphics
I have sometimes found similar mid level hardware in the optiplex line for the
same price but including 3 year warranty. Takes some time to wade through
dell's quagmire.