New PC Advice

VFN

Member
My folks are getting a new computer mainly because XP is no longer being supported. They only use it for email, the Net and printing mainly so any ideas? Is a tower with 7 and only 2GB of RAM okay, etc? While they have money they don't see any reason to pay for anything they don't need.

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
Do they already have the printer? If so make sure it has a W7 driver available. Some, like the old Epson Stylus have a Vista driver in firmware and can't be upgraded. On the other hand you can get photo quality ink jets for less than $100.

A tower with 2 GB and W7 worked for me. t was an HP with AMD dual core 5200+. I don't know if you can still get towers with W7 preloaded. If not W8 will work. Although W7 is an easier transition from XP. You should be able to get an off the shelf system for under $500 with more than enough horses.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion m9515y
    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G
    2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III
Switch to Ubuntu. Secure and relatively simple to learn.

What are the specs of the old computer?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Dual L5639 // i7 950 @ 4.0Ghz
    Motherboard
    Evga SR-2 // Gigabyte x58a-ud3r
    Memory
    12Gig Corsair XMS3 // 6Gig OCZ Gold
    Graphics Card(s)
    gtx 560 ti // gtx 260-216
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual 22" // Headless
    Hard Drives
    OCZ aGILITY 3, 120Gig + Seagate 500Gig x 2
    PSU
    Silverstone da700 // Corsair 520hx
    Case
    Rosewill BlackHawk Ultra // Antec 900v1
    Cooling
    Twin CM Hyper 212+ // Noctua NH-u12
    Other Info
    Acer 8930 laptop with x9100...
I'll check about the printer and thanks for the heads-up. Yes, there are many places that sell new towers with 7 installed. Is a dual core a must?

Unbuntu? I doubt my folks will go for that but I'll get back with the specs. I thought initially that they could just install 7 instead of buying a new tower but for some inexpensive deals from legit companies like HP the price difference doesn't seem very great.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
Is a dual core a must?
I'm just relating what I had that worked. I don't know how low you can go. But I think dual core off the shelf towers are what these days? $350 or so. If you want minimal expenditure then the Linux suggestion is right. It's always going to run on leaner hardware than Windows.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion m9515y
    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G
    2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III
I'll check about the printer and thanks for the heads-up. Yes, there are many places that sell new towers with 7 installed. Is a dual core a must?

Unbuntu? I doubt my folks will go for that but I'll get back with the specs. I thought initially that they could just install 7 instead of buying a new tower but for some inexpensive deals from legit companies like HP the price difference doesn't seem very great.

They'd never know the difference

Install Windows XP theme in Ubuntu 13.10 | ITworld
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Dual L5639 // i7 950 @ 4.0Ghz
    Motherboard
    Evga SR-2 // Gigabyte x58a-ud3r
    Memory
    12Gig Corsair XMS3 // 6Gig OCZ Gold
    Graphics Card(s)
    gtx 560 ti // gtx 260-216
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual 22" // Headless
    Hard Drives
    OCZ aGILITY 3, 120Gig + Seagate 500Gig x 2
    PSU
    Silverstone da700 // Corsair 520hx
    Case
    Rosewill BlackHawk Ultra // Antec 900v1
    Cooling
    Twin CM Hyper 212+ // Noctua NH-u12
    Other Info
    Acer 8930 laptop with x9100...
I'm just relating what I had that worked. I don't know how low you can go. But I think dual core off the shelf towers are what these days? $350 or so. If you want minimal expenditure then the Linux suggestion is right. It's always going to run on leaner hardware than Windows.

I was just wondering if dual core is necessary these days or in those upcoming. And yeah, $350 seems about the entry price and a refurbished lower of course.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
Just to update as I had access again-Windows 7 Advisor says the PC can handle 7 except Aero may not work. (I think that's due to the low grade graphics card.) It also reports that some programs may not work, but I'm not sure that's accurate. The specs for his PC is a Pentium 4 2.80 GHz, 2.5 GB RAM, and a Nividia GForce MX 440 with AGP8X with 64 MB RAM I think. Also may be an integrated card.


Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
No, a 440 is an agp slot card.

It's fairly old. In all honesty, I would really look into the XP skin fore Ubuntu.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Dual L5639 // i7 950 @ 4.0Ghz
    Motherboard
    Evga SR-2 // Gigabyte x58a-ud3r
    Memory
    12Gig Corsair XMS3 // 6Gig OCZ Gold
    Graphics Card(s)
    gtx 560 ti // gtx 260-216
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual 22" // Headless
    Hard Drives
    OCZ aGILITY 3, 120Gig + Seagate 500Gig x 2
    PSU
    Silverstone da700 // Corsair 520hx
    Case
    Rosewill BlackHawk Ultra // Antec 900v1
    Cooling
    Twin CM Hyper 212+ // Noctua NH-u12
    Other Info
    Acer 8930 laptop with x9100...
Thanks. My folks are going to have to do something cause their PC is extremely slow to boot and slow in general performance. Thanks again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
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