My momma called and wants a new computer. She's an octogenarian and don't like new fangled ways of doing the same thing. That means I should stay with the operating system she knows - XP.
I went to Dell and they want an extra $150 to install XP on a windows 7 machine. She just needs a basic computer for internet, email, small spreadsheet, and word. For myself I'd just get a used eBay. But I know momma wants a new one. Any suggestions?
Karl
99c and free shipping!
eBay 250563264822, 250563316731, 250563316256
Also use search term 'windows xp sp3' in eBay search window for other low - cost approaches.
The best answer for me has been to buy a replacement HD and install the OS to it. Save the original HD for hardware testing and rainy days.
You may have to download one or two drivers and install them manually.
--Winston
I've got similar issues here. All my mother really needs functionally is a netbook, however they have tiny screens and no modems. 74yo eyes and
10" screens probably aren't a good combo, and a modem is needed for dialup since all she does is email and looks at a few links I forward. I'm watching Fry's and a few others for a good closeout on a regular laptop. With a real laptop, it can also double as a portable DVD player too.
$150 for the license.
There's this if you have 7:
This $300 laptop is a Dell Latitude D610, a rugged machine with a metal frame that cost over $2000 only a few years ago. It's on $5-a- month dialup so when I need to download large update files I take it to Barnes & Noble and use their free WiFi.
jsw
Check out Tiger Direct. I needed a new XP Pro machine for my CNC controller and I had dozens of options this last summer. Bought an E-machine for 299 I think that just screams compared to my old CNC controller.
No, don't stay with XP! 7 does a great job and mom won't notice the differences in her applications. She'll never need to get under the hood and everything else looks about the same...in a way. She'll be just fine with it. Buy parts at Newegg and spend the 20 minutes to assemble it. Got a Philips screwdriver? Install 7, Office, set her mail up...you're done in an hour and a half.
For myself I'd just get a used eBay. But I know momma
Karl
Just buy the parts from Newegg.com and build her one. Get XP from Ebay for the OP.
And be sure to make several visits to your "Mother" in the process. Also bring her some nice apples each visit.
Bob AZ
OK, Winston points out you can get XP cheap right now. I'll try this cause, "Tawm said you'd be OK". Now, if you piss my momma off I want your phone number
Dell has worked well for her. Not top quality but acceptable. Here's one for $250.
Karl
Wayell, Tawm recommends Windows 7. I've got no experience with it but it's been out for almost 3 months, so maybe the important bugs are squashed.
Not me Karl! It's much too late for me to 'turn out right'.
Did Ma mention something specific about her present machine? It'd be unfortunate to get her all set up with a new puter and then find out that her issue was an intermittent power strip rather than 'refresh rate' on _Call of Duty_. :)
--Winston
Vista Home Basic, no monitor, no productivity software, only a 30 day trial of McAfee.
You didn't say what her connection speed is. For Pete C, downloading OpenOffice and AVG over dialup would take hours.
Both can be downloaded elsewhere and installed from the copy, but AVG then needs to load it's entire database.
Dell's office line is higher quality. My HDTV recording PC is in the middle, a student-grade Dimension 2400 that's just barely adequate as long as I kill all non-essential processes. I bought it as-is and it was a "learning experience".
jsw
Nope, go with the Dell. I see it comes with Vista but do the $30 upgrade to
DON'T use McAfee or anything other than Avast or AVG, + adaware and Spybot Search&Destroy. 2gb mem is enough, more is better but she won't need it unless she's a closet hard-core gamer. 250 HD should be plenty, even with ALL your baby pictures on it.
Acer netbook has XP installed. About $300. new at Walmart.
3 year old used "office" dells go for $95 to $149 with XP COA around here. (off lease)
I'd dissagree. An octagenarian used to XP would in all likelihood find either Vista or 7 a real upset, particularly if they've been using XP in the "classic" mode, which is commo n if they moved up from '98.
On Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:15:09 -0500, the infamous "Karl Townsend" scrawled the following:
My new Acer came with Windows Vista Business and the fallback OS on the drive was XP. It also came with a free upgrade to Win7, which I installed. Check what's available at
I'm still trying to figure out how to work with the data I brought over from the old computer via Win7's Easy Transfer prog. Anyone BTDT?
Build her a new one from parts, install her current version of XP on it from the install disks, and when it asks for registration tell it that you just did a 'repair'. Be sure to install the new computer under the old XP license sticker, so you won't be lying.
Have you actually tried that? I got a replacement XP CD from Dell and MS phone support wanted a note from Jesus' mother before giving me a license key that it accepted.
jsw
Karl and Tim
Karl. Listen and do as Tim says. Avoid Windows Vista and Windows 7 like the plague. Vista because it is/was a flop and 7 because it is too new. Your Mother is locked into XP and the change would drive her away from the computer which she sorely needs to keep on living.
And Karl. Send her some more apples.
Bob AZ
Me, I'd get her a new mid-line computer for her, with Windows 7. And let her keep her old XP one next to it for a while (while it still runs), so if she absolutely can not figure something out she has the option.
Mid-line, because she won't have to get another new one if Quicken or Internet Explorer starts demanding more processor or memory. Or she decides to start scanning and Photoshopping all the old family photos with names and dates for the future generations, and a cheap machine can't churn them fast enough.
It really isn't that hard to switch OS's /in the same family/ as long as you have the basic premise down solid. I got my mother upgraded from MS-DOS 2.0 through 6.22 in three or four steps, then skipped a Windows generation or two to Windows for Workgroups 3.11, then Win95, Win98, WinME, WinXP... She didn't make it to Vista, but that wouldn't have been all that bad.
My Mom's secret was to make cheat sheets, and Read The Friendly Manual - what a concept! You know it will do what you want, you just don't know how to tell it to. Find out how.
If it wasn't intuitive she went and found it in the Help Documents, then printed it out and taped it to the side of the device... She managed change quite nicely, once I showed here where to find the answers to the questions. We have a large stack of well-thumbed "Dummies Guide" books here.
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