[Recommendation]: Looking for a decent home PC for mother

liquidsense

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Jul 21, 2009
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The preliminaries first:

  • Country: US
    Usage case: Home use; surfing, Microsoft Office, streaming YT, Skype, photo & video cataloging, light photo editing, Movie Maker, etc.
    Budget: $500-$1,000
    Desired specs: Space is not a concern, so full tower is ok; SDD for operating system; HDD not necessary (she will take from old computer); WiFi; DVD drive (preferred); 8gb ram; DVI video for ultrawide monitor.
    Peripherals: None
I'm having a hard time finding a pre-built that sells machines with the operating system loaded onto the SSD. Is there such a thing? Or do I have to do that for them?

Also, I'm lost as to the current state of affairs with Dell, HP, and Lenovo, and other major brands. It's been 15 years since I owned a pre-built name brand computer, and I'm completely out of the loop.

I wish I had the time to build them a machine, but I unfortunately don't.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

*EDIT* - I found this on Newegg. Would this fit the bill? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883798488
 
Solution
Or, if you prefer to have teh HDD from the get-go, go here: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/thinkcentre/m-series-towers/m900/?sb=:00000025:00003C8D: adn configure this wiht an SSD and HDD and 8 gigs of RAM. It'll cost $786.60 but it's the latest gen i5 and has evertyhing needed + kb and mouse.
Forget about prebuilts. Don't be lazy and build your mother a good PC lol :)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($34.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: *GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Rosewill FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($85.95 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Logitech MX800 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Laser Mouse ($129.32 @ Amazon)
Total: $628.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-18 22:02 EDT-0400
 


:fou: Trust me! I want to, but the circumstances don't allow. They are in another state and they need it now!

 
I was going to recommend that SFF Dell here: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-3252-small-desktop/pd

We got one for my mother and overall it is great but didn't include the monitor. I was thinking though, why doesn't it have the option for an SSD? Well it is because of the case. I swapped the HDD for an SSD (a 256GB MX100) but sadly there are no mounting spots for a drive that size and only 2x SATA ports (CD/DVD and HDD) so an adapter was required and no storage drive in it. The main draw of buying a prebuilt is the warranty and support.

It is a decent small PC that works great for surfing and facebook gaming.
 




I appreciate the helpful suggestions. The Optiplex seems good, but I can't tell if I can throw in a HDD in there. Google Images suggests there is space, but I'm not sure. The Inspiron also looks good, but I don't want to fuss with installing the HDD and then re-installing the OS.

I think I'm going to pay the premium and just go with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=1VK-001S-00073

It's more than she needs, what with the graphics card and all, but I've gotta pull the trigger.
 
I looked. No complete packages for Moms with a ssd/hdd. Best bet is to go to Cyberpowerpc and buuld an A series APU and load it down with monitor etc. comes in at less than $1k when I built with a A10-7860k, XFX TS 550w, 23" LG, CM kb/mouse 1TB WD HDD, 240Gb HyperX SSD, win10 64 home etc
 


The Dell Optiplex 5040 i linked has room for 2 2.5" drives and one 3.5", so you can definitely add whichever flavour HDD you wish to it.
 
Or, if you prefer to have teh HDD from the get-go, go here: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/thinkcentre/m-series-towers/m900/?sb=:00000025:00003C8D: adn configure this wiht an SSD and HDD and 8 gigs of RAM. It'll cost $786.60 but it's the latest gen i5 and has evertyhing needed + kb and mouse.
 
Solution