PC for 13 yo grandson

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RA

Would appreciate any suggestions for a basic computer for my 13 yo grandson
for school, homework, reference material, maybe a game or two (his father
isn't THAT strict!). Motherboard, cpu, soundcard (built in?), video (built
in?) and does a dvd read and burn cd's as well? He has an old NEC monitor,
which is still working on his PI machine, would like to keep. Should I
consider IDE harddrive, or something newer? Not too familiar with the
SATA's. I'm still using IDE. Thank you.
 
RA said:
Would appreciate any suggestions for a basic computer for my 13 yo grandson
for school, homework, reference material, maybe a game or two (his father
isn't THAT strict!). Motherboard, cpu, soundcard (built in?), video (built
in?)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go onboard video for any sort of pleasant games performance.
and does a dvd read and burn cd's as well?
Click to expand...

A dvd BURNER does, a DVD PLAYER doesn't.
He has an old NEC monitor,
which is still working on his PI machine, would like to keep.
Click to expand...

I think that's a mistake. Those usually have low refresh rates and often
aren't and it's also a tad small. It's easier to work with a larger
monitor that can actually refresh at 85hz.
Should I
consider IDE harddrive, or something newer? Not too familiar with the
SATA's. I'm still using IDE. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Without your price range, we're trying to help you hit a bullseye at
night with no flashlight.
 
any Dell with 3 year support and 3 forms of spyware protection +
antivirus with... parental controls fully explained to you ;^)
 
RA said:
Would appreciate any suggestions for a basic computer for my 13 yo grandson
for school, homework, reference material, maybe a game or two (his father
isn't THAT strict!).
Click to expand...

It sounds like Linux supports enough applications for him. That would
save you $100, keep things legal, and start the lad off right with
everybody's future OS. :-) I could recommend Fedora, SuSE, and Mandrake
Linuxes, in that order.
 
I have 2 computers built for a 5 yr old and a 12 yr old- both using the same
motherboard and processor. Have had absolutely no problems or complaints.

Biostar Motherboard with integrated video and audio (with 8X AGP slot for
video upgrade)
http://www.biostar.com.tw/products/mainboard/board.php3?name=M7NCG Pro

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (you can get faster for the same price now, when I
bought, the 2500 was the price jump point).

DVD/CD RW of your choice (Lite On is reliable and cost competitive)

For your requirements, I don't think SATA is needed (I use it on my machine
for a RAID 0 config, but my kids don't have it). Get a good quality 7200 RPM
IDE HD in the 80GB range and partition it into 2 drives (one for system, one
for storage and backups).

Minimum of 256 MB of PC 2700 memory, would suggest 512MB.

Look at MWave and Newegg for decent prices and delivery- good RMA policy.

Good Luck,
Fitz
 
RA:
Would appreciate any suggestions for a basic computer for my 13 yo
grandson for school, homework, reference material, maybe a game or
two (his father isn't THAT strict!). Motherboard, cpu, soundcard
(built in?), video (built in?) and does a dvd read and burn cd's as
well? He has an old NEC monitor, which is still working on his PI
machine, would like to keep. Should I consider IDE harddrive, or
something newer? Not too familiar with the SATA's. I'm still using
IDE. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Ditch the old monitor... What is your budget? Are you buying or building?

building:
http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/index.html

buying:
Dell 4600 or 8400
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/desktops?c=us&cs=19
&l=en&s=dhs
 
Dell? UGH! They use Intel processors. For a low priced system
with good performance, one should want a computer with an Athlon XP
(or Sempron) processor.
 
JK said:
Dell? UGH! They use Intel processors. For a low priced system
with good performance, one should want a computer with an Athlon XP
(or Sempron) processor.

JAD wrote:
Click to expand...

<snip>

I thought you left, troll boy.

MC
 
Fitz said:
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (you can get faster for the same price now, when I
bought, the 2500 was the price jump point).
Click to expand...

Where can you get faster for the same price?
 
how's the stock doing these days........?

JK said:
Dell? UGH! They use Intel processors. For a low priced system
with good performance, one should want a computer with an Athlon XP
(or Sempron) processor.
Click to expand...
 
If he's going to want to play any modern games, avoid getting on-board video
at all costs. The current state, and speed, of on-board video is that it is
too slowww to play modern action games.
 
JK said:
Dell? UGH! They use Intel processors. For a low priced system
with good performance, one should want a computer with an Athlon XP
(or Sempron) processor.

JAD wrote:
Click to expand...

What the ****?!? You've gone from deliberately bashing Intel to
recommending an Athlon XP or Sempron as good performance in a low-priced
system??? What are you smoking, man? Can I have some? -Dave
 
Dave C. said:
What the ****?!? You've gone from deliberately bashing Intel to
recommending an Athlon XP or Sempron as good performance in a low-priced
system??? What are you smoking, man? Can I have some? -Dave
Click to expand...

He's right, Dave. AMD CPUs give good value.
 
RA said:
Would appreciate any suggestions for a basic computer for my 13 yo grandson
for school, homework, reference material, maybe a game or two (his father
isn't THAT strict!). Motherboard, cpu, soundcard (built in?), video (built
in?) and does a dvd read and burn cd's as well? He has an old NEC monitor,
which is still working on his PI machine, would like to keep. Should I
consider IDE harddrive, or something newer? Not too familiar with the
SATA's. I'm still using IDE. Thank you.
Click to expand...

For a 13-year-old, keep it simple and inexpensive. If he wants/needs to replace
or upgrade it later, he can save up his pennies.

For a low-end machine, you can probably do as well pricewise with a Dell
special -- $700 or less complete. If you want to build it anyhow, or want to
have him help build it, look at some barebones packages and pick the popular
components.

Built-in sound is fine for most purposes; built-in graphics are weak. DVD+/-RW
will burn CDs, too. IDE is fine; SATA if the price is right.
 
RA said:
Would appreciate any suggestions for a basic computer for my 13 yo grandson
for school, homework, reference material, maybe a game or two (his father
isn't THAT strict!). Motherboard, cpu, soundcard (built in?), video (built
in?) and does a dvd read and burn cd's as well?
Click to expand...

IMHO, you can get a superb NFORCE2 motherboard that has build-in
sound/video, as long as you preserve the upgrade options. Get a mobo
that has built-in video PLUS an AGP slot. Get a mobo that has onboard
sound PLUS a PCI slot for a better soundcard. That way, he can hit the
ground running, and upgrade later. That's what I did for my teen
daughter.

Start the kid off with a fully upgradable NFORCE2/AMD system, and grant
him a minimum of 512 MB DDR RAM (2 sticks of 256 each) to start. That is
the best bang/buck ratio you will find.

To read DVDs *and* burn CDs you need a combo drive, but they are not
expensive anymore.
 
Are you looking for an appliance PC or a homebuilt?

Some thoughts:

In the DVD/CD area, you can choose between a "combo" drive, that is a CD
burner with the ability to read DVDs. DVD burners are getting to be cheap
enough that I'd recommend going for one of those, as they can read and write
DVDs and CDs. The main question is to whether to get a drive that supports
dual-layer DVD+R. (Dual layer gives over 8 GB.) Incidentally, 8X DVD burning
gives a data rate of around 11 MB/s, equivalent to roughly a 73X CD burner.

Onboard sound is probably OK at this time. I think that my Audigy 2 card
gives better sound than the onboard sound on my Asus P4P800 board, but the
onboard sound isn't bad.

Avoid onboard video if he wants to play any 3D games.

I believe that SATA drives don't offer much performance gains over parallel
ATA (IDE) drives at the moment, unless you're prepared to pay for 10,000 RPM
Western Digital Raptor drives (36 or 74 GB). (I'm using a couple of SATA WD
160 GB drives in RAID 0, but I doubt that there's much advantage for most
purposes.)

If his monitor is as old as a PI machine, it's probably a low-resolution
piece of junk by current standards. Monitors are much cheaper than they were
a few years ago, so you might wish to shop for a new one.

For a build-it-yourself system, here's a relatively high-end system (For
$1700US):

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1644411,00.asp

"Build the Most PC for Your Money"

Some might argue for other pieces, but nothing here is bad.

For a real cheapie,

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1585316,00.asp

"Build It: A Web-Surfing PC for $500 "

If you have $1000 to spend, want an appliance PC, and insist on Intel
hardware, I suggest a Dell Dimension 8400 (www.dell.com). It uses all the
latest (Intel) hardware (Socket T CPU, PCI Express video, SATA drive, etc.)
If it's to be used for serious gaming, I suggest switching to the 19" CRT
monitor. Going to 1 GB of RAM would add $100, and might be worthwhile. The
graphics card upgrade may be worthwhile for gaming. This system is
relatively future-proof: it may not be obsolete for 3 months or so.
(Disclaimer: I have a close relative who works for Dell. I own no Dell
hardware, or Dell stock, though.)

Have fun.

Bob Knowlden

Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
Ok, I was wrong...at Newegg, the AMD 2600+ is $1.00 more and the 2700+ is
$4.00 more.
If you want to argue semantics over a buck, you win.
At one time MWave had a run on 2600's and they were a couple bucks less than
the 2500.

Fitz
 
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