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<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>I haven't noticed what applications he uses. We recently replaced
my mother’s mini-tower with a $300 15.6” Intel laptop. She
only uses email, Web, and Skype. Photoshop or heavy-duty spreadsheet
might require a more powerful setup. (Office Depot Lenovo for $329 now.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Future-proof: $14.99 for upgrade to Windows 8. USB-3?
Blu-ray player/burner? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Then give him a Kindle-clone with SD card for Christmas;-)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Jim <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
sgvlug-bounces@sgvlug.net [mailto:sgvlug-bounces@sgvlug.net] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Rami Al-Ghanmi<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Monday, August 13, 2012
11:34 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">SGVLUG
Discussion List.</st1:PersonName><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [SGVLUG] Shopping for
computer for father-in-law...</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>As the resident family support-team, I found that
after a sit-down with most of my elderly relatives, an iPad with an external
keyboard is more that they need. Specially if you couple that with a printer
that is compatible with iPhone/iPad printing.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Although it does not seem "future proof", if
internet, email, photo sharing and ebooks is 90% of their use, an iPad is more
that when they need.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>On the topic of Dell's, I found them to be the least
future proof machines you can get. Custom case, custom mobo and you can hardly
fit anything extra in it. I, personally, think that future proofing a machine
does not necessarily mean getting a better processor,
but definitely means getting a better graphics card. If you are
willing to build a machine, Toms Hardware $500 monthly gaming rig is a good
place to start.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Rami<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 11:22 PM, Dan Buthusiem <<a
href="mailto:dan.buthusiem@gmail.com" target="_blank">dan.buthusiem@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Future-proof to me is a frame of mind. I know someone
whose mother still uses a P4. She only uses it for email and web browsing.
Could she do with a new PC? Sure, but she doesn't really need one; the P4 does
everything she needs. Same with my Celeron 430. Does all the small home server
stuff I need it to, and it's power efficient enough. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>If you want something you're not going to have to play
with much, I'd go for an i3 from a major vendor, max the RAM, get a service
contract so that any failed components get replaced without too much drama and
shopping around for something compatible, then setup an automatic backup
solution like Ghost to take care of any, "I don't know why it stopped
working," and, "What do you mean the hard disk crashed? I can still
get my pictures, right?" kind of stuff. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>On Aug 13, 2012 10:30 PM, "Dan Kegel" <<a
href="mailto:dank@kegel.com" target="_blank">dank@kegel.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Goal: reasonably future-proof system for under $500 without
monitor.<br>
<br>
There are plenty of crappy expensive systems out there<br>
(e.g. Celerons, Pentiums, A8's, ...). I'm looking for an<br>
i3 or i5 that's a little future-proof.<br>
<br>
I'd consider a Chromebox, though they don't have i3 or i5 versions yet<br>
as far as I can tell.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.logicbuy.com/categorydeals/computers/desktops"
target="_blank">http://www.logicbuy.com/categorydeals/computers/desktops</a>
seems like<br>
it points to a few good deals (e.g. at the moment it points<br>
out that you can get a Dell Inspiron 620 MT with an i5-2320,<br>
6GB RAM, and 1TB hard drive for $499... but Dell's own<br>
site kinds of finds that deal for you, too.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.logicbuy.com/categorydeals/computers/desktops"
target="_blank">http://www.logicbuy.com/categorydeals/computers/desktops</a>
points<br>
to an i7 for $600 (a bit over his budget).<br>
<br>
Looks like Dell pushes the i3-2120 and the i5-2320;<br>
the former is a 2 core, the latter has twice the cores as well<br>
as twice the L1, L2, and L3 cache, and is about 1.5 times the<br>
throughput on some benchmarks.<br>
<br>
Any reason to not just point him at the cheapest i5 dell?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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