Upstairs tower's getting old/slow and running on the old XP system - I think it's at least 12, maybe 15 years old. We're now getting a message from Chrome that sez "XP will no longer be supported........"

All I need is a tower w/mouse/keyboard and need to keep it cheap. But it has to have an ethernet connection to our fiber-optic line and a printer connection. NOT used for any gaming etc., very simple usage - usually the wife with her Quicken account, light shopping etc.. And it needs to have a media reader.

Of the four listed here:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-slim...000.p?id=1219736627798&skuId=4362000

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-in...200.p?id=1219751166635&skuId=4473200

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-desk...8.p?id=mp1310116788&skuId=1310116788

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavi...800.p?id=1219712308322&skuId=4246800


Is there a 'best one'? Or is there something else out there that I don't know about in the price range of $300 +/-?

I would get the HP with 8 gigs of ram. Win 10 and everything else nowadays hog memory.

The last one with 8GB RAM would be my suggestion also. More horsepower and memory than you need.. but the others are borderline. Spend the $50 now and you won't have to touch it again.

It doesn't have an old style parallel printer port, hopefully your printer is a USB printer. If not I'd say it's time to buy a new printer also.

HP Sucks

Best Buy sucks. Horrible customer service.

Costco sells this with an intel chip
dell at costco

Best Buy is on the list of companies that may not survive long term.

HP Customer Service is pure crap. Their lower end units are junk.

Dell in the last 2 years has rallied strong and has several great units in that price range.

If you need fairly simple and cost effective Acer will treat you well.

SSD's (solid state drives) have come down in price to the point that I won't have another computer or upgrade an older computer without one. They last longer and there is less chance of loosing all your data to a bad hard drive. As far as brand of computer goes, it's just the name on a Chinese case and mostly Chinese internals. I would recommend 8 gig of ram. For fun (mostly) buy your own components and assemble a computer yourself. You won't save any money, but you'll have better internals. MicroCenter in St. Louis Park has everything you need.

Dell is a good company, but you'll likely spend $100 to $150 more on a Dell to match the HP specs that the last one has. My home desktop is an HP and it's 7 years old or more and running great. 3 out of 4 laptops at home are HP's, and they all run great. I've never had to put in a support call on any of them or had any fault.

HP is my default recommendation for the last few years for relatives looking to buy. Value and quality are there for a good price (great when you find them on sale).

I like a 14" screen laptop! They are quiet and even portable.

They cost about $400.

I have one here in the living room on a small tea table.

I can look over the top of the computer screen and see whats on tv

Printer's only a year+ old and it is a USB style.

True, but I have an external hard drive AND Carbonite service - which has saved my bacon twice before.. I might have to visit that place in person.. Thanks for that tip.

Last 2 PCs have been HP and they've been pretty good - considering the environment here in the shop.

I appreciate the input and will consider anything more from others..

We use dells here at work. pretty solid over the years. Got one for my son for college years ago. still going strong. I would also recommend the solid state drive and 8 gb of ram, along with windows 10.

On our last purchase we picked up a "Barebone" Cyberton unit. These come without an OS so you would need to grab one of your liking.

It has been a solid computer. No frills and no BS, just a basic "meet your needs" type of PC.

Now the "build your own" route sounds kinda cool. If it doesn't give me a stroke in the process that is.

Redneck, looking at the types of usage you do, you really don't need a computer that does quantum physics. Web surfing, family bills, etc. Sometimes simpler is better. You already have an external hard drive and back-up system. I'd think I'd go small if I were you.

Chromebook. A couple hundred bucks and will do all the tasks you ask of it. Plus, it's super light and you can throw in the 5th wheel or on the bike when you travel. Replace it as needed - no big deal. Local school district issued them to 5000 kids from 8-18, so you know they're damn near bulletproof. Just food for thought.

Yup I would go Dell and if available Costco as well. Their return policy is untouched by others. Hard to say this now days but I was very impressed by BOTH on customer support.

If you want to spend more IBM/Lenovo (especially, Thinkpads) are tanks and never break.

Lastly, I replaced my internal drive with an aftermarket high capacity SSD. Along with the factory I7 I now have a rocket ship on processing speeds.

I'm not really a computer guy, but I bought the second one down a couple years ago. I use mine for about the same thing as you and had XP before this one. It was probably 10 years old.

I hated the Windows 8.1 it came with, but since upgrading to Windows 10 and using Chrome... I love it!

Get a Macbook Pro.

THIS

Don't know where the parts come from but the IBM/Lenovo computers are assembled in the Research Park in North Carolina.

All good info above.. Guess I better make a trip to the nearest Best Buy and ask questions..

I'd not heard of an SSD before this thread. Since the PC I'm referring to above, would that work with a tower that old? I.e., since it's close to 15 years, am I polishing a turd IYGMD?

Small = good. No lap top for me, nor anything MAC. That's like me trying to learn a foreign language.

I've heard many, many good things about Lenovo so that's definitely an option..

Thank you, all, very much.

I use a laptop all the time but not as a laptop. I plug a larger 22" monitor into it and use a wireless keyboard and mouse. The computer just sits off to the side. That way I still have the laptop for when we're on the road.

I learned that you do NOT want to shut off the laptop monitor completely. Just turn it all the way down. If it's turned off and something happens where the external monitor doesn't load, you have no monitor at all.

Since he definitely doesn't want a Mac, I would suggest a PC mini tower with at least 8 gig of ram and a SSD drive. The SSDs are pricey, but the speed is worth it. The Lenovo is a solid machine.

That's about where I'm headed, I think.. Just have to eyeball 'em in person and try to ask the right questions then..

My last PC, and current one, is a Lenovo (aka IBM). Been well satisfied. I'll buy another when the time comes.

There's an old saying in the IT world - 'No one ever got fired for buying IBM or Cisco."

They can fire me!! I'll use their Thinkpad as an anchor baby while fishing!!!

Actually, I have a great job at Blue.

My wife has a Lenovo lap top. Her processor and the one in my HP are supposed to be the same speed but the Lenovo is twice as fast. They both have the same memory.

Lenova is NOT IBM. It's a chinese company that bought out IBM's PC business, but it's been purely chinese for quite a few years.

Lenovo also bought the X Series Server line.

The CHINESE products are still solid and built to the same spec as Lenovo has been building for quite sometime.

Although, they are moving all of us to Apple.

I don't know if a laptop would suit your needs or not, but I'll never go back to a desk top setup...I got my current one at Walmart on line...it's a refurbished HP Elitebook 8460 that I snagged for about $250 out the door. Currently has Win 7 but has a free upgrade available for Win. 10. I'm completely wireless with the Verizon "Jetpack"...