Netbook or New PC Build? (As cheap as possible)

jaykhunter

Hey guys, my niece's laptop is boned; she just uses it for basic internet browsing - facebook really, and listening to music. Is it possible to buy a cheap tower or shuttle, or would a netbook be overall preferable? I'm looking to buy for as cheap as possible really.

I suppose i could get a basic used FS monitor for €50 but that'd count in the final budget.

If netbook's the way to go, where could i get it cheapest all in, and are there any models you'd recommend?

deconduo

If cheap as possible is a priority then netbook is probably the way to go. For the tower you could get a cheap build like this:

Item|Price
Total build cost: €233.76 + €30 shipping
Intel Celeron G530 Box, LGA1155|€36.94
ASRock H61M-ITX, Sockel 1155, ITX|€64.25
Thermaltake Element Q, mini-ITX, 200W-Netzteil|€52.01
OCZ Vertex Plus 60GB SSD SATA 6,4cm (2,5")|€62.31
4GB Patriot AMD Entertainment Edition PC3-12800 1600MHz|€18.25


Its a mITX build, so small and light. It would be much faster than any netbook, but as you said you'll need a monitor etc. with it as well. I put a 60GB SSD in as its cheaper than most hard drives at the moment, and if there's no gaming going on it should be plenty. However if more space is needed you could throw this in instead:
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28151&agid=689

jaykhunter

Thanks mate, 260 is above my budget for this! Was hoping for something around 150-200. Is that possible? Or where'd be the cheapest place to get netbooks?

Serephucus

Cheapest netbook I found after a quick look was around the €220 area, and I couldn't build a tower for any cheaper than that (not from HWVS).

Item|Price
Total build cost: €206.88 + €30 shipping
Intel Celeron G530 Box, LGA1155|€36.94
4GB Patriot AMD Entertainment Edition PC3-10600 1333MHz|€17.89
ASRock H61M-HVS (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€41.81
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER BQT S6-SYS-UA-350W 80plus bulk|€29.92
NZXT SOURCE 210 Midi-Tower - black, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€30.42
Samsung HM160HC 160GB 5400 U/Min.,8MB, 6,4 cm (2,5")|€49.90


Deconduo's build would be faster, because of the SSD though. You could always pick up a cheap hard drive on Adverts. In fact, I'd say your best bet is Adverts at this point - I don't think a tower can be done for €150.

Jonny7

You have to factor in an operating system, so a built PC pushes over budget somewhat.

This site is usually about the cheapest

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/GRADE_A_-_ASUS_Eee_PC_1018P_1165933.html
(these guys deliver to Ireland for 10 sterling)

Getting a decent netbook around 150 to 200 will kill you, stretch your budget by about 30 or 40 euro and there are a lot of options

Otherwise
Scour ebay
Lots of refurbished dells with monitors on there, can be delivered for around 150 to 200. Keep an eye out for core2duos.

If you give me all the requirements I'll have a look through ebay and find one for you (from a good established seller, etc)

What is the preference? netbook, laptop or desktop?

Serephucus

Maybe?

jaykhunter

Thanks guys. Will scour those sites and adverts aswell. Only problem with buying used is i feel i might be doing this again if/when it dies...

It'd be netbook > laptop > desktop; but I reckon it'll stay put in her sitting room so it doesn't need to be portable. I think new will at least be €230 but let's say budget around €250; all in can't go over €300 (incl P&P). I have a monitor I can use and an OS already it won't be for gaming so i reckon large SATA HDD >SSD if building.

Serephucus

In that case, I'd sub this hard drive into either mine or deconduo's build, and you're good to go.

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30390&agid=689

Monotype

Netbooks are OK for travelling but they're damn slow even just for browsing around on the internet. A lot of it has to do with the mere 1GB of RAM in most models on top of the slow atoms. Most of them are capped at 2GB limits as well.

Anyhow, if you do go down the netbook road, keep your eyes open for the older models of atoms - some of the ones still floating around are dreadful, even only 32-bit.

In the <€300 region, you could get something with a newish CPU like
http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_02PC/03_NETBOOK/productdetails/80004065/Acer_10_1_Aspire_One_N57DQpp_N570_1GB_250GB/LU_SFZ0D_050/default.aspx
or something with an AMD APU which would have slightly better graphics for... er... those facebook games.
http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_02PC/03_NETBOOK/productdetails/80003551/Asus_10_Eee_1015BX_C60_1GB_320GB/90OA3KBD8111J81E13QQ/default.aspx

Details on the AMD APU here. Apparently capable of Half-Life 2 which I suppose isn't bad.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-C-60-Notebook-Processor.51806.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6290.51810.0.html

jaykhunter

thanks for your input guys. Checking around adverts, what do you think of this (with these specs)or this (with this specs)?

Monotype

The first one has a very old CPU in it, one of the earliest atoms.

I have one similar to the second one. Battery life is good on these. It's still fairly slow though but recovered a bit after a RAM upgrade.

The recent CPUs in netbooks are dual cores like the ones I linked to above. I can't find any good comparisons to see how this influences its use but I'd say even the OS would benefit from being able to spread its background processes across two cores. With the new AMD one at €240, there's not a huge difference in price. You could buy the second one though and upgrade the RAM to 2GB for about €30.

You can look up any Intel CPUs on the Intel site for an idea of when it was released.
http://ark.intel.com/
Also, wikipedia has a table of the release times and specifications of each one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Atom#History

deconduo

I have a laptop I haven't been using much recently, I'm thinking of selling it. It would probably suit you perfectly. Its got a C2D + 2GB RAM so a fair bit faster than most netbooks. Battery life on it isn't great, about 90min, but if its going to be used as a desktop it shouldn't be a problem. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

Jaafa

Sure stick on Ubuntu onto any netbook with an atom processor and 1GB of ram and it'll run like a clock. It's a nice simple OS, and doesn't take much to get it running.

Monotype

Or Kubuntu. Ubuntu is fugly. Mint is nice too. Nice and natural for someone coming from windows.

A C2D would be a lot faster. I could sell you my laptop too but it's got no motherboard or hard drive.