Cheap and cheerful home PC

johnybean

Hello there. My wife has recently started a part time college course and she is currently doing all her assignments and course work on a 10 inch Asus transformer so I want to get her a proper PC as the screen on the ASUS is too small and it can be quite slow. She keeps saying that she doesn't need a new PC and that the ASUS is fine so I need to keep costs to an absolute minimum which has led me to the second hand/refurb route. Would something like this or this do the job? I would swap out the HDD in either of options and install the OS on an SSD to speed up booting and operating. All she needs the PC for is doing some word processing, excel and PowerPoint, browsing the web and working on Google docs. any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

5rtytry56

Sounds like your partner's current PC has a good chance of benefiting from a service. Don't just look for another machine just yet. Another reason I'm saying this is because there is probably a lot of JUNK files on your partner's system. So...go around to one of the more reputable looking shops that offer PC repair / maintenance and see what they would suggest, visit more than one.

Xenoronin

Either of those would be waaaaaaaaaaay faster than her current solution. If the price is right, I'd say go for it. While the CPU is a few generations old at this stage, plenty of people here are still trucking away on Sandy Bridge processors. With an SSD that thing should fly, just be sure to go with a cheap SSD as it likely only has SATA 2 ports, which will bottleneck a newer SSD.

Edit: In response to the above, I've seen people with those Asus Transformer 2in1's. If it's an early generation one then no amount of service will make it run smooth.

johnybean

5rtytry56 wrote: »

Sounds like your partner's current PC has a good chance of benefiting from a service. Don't just look for another machine just yet. Another reason I'm saying this is because there is probably a lot of JUNK files on your partner's system. So...go around to one of the more reputable looking shops that offer PC repair / maintenance and see what they would suggest, visit more than one.

Thanks for the response. Its an ASUS Transformer laptop/tablet, only a year old but all its really good for is wed browsing and other light tasks. The other main issue is the size of it, the screen is not suitable for long spells sat in front of it typing, hence the search for a proper PC.

5rtytry56

johnybean wrote: »

Thanks for the response. Its an ASUS Transformer laptop/tablet, only a year old

See if you can get a TRADE IN

Might be as little as €5 euro....but hey........;) ,..does'nt hurt to try does it?

johnybean

Xenoronin wrote: »

Either of those would be waaaaaaaaaaay faster than her current solution. If the price is right, I'd say go for it. While the CPU is a few generations old at this stage, plenty of people here are still trucking away on Sandy Bridge processors. With an SSD that thing should fly, just be sure to go with a cheap SSD as it likely only has SATA 2 ports, which will bottleneck a newer SSD.

Edit: In response to the above, I've seen people with those Asus Transformer 2in1's. If it's an early generation one then no amount of service will make it run smooth.

Just saw your edit after I had responded to the above and I think you are right. I think approx 150 for an older i5 system with 4GB of RAM isn't too bad and I have a one for all voucher so should be able to get an SSD off amazon for free essentially

Ursus Horribilis

If you had a monitor you might be able to hook it up to the laptop.

johnybean

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

If you had a monitor you might be able to hook it up to the laptop.

Have an old VGA monitor so would need to get an adapter to connect the laptop to it, if I can get a PC I would be able to fit it in a little nuc in the kitchen and just feed VGA cable to the monitor, less "mess"...quieter life :cool:

Xenoronin

Hmm, that might actually be an option! The hooking up to a new monitor.
Same cost, but less hardware.
Grabbing a HDMI to Micro HDMI cable or adapter and a new 1080p screen.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-GW2270H-21-5-inch-Monitor/dp/B0157V5VJG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1486387555&sr=8-4&keywords=21+monitor
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KXZTRKU?psc=1

K.O.Kiki

Xenoronin wrote: »

Hmm, that might actually be an option! The hooking up to a new monitor.
Same cost, but less hardware.
Grabbing a HDMI to Micro HDMI cable or adapter and a new 1080p screen.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-GW2270H-21-5-inch-Monitor/dp/B0157V5VJG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1486387555&sr=8-4&keywords=21+monitor
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KXZTRKU?psc=1

That wouldn't solve the Transformer being slow as molasses though.

@OP those used business machines look fine.

Alun

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

@OP those used business machines look fine.

There's loads of them on adverts.ie too. I got this one for the missus, built like a battleship, and a very friendly and helpful seller to boot ...

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/dell-optiplex-780-sff/11236826

There's also this place which has a bigger selection, still refurb'ed business machines ...

http://www.adverts.ie/shops/atlanticit/

johnybean

Thanks for feedback K.O. and Alun. I was actually looking at those desktops on Adverts but thought that if I could get the i5 on ebay with windows 10 for €20 or €30 more, that would be a better bet

Gadgetman496

johnybean wrote: »

Thanks for feedback K.O. and Alun. I was actually looking at those desktops on Adverts but thought that if I could get the i5 on ebay with windows 10 for €20 or €30 more, that would be a better bet

Just make sure the SFF doesn't have an oddball PSU size, they can be both difficult to source and expensive should you ever need to replace it.

Copper_pipe

Second hand Lenovo Thinkpads arent too costly on ebay

jhud

Gadgetman496 wrote:

Just make sure the SFF doesn't have an oddball PSU size, they can be both difficult to source and expensive should you ever need to replace it.

I second this I work with these sort of computers while they are good the bad point is always power supply you can pay up to €70 for a replacement.

jhud

The following computer would be good as the power supply is normal size

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/HP-Pro-3500-Series-MT-Desktop-PC-Intel-Core-i5-3470-3-20GHz-4GB-Win-7-500GB-/132087168352?hash=item1ec1023d60:g:ejYAAOSwopRYl4pR

TerrorFirmer

To be honest when we're talking about a €150 2nd hand PC I wouldn't overly state the issue of the non-standard PSU. The odds of it giving trouble are extremely small. If you've space for the full size, sure, go for that, but if you prefer the SFF I wouldn't worry too much.

johnybean

Thanks a lot for the feedback lads, think I will go with the Lenovo or the HP Pro linked by Jhud and take my chances.

Copper_pipe

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-Windows-7-POWERFUL-8GB-Lenovo-Thinkpad-Fast-2-67Ghz-320Gb-Wireless-/301677576002?hash=item463d627f42:g:UdcAAOSw-YVXmzvr