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Cheap Computer
16 Answers
My old mate has an old computer, which is clapping out. (Aren't we all).
He only uses it as a glorified typewriter, isn't connected to the internet, just writes letters etc. His printer is similarly aged and poorly.
How much should I set aside to buy him a refurbished computer and probably a new printer?
It would upset him if I bought a brand new bells-and-whistles model, mainly because he'd never use the bells or the whistles.
Ta.
BillB
He only uses it as a glorified typewriter, isn't connected to the internet, just writes letters etc. His printer is similarly aged and poorly.
How much should I set aside to buy him a refurbished computer and probably a new printer?
It would upset him if I bought a brand new bells-and-whistles model, mainly because he'd never use the bells or the whistles.
Ta.
BillB
Answers
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This is the company Buenchico recommends, you could be having a look through some until he sees your request.
https:/
https:/
I found Computer world very helpful for this sort of thing
boogey in and say i want a laptop that ....
and a printer to go with it, that .....
this keeps you within the sale of goods act 1979
very cheap ones £199 are available but they download the relevant soft ware as needed from .... the internet. and could be looked on as intelligent terminals - not suitable I think
he also has to think about buying Micrsoft Office as a one off
I found Lenovo very good - with an epson printer ( fiddly to change inks)
boogey in and say i want a laptop that ....
and a printer to go with it, that .....
this keeps you within the sale of goods act 1979
very cheap ones £199 are available but they download the relevant soft ware as needed from .... the internet. and could be looked on as intelligent terminals - not suitable I think
he also has to think about buying Micrsoft Office as a one off
I found Lenovo very good - with an epson printer ( fiddly to change inks)
As Peter gleaned, spath, my old pal Tom would have trouble downloading anything. He is one of the 15-20% who aren’t connected to the interweb, and never will be. (We communicate by letters).
So whatever I buy, it’ll need to be fully programmed with the basic wordprocessing stuff.
Ideally, I’m looking for a seller/installer to go and plug it all in for him. Tommy delights in not being ‘technical’, and I live too far away to help.
So whatever I buy, it’ll need to be fully programmed with the basic wordprocessing stuff.
Ideally, I’m looking for a seller/installer to go and plug it all in for him. Tommy delights in not being ‘technical’, and I live too far away to help.
Mamya has kindly linked to the site which I always recommend. (The computer I'm using to type this came from them. I've used them before several times, both when buying for myself and on behalf of friends. Their products and service are both excellent).
Of the computers shown on that page, I'd probably go for the HP Prodesk 6305 myself, at £119. However, given that the PC won't be connected to the internet (so there's no security risk through using Windows Vista), there's not really any reason for missing out on the Fujitsu model at £59; it can run software such as OpenOffice perfectly well and most printers should still be compatible with it.
If your mate only ever prints in black and white then a mono laser printer might suit his needs best. Brother's HL-1112 model gets good reviews and is particularly economical to run:
https:/
It's widely available (in PC World, Argos, Ryman, etc) for around £60.
If he prints in colour then Canon is probably the most popular brand with AB members. Those models which use separate cartridges for each ink colour work out cheapest to run and PC World are currently offering the excellent MG5750 (which is the updated version of the MG5350 that I use) for half price, at just £49.99:
https:/
So, including the carriage on the Fujitsu PC, I reckon that you could get a decent computer and a cracking printer for around £125 in total.
Of the computers shown on that page, I'd probably go for the HP Prodesk 6305 myself, at £119. However, given that the PC won't be connected to the internet (so there's no security risk through using Windows Vista), there's not really any reason for missing out on the Fujitsu model at £59; it can run software such as OpenOffice perfectly well and most printers should still be compatible with it.
If your mate only ever prints in black and white then a mono laser printer might suit his needs best. Brother's HL-1112 model gets good reviews and is particularly economical to run:
https:/
It's widely available (in PC World, Argos, Ryman, etc) for around £60.
If he prints in colour then Canon is probably the most popular brand with AB members. Those models which use separate cartridges for each ink colour work out cheapest to run and PC World are currently offering the excellent MG5750 (which is the updated version of the MG5350 that I use) for half price, at just £49.99:
https:/
So, including the carriage on the Fujitsu PC, I reckon that you could get a decent computer and a cracking printer for around £125 in total.
>>> it’ll need to be fully programmed with the basic word processing stuff
That could be a bit of a problem because Microsoft tend not to include Microsoft Word with most versions of Windows these days. So, unless you wanted to fork out a lot of money to buy Word (and get it pre-installed), you'd need to get something like OpenOffice installed on the new computer. You could do that by downloading the set-up program to your own computer, saving it to a CD or USB drive and posting it to your mate. All he'd then have to do is to insert the CD/USB stick, navigate to its location and double-click the set-up file. (He's going to have to do something similar to install the printer software anyway).
Otherwise though a phone call to the people at AC Computer Warehouse could probably result in them installing suitable office software for you before dispatching a PC. (They're extremely helpful).
That could be a bit of a problem because Microsoft tend not to include Microsoft Word with most versions of Windows these days. So, unless you wanted to fork out a lot of money to buy Word (and get it pre-installed), you'd need to get something like OpenOffice installed on the new computer. You could do that by downloading the set-up program to your own computer, saving it to a CD or USB drive and posting it to your mate. All he'd then have to do is to insert the CD/USB stick, navigate to its location and double-click the set-up file. (He's going to have to do something similar to install the printer software anyway).
Otherwise though a phone call to the people at AC Computer Warehouse could probably result in them installing suitable office software for you before dispatching a PC. (They're extremely helpful).
-- answer removed --
I'm no expert on this techie stuff, but PP mentioned buying MS Office. I think that is now a big rip-off. It has to be renewed every year by subscription. I still use MS Office 2000 Professional, which runs on Windows 7 but not later versions of Windows. When MS pulls the plug on support for W7, I'll still keep my old PC for use as an office aid. It's all just money grabbing and greed by a company that is so wealthy I just think that it will probably implode and will wonder how or why it happened.
For 10CS:
Although they don't shout it from the rooftops, Microsoft still sell Office in a form which doesn't require an annual subscription. (Office Home and Student 2016, at £119.99). However, from reading posts here for over a decade, I know that the vast majority of AB members don't use Microsoft Office at all. Nearly everyone here uses a freebie, with Apache OpenOffice being the most popular of those.
Although they don't shout it from the rooftops, Microsoft still sell Office in a form which doesn't require an annual subscription. (Office Home and Student 2016, at £119.99). However, from reading posts here for over a decade, I know that the vast majority of AB members don't use Microsoft Office at all. Nearly everyone here uses a freebie, with Apache OpenOffice being the most popular of those.
I know this is a bit late Chris but I've been using MS Office for nearly 20 years, and before that, it was
Lotus Ami-Pro; I'm just so used to it that I haven't thought about any other programme. Having said that, when I bought this computer, it came with Libre Office pre-installed, which I have used a few times without any problems.
Lotus Ami-Pro; I'm just so used to it that I haven't thought about any other programme. Having said that, when I bought this computer, it came with Libre Office pre-installed, which I have used a few times without any problems.
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