About every 6 months, I get a bug up my *** to buy a new computer because first world problems... and I start a thread asking "I need a basic interwebbing computer low budget"... but then I realize there's nothing wrong with my circa 2005 Dell Vostro running Windows XP and put it off. Literally, it has done every single thing I've ever needed since new. Even the bootleg Office suite I borrowed from a buddy still works great. AFTER 12 ******* years and 7 cross-country moves, I'm still rocking on it right now.

Except for now. About 6 months ago, I noticed there were a few websites I could no longer log onto with any browser... calling an "RC4 unsupported" or some bullshit, which I learned XP can't get around. And a few weeks ago, I noticed that about half the pictures on MT.net won't open either "right click open in new tab" reveals website cimg5.ibsrv.net and a detail message that reads:

"The client and server don't support a common SSL protocol version or cipher suite. This is likely to be caused when the server needs RC4, which is no longer considered secure."

So... it looks like I might have an actual need to get a new computer if I can't actually see all the cool pics that GodlessCommie puts up about badass franken-cars and military coups.

Kinda set on another Dell... basic shizzle with Win10 and a small SSD with enough RAM to get me through another 10 years. There are a couple "computer-Doc" places in town that do refurbished stuff... thinking about stopping in and seeing what $200 will get me.

 

I was forced to go to a Windows 10 computer to run Turbotax for 2016, since my company is required to file over the internet and Turbotax will no longer run on XP. They are really out to get us. The Windows 10 is a pain in the a**

 

I think all-in-one PCs are a really nice choice for basic desktop internetting. You can pick a decent one up for ~$400. More than you want to spend obviously but they're pretty cool.
23.5" screen, win 10, 500gb hdd, 4gb ddr3.

Otherwise, Newegg has some decent refurbs.

Core i5, 4g ddr3, 120gb SSD
Core i5 8g ddr3, 320db HDD

Just a quick edit too, you're gonna need to spend a bit more than $200 if you want it to keep up for 10 years

 

Don't be mad a Windows or Microsoft. Kid at work was telling me his 12 year old MacBook does the same thing. It's pretty much a paperweight.

Also, winxp is so very unsecure. Nobody should be using it anyway.

 

If you just need internet and office suite, see if you can load up a version of Linux on your old machine. That will be free.

You can also look into a used, high end machine from a few years ago on ebay. $200 will get you an early i5 and 4gb of ram no problem.

I put together a Thinkpad X201 for around that with a 2.4ghz i5, SSD, 8gb of ram. It runs all my softwear just fine.

 

Put windows 7 on it and call it a day...did that to a bunch of the old laptops and desktops at work. Assuming there are drivers available for windows 7 on your model. You will have extended support until Jan 14th 2020. If you want to speed it up, clone it onto an SSD. Also, windows 10 sucks ***...that is all.

 

This.

My 2008-era HP started working better than it ever had when I put a pirated Windows 7 copy on it a couple of years ago. Instead of needing to reinstall the OS every year or two like I had on Vista, I think it hasn't so much as crashed. It's more stable than my brand new Spectre x360 on Windows 10 is.

 

In 3 years am I going to run into the same problems with Win7 as I currently have with XP being unsupported? This computer will literally do nothing except surf the internet and my current 12yr old rig is overkill except for the operating system. I'm looking at all the Win7 and Win10 with SSD's for sale on Newegg... looks like $250 is the sweet spot for an i5 3.2ghz with 120gbSSD and 8gb ram in a Dell or HP.

Here's the search...
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100019096 %20600566987%20600566989%20601272826%20601272830%2 0601190702

A couple 24" displayport monitors will be under $300, but that's a future need.

 

If are literally never going to need to use proprietary software, like tuning software on it. Buy a freaking chromebook.

 

I hear that, but Google already controls enough of my life.

Decided on this, gonna pull the trigger unless somebody has a really good reason why I simply must get something else.

Dell Optiplex 990 SFF i5-2400 Quad 3.10Ghz 8GB 120GB-SSD WIN10
$232 shipped
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9SIA5965581138

Will need a wifi card too ($15)... maybe USB 3.0 down the road ($20).

 

I would honestly shoot for 16GB of ram minimum. For what you are using it for the only specs that matter are having an SSD and lots of ram.

 

Why the hell does he need 16Gb to surf the web? I have that much in my CAD station at work, and rarely need that much (large renders).

 

opening 30 tabs in chrome.

 

I got the impression he was trying to future-proof. "My last one lasted 10 years" etc. 16gb RAM ensures it'll be snappy for the web to come. Imagine viewing today's modern image-heavy webpages on a budget PC from 10 years ago. Pentium 4 3ghz, 1gb ddr2, it'd be a snail.

I have 12gb ram (ddr3) and it's currently at 40% usage. 7 Chrome tabs open, plus a few programs idle in the background (steam, discord, foobar). I don't think 16gb is outrageous.

 

For now you are fine with 8GB of RAM. Especially if you use an ad-blocker. The value of that deal is quite good.

Chrome is a bit of a RAM hug and opening 25+ tabs really uses quite a lot of RAM.
Still I can work fine on my Win 10 laptop with 8GB RAM and no pagefile. Only times I run into problems is when using Chrome with lots of tabs while running a Linux virtual machine at the same time. Kill one of those and you are fine.
At the moment, RAM prices are not particularly low, so that is also something to consider. Another 8GB of RAM would add roughly 40 dollars to the price.

And if you want a future proof machine I would pick something newer than a Sandy Bridge generation of CPU (Intel Core i5/i7 2xxx). Those CPUs are 6 years old now and I would not surprised if Intel drops support for that generation in the next 2 years. Also the lack of native USB3.0 ports is something I personally do not like for a future proof machine. However, this PC is still a huge step up from what he has now.

 

^Great points... I appreciate all the comments and advice (for the third thread like this I've started).

I took a look at the price vs. performance of the later generations of processor and really started looking at the individual Dell models.

Dell Optiplex 3020 Small Form Factor i5-4570 3.2Ghz 4GB 120GB SSD Win10 $269
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9SIA5965059460

This model appears to be an "upgrade" from the 990 although the Dell model lineup is a huge ******* mystery... the Optiplex 3020 has USB 3.0 and a 4th Gen i5 processor that's about 30% more powerful than the 2nd Gen i5 in the 990... all for $50 more. I'll still need some wifi and maybe another 4gb of RAM down the road. Still, for under $300 for a HUGE upgrade, I think this model might be more future-proof.

 

Also... do I need a PCIe wifi card, or is a USB adapter one fine? It looks like you get a bit more performance per dollar with the USB ones?

 

Personally I really like the Gigabyte WB867D-I. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9SIA1N84HJ7357
It is just the Intel Wireless AC 7260 card mounted in an adapter, so it fits inside a desktop PC (please check whether these Dell optiplex PCs have a PCI-e slot).
The great thing about the Gigabyte card is it does everything right: great wireless chipset, 2x2 MIMO Wireless AC 5GHz, PCIe interface, external antenna and as an added bonus it also has bluetooth and it is only 30-ish dollars.
USB2.0 adapters are usually crippled by their chipset and/or antenna. USB3.0 cards can be a hit or miss too because of their antenna.

 

^As a side note... the price for that 3020 is now $280... I guess they use some sort of algorithm like Amazon that adjust price according to supply/demand cycles. I guess I'll need to be checking every day for the next week to make sure I don't pay too much.

 

FINALLY BOUGHT SOMETHING!

A Dell 7010 SFF $269 shipped
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5965RA7084
Windows 10 Home
Intel Core i5 3rd Gen 3470 (3.20 GHz)
Intel HD Graphics 2500
8 GB DDR3
SSD: 120 GB
USB 3.0 x4

This thing is several orders of magnitude superior to my old Dell. The biggest difference so far is the speed and quality of anything streaming. Everything loads crazy quick, and I like a lot of the features of Win10. My computer at work runs Win7 and I really don't use any other computers on a regular basis... I think this is the first time I've actually used a Win10 computer. The wifi this thing came with consisted of the cheapest non-branded Chinese dongle I've ever seen. The packaging had zero identifying labeling. Speedtest was calling 40mb download last night, so I asssume it works just fine.

One cool thing is that it has 2 displayport outs, so I can finally get the dual-monitor setup going at home.

Just for shitz, whats the latest/best free anti-virus I should look at?