Opinions on NON-Editing PC for Sister-in-Law

Since I build my own, I am also not enthused about Dell's "only our way" hardware policies... but that really isn't a factor here, since the default of their current $450 offering is all she needs

I am "slightly" leaning toward Dell... Vista problems are not the fault of Dell... one of her gripes is that every web page she visits complains about her version of IE, and she can't update because Microsoft no longer ports new IE versions back to Vista

If (more likely when) she decides to buy new, either box has Win8 so will be current for a few years... or at least updated for awhile to stay reasonably current with web page standards changes

She is coming over today after for a monthly card game, and my wife is going to sit her down before the game starts to introduce her to Win8... which is, once you get past the tiles of the start screen, not all that different on the OUTSIDE from the Vista she uses... and having the menu/icon tiles on the start screen would mean she doesn't have to mess with a separate menu program

Oh well... one step at a time... 1st is Win8 introduction... then is to get her to decided does she really want to spend $450 on a limited income, or would she rather just continue to call me to complain (which does NO good at all... I can't help with such an old computer and an OS that was not all that good when new)

Grin... having Dell support for a new computer is a REALLY good thing!

It does have Win8 pre-installed... along with some demo software versions that I will remove (anything she uses, she has her own install discs)

I'm not sure about the restore disc... local BBuy has 3 in stock, so after we go to her house to SEE her problems, and most likely go buy a new box... we will find out what comes with the box (I know it has mouse and keyboard)

I don't much care about the restore disc... I will do all installs of her programs, and file transfers via USB stick from old computer... and once everything is done, I will use http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-linux.htm to make a full backup to a USB hard drive

The only option I MAY do if she finds that Win8 64bit Home Premium needs more than 8Gig of ram for what she does is to buy another 8Gig http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Inspiron%20660 for $76 - but that is not an automatic upgrade by any means

I think her Photoshop Elements will be just fine with Win8 and 8G

Her biggest problem (aside from the old IE in Vista not working well on some web sites she visits) is that she forgets that after some number of programs being opened, Vista with 4G begins to bog down... every time she has a thought, she opens the corresponding program (Browser... Photo editing... Word... Excel... A game, or two) without closing something she is not using

Even thought it is 64bit, I am hoping that Win8 manages memory and task switching better, so she won't HAVE to remember to close X when she wants to open Y and Z

After some delays (she's old and has DR visits and gets tired really easily) it looks like we go to BBuy Thursday morning

After more reading, a potential drawback to the Dell is that it has 2 ram slots and a max of 8gig... as built and no more

The HP has 4 ram slots, and it "could" be possible to add 16Gig (2x8Gig) to the as built 8Gig... for $130... BUT, that won't happen, since she is really pushing her limited budget to spend $450 on either "as built" boxes

Each one uses part of the 8Gig for onboard graphics, and each one also has one PCI x16 slot... so I could give her a give of an ATI 512Meg graphic card for not very much $$ if she still has multi-tasking problems due to the shared memory

All in all... it looks like the Dell is 1st choice for "known good" telephone support

Bought the Dell 660 on Thursday... I got it all set up and delivered to her on Friday... no calls since then, so she seems to be happy

The computer is all she needs for her "basic" work (Word-Excel-Pictures) and no more web visit complaints about her old Vista browser

I can't say the same about the buying experience at Best Buy... the employee who worked with us was great, the BB computer system SUCKS DUST BUNNIES

By the time we reached the local store, they had sold their last Dell (Sister-in-Law would not order by phone to pay/reserve one, she had to see it... even though all she was going to see was a micro-tower case... oh well, it's her money)

I had employee "Seth" check the BB inventory computer to find another store with the Dell model... he found one with two, but when he was going to let her buy one "here" to pick up "there" the BB computer popped up a note to call the "there" store to verify inventory

It turns out that the BB computer system is not Real Time, there is a 1-to-2 (more?) hour delay between an item being sold and the online inventory being updated

When Seth finally got someone to answer his "store to store" call and check... the "there" store did not have any to sell

So, the same process with "there-2" store and possibly "phantom" inventory... after another long "store to store" call wait, found that "there-2" actually did have a Dell 660 on the shelf

She paid and we drove to "there-2" to get the computer... I took her home and loaded her old computer in my car and brought everything to my place to get old files off to DVD and then started new computer for activation and file transfer

Moral of the story is that if a "local" Best Buy has an item in stock, the buying process is smooth... if sold out and need to contact another store... the BB computer system SUCKS DUST BUNNIES and buying is not a great experience

There are times that I have to bang my head against the wall when dealing with my wife's sister

She has several games that I put on her new computer... mostly different company's variants of Mahjong

Yesterday she called and said that when she went to play one of her games, it told her to put the CD in the drive (a form of copy protection, I presume) and she asked me what she should do

Well duh... if the program says to put the CD in the drive, you put the CD in the drive!