Original post: > Hi folks, I am going to replace my mothers old 486 system but I can't decide > between a barebones ASUS a7v133 and new monitor or simply get a complete > system. I have done the 'replace mobo' on my system but I'm no tech and I'm a > bit scared about getting into installing the hard drive and unsure of > what might come up. Any experience or guidance would be appreciated. Also any > advice on online buying experiance. The 'pricewatch' thing seems to offer > lowest bid but also lowest quality with no return or service. Kind of like take > it and shut up even if it doesn't work. Has it worked for you? Amen - more or less - to what Joel said (below). However, if you *only* want email, surfing, and wordproc, you could even keep the 486 (or get a CPU upgrade to pump it to a 586-133 - about = Pentium 90). The biggest need would be adding RAM and ensuring you get a compatible 56K modem. Modern 56K modems tend to be "PCI" modems (which require a Pentium 166 or better to function correctly - techies can explain further), so you may have a problem finding a compatible, inexpensive 56K modem. Compatible RAM sticks could be a problem as well, but using Win95 (Win95 OSR2 = Win95B recommended) you wouldn't need anywhere as much RAM as Win98 up. Your Mom could get along with as little a 16Mb or 24Mb, although *my* 90-yr old Mom successfully uses 48Mb RAM in her P100 system with Win98SE to do exactly what you want for your mom. She'll need at most a 2G harddrive, so humongous HD compatibility is unnecessary. (Mom has a 4.3G, partitioned into four more or less equal 1g partitions.) On Thu, 14 Jun 2001 07:33:09 -0700 "Joel M. Blackman" <[log in to unmask]> writes: > If you can put in mobo you can install a hard drive. The question I > would > ask is what is she going to use this computer for? If only e-mail, > surfing > the Internet, and word processing, it would be very cheap to buy her > a low > cost system that comes with what she needs, tech support, and a > warranty. > You could also build one since the software installation would be > minimal > and she'd only need a printer. > > If it were my mother I'd get her a minimalist complete system so she > would > have tech support without having to find and call me all the time. > I've > bought a couple things from companies listed on Pricewatch. Most > companies > have return policies, but they are so onerous it can be virtually > your > life's work trying to return something. You need to avoid companies > like > this one: www.atacom.com. They charge a 15% fee for returning > something > that is defective, and they charge you $19.95 an hour to test it to > make > sure it is defective. It has cost me $63 so far to buy a dead on > arrival > mobo from them. I got stuck with $29 s & H, $24 for the 15% ding, > and > another $10 to ship it back. As of yet I don't know how much of the > $19.95 > an hour they will try to stick me with. Problem with them is that > they will > not accept any package without the "return merchandise > authorization" (RMA) > number on the outside of the box, and they won't give you an RMA > unless you > download their RMA request form, fill it out, sign it, and fax it to > them on > your dime. Where you sign it the form says "I have read and agree > with the > above policies". Read the return policies before you buy. That > dead mobo > may wind up costing me as much as a new working one. I went to my > local Best > Buy to get the mobo to replace that one. Unless you have a good > local > discount parts store that has decent return policies, I'd suggest > buying a > complete system that meets her needs. Do you want to signoff PCBUILD or just change to Digest mode - visit our web site: http://freepctech.com/pcbuild.shtml