is this a good grandpa computer

[Kalaiarasan]

My grandpa just wants a computer in his business for checking mails and web browsing and some old people stuff, i was just looking for a 2nd hand desktop but found this one(pic abv)  prices at $189.03 , i can buy a old 4th gen i5(i am in india and the people here are greedy they dont sell products for cheap, lol) or this thing:

[kelvinhall05]

He should get a Chromebook. Gonna be the best grandpa PC. Don't have to worry about him destroying his OS with viruses 20 minutes after you let him use the computer.

 

 

Also likely gonna feel the fastest and snappiest for your budget; lightweight OS + SSD.

[pythonmegapixel]

Don't buy that - it appears to come with FreeDOS and not Windows!

[Kalaiarasan]

Just now, kelvinhall05 said:

He should get a Chromebook. Gonna be the best grandpa PC. Don't have to worry about him destroying his OS with viruses 20 minutes after you let him use the computer.

 

 

Also likely gonna feel the fastest and snappiest for your budget; lightweight OS + SSD.

worst thing is chromebooks in india costs like something, hp has the cheapest and its 26k rs = 350$ . i have some SSDs lying around with me so that i will swap that hdd for my ssd.

[kelvinhall05]

Just now, Kalaiarasan said:

worst thing is chromebooks in india costs like something, hp has the cheapest and its 26k rs = 350$ . i have some SSDs lying around with me so that i will swap that hdd for my ssd.

Install ChromeOS on it then. Trust me, Windows is the worst OS for grandparents.

[Kalaiarasan]

Just now, kelvinhall05 said:

Install ChromeOS on it then. Trust me, Windows is the worst OS for grandparents.

ya i am planing to install cloudready

[Kalaiarasan]

2 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Don't buy that - it appears to come with FreeDOS and not Windows!

i am probably going to install cloudready on it, no np

[paddy-stone]

That's a bit ageist... I mean technically I am old enough to be someone's grandpa, so are the likes of linus torvalds, bill gates and many tech gods, so don't count people out just because of their age 

 

But yeah, if they only browse the web and do stuff like that, almost anything can do that. I'd install a relatively low footprint linux OS, and set up the web browser and mail client for them.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Not much RAM, that system will slow to a crawl with a few pornhub windows open.

[kelvinhall05]

Just now, valdyrgramr said:

I wouldn't go chromebook personally due to it likely not getting support long term.  OP would be better off gettin what they asked due to location, most likely as India gets screwed, and then chucking a Linux distro on it like openSUSE.

Linux distros are also bad for grandparents, especially if OP has zero experience with even basic Linux sysadmin stuff.

 

I'm also not sure where you're getting the "no long-term support" idea. In my experience, Chromebooks have about the same active life as an otherwise equivalent Windows machine.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

4 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Install ChromeOS on it then. Trust me, Windows is the worst OS for grandparents.

I guess it depends on the person. I know some seniors who have only used Windows in their life and they literally go about through recognition and muscle memory. If something changes even the slightest bit, they completely break down and don't know what to do. 

 

I can totally picture this if I got any of my older family members or family friends a ChromeBook: 

Quote

WHERE'S THE WORD ON THIS THING. 

 

[Kalaiarasan]

1 minute ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Not much RAM, that system will slow to a crawl with a few pornhub windows open.

dude, he would probably not do that so np ,lol

[kelvinhall05]

Just now, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I guess it depends on the person. I know some seniors who have only used Windows in their life and they literally go about through recognition and muscle memory. If something changes even the slightest bit, they completely break down and don't know what to do. 

 

I can totally picture this if I got any of my older family members or family friends a ChromeBook: 

  Reveal hidden contents

WHERE'S THE WORD ON THIS THIS THING. 

 

I can see where you're coming from, but I would rather tell my grandparents which buttons to click than have to remote in and remove dozens or possibly hundreds of viruses.

[Kalaiarasan]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

I can see where you're coming from, but I would rather tell my grandparents which buttons to click than have to remote in and remove dozens or possibly hundreds of viruses.

yep i have done those too......thats why a linux or chrome os would be better

[SupaKomputa]

Browse some old office pc with 2nd or 3rd gen i5 and get him at least 8gb (ddr3 is cheap).

4gb is really low for windows 10 pc.

You only can open a few tabs then it would crawl for lack of memory.

[Kalaiarasan]

3 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I guess it depends on the person. I know some seniors who have only used Windows in their life and they literally go about through recognition and muscle memory. If something changes even the slightest bit, they completely break down and don't know what to do. 

 

I can totally picture this if I got any of my older family members or family friends a ChromeBook: 

 

i think its better to get a kubuntu or mint in it , windows is vulnerable

[Kalaiarasan]

1 minute ago, SupaKomputa said:

Browse some old office pc with 2nd or 3rd gen i5 and get him at least 8gb (ddr3 is cheap).

4gb is really low for windows 10 pc.

You only can open a few tabs then it would crawl for lack of memory.

nah not going to use windows though...

[Kalaiarasan]

1 minute ago, valdyrgramr said:

I assumed they suffered Google's Pixel support.  Also, not every Linux distro is as complicated as you think and a lot are far more user friendly than Windows.  We also don't know their grandfather, and assuming every grandparent is the same is kind of silly.  My biological grandfather knows computers well, and taught himself how to program out of pure boredom.  On top of that he built naval satellites and used barbaric early programming for them.  So, it all comes down to what the user is used to, not age.

haha...some sterotypes playing here but my grandpa isnt in the computer field and ik some linux, so i will set it up for him

[Kalaiarasan]

Just now, valdyrgramr said:

Personally, I like openSUSE as it's one of the least headache versions of Linux, has a decent/straightforward UI aka one of the easier ones to use, and does a lot of the work for you if you're not used to Linux/less terminal heavy.  The other reason I like is for the performance gain over other distros for Blender, but that's very unlikely a use case for him.  XD

what about kubuntu.....i think it is more windows like OS...

[SupaKomputa]

2 minutes ago, Kalaiarasan said:

nah not going to use windows though...

No windows you say? Why not this:

 

Raspberry Pi 4 all in 1 pc keyboard (4gb ram). It can run ubuntu!

 

[Kalaiarasan]

17 hours ago, SupaKomputa said:

No windows you say? Why not this:

 

Raspberry Pi 4 all in 1 pc keyboard (4gb ram). It can run ubuntu!

 

nice idea dude.....i was also thinking of buying raspberry pi 4 .....this would be good!

 

how much is this thing? 100$?

[SupaKomputa]

1 minute ago, Kalaiarasan said:

nice idea dude.....i was also thinking of buying raspberry pi 4 .....this would be good!

Yeah, he can use the tv also. Enough for browsing and playing videos.

[SupaKomputa]

1 minute ago, Kalaiarasan said:

how much is this thing? 100$?

around $120 i think.

[Kalaiarasan]

1 minute ago, SupaKomputa said:

Yeah, he can use the tv also. Enough for browsing and playing videos.

nice idea ! also its neat and comes under 100$ in india too!

[pythonmegapixel]

Just now, Kalaiarasan said:

nice idea ! also its neat and comes under 100$ in india too!

And if you want, there's a build of Chrome OS for it too I think