My grandpa needs a web browsing pc and I'm not sure what is enough.

[Guest]

Ryzen Athlon 200 or 220ge with Vega 3 graphics on A320 chipset and a very low watt PSU and basic SSD would be a pretty cheap build for browsing. 

[dizmo]

Kinda overkill, as others have said if they're available where you are a retired office tower is usually a much better buy.

That said, if it's within your budget and it's all that's available the one you found is more than capable.

The PC you're looking at doesn't have DDR4 though. You can also run Chrome with 4GB perfectly fine if you're just using one or two tabs, as I'm sure he would.

 

13 hours ago, King of Memes said:

for web browsing, she definetely doesn't need a gtx 960

He* Grandpas are men.

10 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Literally any of these refurbs would do the job

 

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=4016 4131 100019096 601190666 601190659 601190701&Order=1&LeftPriceRange=50+150&isdeptsrh=1

 

No point getting your grandpa something that cost a "couple of hundred bucks". A single hundred is more than enough.

A lot of the time NewEgg doesn't accept International credit cards, and I'm sure he wouldn't want to pay the extra shipping.

8 hours ago, tkitch said:

They also have sub ~250W PSUs.  So, you generally don't have the headroom for one, either.

 

I also said "not made for gamers" not "impossible for a gamer to repurpose"

See: Linus' 69$ Gaming PC Series.  

Which are more than capable of handling an LP card. They often run off the power of the PCI bus.

7 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Buy him a cheap, new latpop.  Chromebook, etc.

 

He's your grandfather, he doesn't want used shit.  He wants to browse the web on a nice new warrantied and unused machine.

 

Buying a used wanna-be gaming setup is what YOU want, not him.  Know your audience.

Why are we assuming that we know what his grandfather would want? My dad is a grandfather, he's bought pretty much everything PC related used. He enjoys it. Talk about knowing your audience...

[birdhuman]

I got a hp desk mini for my grandma years ago. It use T series low power desktop processors an NVME+2.5sata, and a couple of laptop RAM. 

It also has the m.2 wifi and consealed antenna at front and rear.

 

 

[LAwLz]

I would also recommend a Chromebook.

If your grandpa for some reason need Windows then go for some second hand system with low specs. If your grandpa doesn't need some Windows specific program, then a Chromebook is perfect.

Cheap, snappy, easy to use.

 

My mom bought a Chromebook on my recommendation when her Windows PC broke down and it's been fantastic. She hasn't asked me for help once since she bought it almost a year ago. She used to ask me about stuff at least once every two months before. Some Windows update got stuck, her printer would disappear, it would get slow for some reason, etc. 

Everything has been really smooth with the Chromebook. 

[captain_to_fire]

14 hours ago, PlayingSomeSmite said:

My grandpa needs a pc for web browsing and I have no idea what kind of hardware you need to run chrome smoothly. The most demanding task he's propably going to do is watching 1080p videos from youtube.

an 8th gen iPad if that's all he's doing

 

[pythonmegapixel]

2 hours ago, captain_to_fire said:

an 8th gen iPad if that's all he's doing

An iPad costs twice as much as some of the Chromebooks which would do exactly the same job absolutely fine.

 

In any case you should check if your grandparents are happy using a touchscreen before buying one; I have one elderly relative who likes them and another refuses control a computer with anything but a keyboard and mouse (or a remote control in the case of the TV lol)

[Amias]

Chrome Book. Through and through.

 

If he wants a desktop PC. Get a Chrome Box. 

 

The OS does everything your Grampa wants, it's secure, clean and easy and fast.

[pythonmegapixel]

Just now, Amias said:

If he wants a desktop PC. Get a Chrome Box.

Or even just a laptop with a video output and a suitable number of USB ports for mouse/keyboard.

There is no practical difference for this kind of use case, and it's not going to get hot enough to cause harm by having the lid shut.

[Amias]

Just now, pythonmegapixel said:

Or even just a laptop with a video output and a suitable number of USB ports for mouse/keyboard.

There is no practical difference for this kind of use case, and it's not going to get hot enough to cause harm by having the lid shut.

Smaller, more ports and no issues with screen/laptop output.

[pythonmegapixel]

2 minutes ago, Amias said:

Smaller, more ports

Fair enough, but you don't really need that many ports for web browsing.

 

2 minutes ago, Amias said:

and no issues with screen/laptop output.

ChromeOS is smart enough not to output to the laptop screen if the laptop is closed. In fact you can even go from open to closed and it will seemlessly move the windows across onto the screen which is still available.

[captain_to_fire]

3 hours ago, pythonmegapixel said:

An iPad costs twice as much as some of the Chromebooks which would do exactly the same job absolutely fine.

But an iPad will probably perform better than some cheap chromebooks

• can access 1080p YouTube through the app or desktop Safari
• has a long battery life (~10 hours on a single charge)
• has a headphone jack
• has thousands of tablet optimized apps so that grandpa can do more than just watching videos
• optional AppleCare

[Dedayog]

7 hours ago, dizmo said:

Kinda overkill, as others have said if they're available where you are a retired office tower is usually a much better buy.

That said, if it's within your budget and it's all that's available the one you found is more than capable.

The PC you're looking at doesn't have DDR4 though. You can also run Chrome with 4GB perfectly fine if you're just using one or two tabs, as I'm sure he would.

 

He* Grandpas are men.

A lot of the time NewEgg doesn't accept International credit cards, and I'm sure he wouldn't want to pay the extra shipping.

Which are more than capable of handling an LP card. They often run off the power of the PCI bus.

Why are we assuming that we know what his grandfather would want? My dad is a grandfather, he's bought pretty much everything PC related used. He enjoys it. Talk about knowing your audience...

Your dad has a grandchild old enough to buy a PC for him?  I guess you're the outlier that has extremely fertile members and breeds early, and gramps is what?  45?  Plus he's buying them himself, not having his grandson do it so that means this grandfather isn't "in the know" like yours.  Plus he explicitly states watching Youtube at 1080p is the most intensive activity,

 

Don't go using your un-normal circumstance as the one off argument.  I'm old enough to know quite a few actual grandparents in the range of what's talked about here given the parameters we can infer.  I'd say they just want a web browsing machine, which is precisely what is being asked.

 

If you want to argue, we can take it to PM's.  If you want to think logically and apply critical thinking to the question asked, let's do that.

[Toddthe...]

20 hours ago, PlayingSomeSmite said:

My grandpa needs a pc for web browsing and I have no idea what kind of hardware you need to run chrome smoothly. The most demanding task he's propably going to do is watching 1080p videos from youtube. I found an used pc listing from my country's equivalent of ebay. It has i5-2500k, gtx960 and 8gb ddr4 and it costs couple of hundred of bucks, that should be plenty right? 

raspberry pie 4 8gb, or just a core i3 system, those two are enough for basic tasks

[DarthBaggins]

I'm more on board with finding your Grandpa a Refurbed office PC, hell I'd even check any eWaste recyclers around you and see what they have - you can often get something really good for cheaper than retail that will last and serve it's purpose.  

 

He will end up hating a Chromebook, I can already see it.

[pythonmegapixel]

2 minutes ago, DarthBaggins said:

I'm more on board with finding your Grandpa a Refurbed office PC, hell I'd even check any eWaste recyclers around you and see what they have - you can often get something really good for cheaper than retail that will last and serve it's purpose.  

That's true, but...

2 minutes ago, DarthBaggins said:

He will end up hating a Chromebook, I can already see it.

Care to explain why?

 

If he's only doing web browsing the experience will be, to all extents and purposes, identical to a Windows machine from the moment he clicks the Chrome icon on his desktop onwards.

[kelvinhall05]

Get a Chromebook, old people + Windows is an awful idea, and they won't know how to use Linux.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

can access 1080p YouTube through the app or desktop Safari

chromebooks can. My hp chromebook 14 (after i did some work on getting a new version of chromeos) which i got for 20$ off a school after its support ended does 1080p60 fine.

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

has a long battery life (~10 hours on a single charge)

this a chromebook may or may not have problems with. My newer chromebook i got from my school can last about 3 5 hour school days, but my older hp chromebook is about 3 hours (i think the bttery is dieing)

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

• has a headphone jack
•  

literally every single chromebook has a headphone jack

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

• has thousands of tablet optimized apps so that grandpa can do more than just watching videos
•  

chromebook: has acces to the entirety of the playstore, plus sideloading apps built in with dev mode. Thats a fair few more things than watching youtube.

Plus, if op can set it up, you can run any linux app on a chromebook through the built in linux support (without dev mode being needed)

1 hour ago, captain_to_fire said:

• optional AppleCare

there's actual good warranties on chromebooks that you can get, which apple care isnt.

 

 

 

i think you still think chromeos is like it was when it launched, when it was just a browser. 
Well now its really not.

[DarthBaggins]

More than likely he's already accustomed to a Windows environment and would have to learn ChomeOS's environment.  I deal with Chromebooks on a daily, I do large scale deployment for clients using anything from Android POS tablets to High end Render servers - Chromebooks pay the bills in the lulls between the "fun" projects.  I cannot recommend someone getting a Grandparent a chromebook, most don't like major change and having to learn new things - they don't run like a Windows machine and are not laid out as such.  Again it would cost much less to find a Refurbed/off-lease HP or Dell SFF, if they can find the thinclient-esk version you can mount it to the rear of the monitor and give it an All-in-one feel for space savings.  
Also on the Linux side, if they want a windows appearance environment - why not try Mint but again they would still need to learn a bit of how to navigate a Debian based UI/environment.

In the end if you recommend a Chromebook, I would retort and say then just get an Android Tablet (10" + version) same thing and easier to learn if wanted to.  

[captain_to_fire]

14 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

plus sideloading apps built in with dev mode.

why would a grandpa sideload apps using dev mode?

[Helpful Tech Witch]

30 minutes ago, captain_to_fire said:

why would a grandpa sideload apps using dev mode?

Did I say he did? Im saying its a option, just like its a option to download apps from the appstore. But if theres a app needed, thats not op play, op can sideload it for him.

[Beerzerker]

Anything about 10 years old or newer would do and doesn't have to be top of the line.
Since the term "PC" was used that's what I'm going with here.

Any, and I mean any AM4 based setup will do just fine.
 

13 hours ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Ryzen Athlon 200 or 220ge with Vega 3 graphics on A320 chipset and a very low watt PSU and basic SSD would be a pretty cheap build for browsing. 

I agree with this.

An older setup based around a first gen Ryzen with a A320 board would certainly get it done cheaply yet still have enough to let him do whatever he wants based on the stated use for it.
Even something built around a Ryzen R3 1200 with a mild GPU can do it, I was running a 1200 in this machine for awhile and did it great. I only swapped back to my X2700 because I do more than just Youtube stuff but even then, the 1200 wasn't that bad.
Doesn't have to be bleeding edge of course, as long as it runs it should be fine for him. Set him up with that, some standard PC 3200 DDR4 with about 16GB's of it, a decent SSD and he's set.

[tkitch]

4 minutes ago, Beerzerker said:

Anything about 10 years old or newer would do and doesn't have to be top of the line.
Since the term "PC" was used that's what I'm going with here.

Any, and I mean any AM4 based setup will do just fine.
 

I agree with this.

An older setup based around a first gen Ryzen with a A320 board would certainly get it done cheaply yet still have enough to let him do whatever he wants based on the stated use for it.
Even something built around a Ryzen R3 1200 with a mild GPU can do it, I was running a 1200 in this machine for awhile and did it great. I only swapped back to my X2700 because I do more than just Youtube stuff but even then, the 1200 wasn't that bad.
Doesn't have to be bleeding edge of course, as long as it runs it should be fine for him. Set him up with that, some standard PC 3200 DDR4 with about 16GB's of it, a decent SSD and he's set.

Why would you go through that much work when things like this are easy to get 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ELITEDESK-800-G3-DM-INTEL-i5-6500T-3-20GHZ-8GB-256GB-SSD-UHD530-WIN10P/154415825831?hash=item23f3e683a7%3Ag%3A7gcAAOSwEtBgGZOq&LH_BIN=1

 

They're tiny as hell, don't use squat for power, and can do anything you'd want on a non-gaming build.

[Justaphysicsnerd]

23 hours ago, King of Memes said:

for web browsing, she definetely doesn't need a gtx 960

Well you never know Granny might try to play 4k videos.../s

[tkitch]

6 minutes ago, Justaphysicsnerd said:

Well you never know Granny might try to play 4k videos.../s

Then she needs a 1050TI  

[Beerzerker]

19 minutes ago, tkitch said:

Why would you go through that much work when things like this are easy to get 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ELITEDESK-800-G3-DM-INTEL-i5-6500T-3-20GHZ-8GB-256GB-SSD-UHD530-WIN10P/154415825831?hash=item23f3e683a7%3Ag%3A7gcAAOSwEtBgGZOq&LH_BIN=1

 

They're tiny as hell, don't use squat for power, and can do anything you'd want on a non-gaming build.

Not gonna disagree since it would work - Could be the OP just wants to put a personal "Touch" on things for him.