Looking to build kid's computer-First Post

[pandapo]

Hello everyone,

We have an old eMachine tower from the late 90's that I would like to update for our children to use for homework and just to stay away from mine, is it worth it being 20 years old?

[Geek-9pm]

Hello everyone,

We have an old e Machine tower from the late 90's that I would like to update for our children to use for homework and just to stay away from mine, is it worth it being 20 years old?

No.
I mean yes, I would. But I can not recommend others try it. After 20 years some components may be contaminated by either moisture or leakage of chemicals. Some electrolytic capacitors are not trustworthy after 20 years of non-use.
However, you might donate the machine to a charity and claim a tax credit. You can buy a five year old machine from a certified re-builder for a fraction of the cost of a new computer. They come with Windows 7 and a warranty.for under $150. Yo9u add a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Here is a Google search:
Are refurbished computers worth while? 

Dell sells off-lease units at fair prices. But eBay has lower prices.

[camerongray]

At that age its not going to be worth it at all, even if you installed a very lightweight OS onto it it will still be way too slow for even basic web browsing and office tasks.

As stated above, you can easily pick up refurbished ex-business PCs for under $100.

[DaveLembke]

Many of the HP Business Class systems for sale as refurbs come with Windows 7, might be able to play some of the games they want to play with a video card upgrade for $40, and come with a 1 year warranty. They are generally $89 and up depending on what CPU/Model it is. I even saw some Windows 7 refurbs for sale for $68, but I would avoid the really cheap ones because they only have a Pentium 4 processor and you will want a Dual-Core Core 2 Duo or better CPU and avoid Pentium D which was between the Pentium 4 and Core 2 Duo in age. The Core 2 Duo is newer, performs better than Pentium D if Core 2 Duo around 2.4Ghz or faster, and is more energy efficient. For a matter of like a $10-$20 price difference on the refurbs I would get the Core 2 Duo or better than a Pentium D. Since after all you want them to be able to do what they want on ( their ) system without saying this computer stinks and wanting to hop onto yours.

In my home my wife and daughter are both using Core 2 Duo CPU systems. My daughter has a Dell Inspiron Tower that has a Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2Ghz with a $40 video card and she is able to do homework and play video games like minecraft, world of warcraft, and spore. My wifes system Iis a HP Pavilion that I got for free which came with a 1.8 Ghz Core 2 Duo, BUT the 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo was horrible for gaming and so I had a Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz with 4MB Cache and installed that and that made a world of difference in performance. Her computer has a $65 video card in it for better performance than that of my daughters system and plays all games she likes to play fine.

* Only problem with Core 2 Duo would be if they want to play some heavy system spec requirement modern gaming. If this is the case then you will want probably either a Quad-Core Intel Core 2 Quad or a AMD Athlon II x4 2.6Ghz or faster CPU + invest in a $120 video card.

When you look at the pricing on refurb quad-core systems yours starting to get into a price range in which you start to think that maybe buying a completely new computer for them makes sense as for around $350-$400 your getting into modern entry level gaming builds, and most of the refurb quad-cores out there are above $200 unless you find a deal on ebay that isnt a piece of junk for cheap.

[vembutech]

Yes can try update depends on the compatiblity which may help you.

[patio]

Ignore the above Post.