AAARGH!!! Do i have to reccomend it?

I have a client. and he want me to make him a computer (hence came the term client... i am soo cool ) Anyhows he wanted me to make him a computer. No bells and whistles. It's a guy whose a cop at the store i work at. Umm he's never had a computer before. The main reason he is buying an "idiot box" (as he put it) was because he wanted it for his children.. whom from what i recollect are only in 3rd and 5th grade.

So now couple of things.
1. Will not be overclocked!
2. Needs to take a licking and keep on ticking
3. His children are very ummm what's the word i'm looking for.. curious
4. It needs to have a pretty good warranty... (i'm thinking at least a year will do ya!) so then here i am pondering to myself whether or not i should do it.

Should i reccomend an intel motherboard??? Never in my entire life did i think that i would do it... but now alas it has come! T

I mean he won't be overclocking... he needs it to support a wide range of components... and from what i am thinking.. a good ol intel 875p based motherboard is cheap and damn stable!!!!

note the cpu he'sa gonna be using is the 3.2 (he along with all of my other clients wants the rig to last him..)

i dunno this sort of reminds me of my first days with a computer way back when. *sigh* those were the times

The Intel mobos are actually very stable and durable. I think what it really boils down to is what features he needs. If he wants to future proof it, then tell him he does need some features, but that they don't have to cost more. For example, I might recommend the Abit IS7-E since it has all the basic bells and whistles and is reliable plus fairly cheap. If he's worried the kids might get into the BIOS, he can set up a password (although resetting the CMOS gets around this, but he don't have to know that).

Honestly it would be in his best interest to buy something that come with support and ligitimate software licenses... Honestly, I would recomend that you help spec him out a dell demension or something similar... besides, you can't beat their pricing by building your own (assuming your NOT overclocking).

They support the hardware and software problems, not to mention the fact that they will hand hold him through all the anoying questions.

If you do build him one... be prepaired to get a lot of phone calls and spend some time over at his house fixing the thing...

I've been there,
WallaceBW

dude, you gettin' a dell

no, seriously, lots of deals on those around and support is ok.

just a matter of being patient and waiting for some good saving to come along.

not the fastest but most ppl wont notice as long as it works stable...

Also, take into consideration that if you order an "idiot box" from Dell, you won't have to worry about the headaches of defective products. RMA'ing them is bad enough, but RMA'ing them for someone else, what a drag!

So, although buying a Dell would suck for us, it might be a good option for your "client" Pretty much the only thing you would have to do for him is perform a clean install of Windows to get rid of all the junk that comes with it.

true that, GV2NIX

Darryl_D, you could always get some pretty bare model and upgrade it a bit from other sources.

at that point it will come down to the basic math, really - the proverbial "bang for the buck" - what parts can be added cheaper from a store than simply buying them from dell directly.

Been there too, and it's not fun to get calls out of the blue when something stops working. A Dell is probably your best bet - let them take care of all the annoying stuff.

Ken

it probably means that you won't get the $$$ you would from your 'client'. on the bright side if you give him good advice he'll probably come back to you in the future when its time to upgrade