A new computer for Mom

Windows 10 is out now.  I really hate how companies play the expectation game.  Since around April, when Microsoft announced that Windows 10 would be a free upgrade to every current Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 user, I've been excited about it.

I haven't been excited because there was something wrong with Windows 8... I just wanted something 'new' to play with.  Taking out the Start screen and changing it back to the Start menu isn't a big deal to me.  I actually liked the Start screen and I had become accustomed to it.

I guess as a 'design' minded guy, having the entire screen dedicated to lining up the programs I use appeals to me.  But I know that most people hated it.  I couldn't care less about adding Cortona as the only microphone I have attached to my computer is the one on my headset.  And I'm not going to put on and take off a headset just to ask my computer a question.  And oddly enough, I didn't even need a clean install.  I normally have to install the OS cleanly every 18 months or so and I've been working off the same install for over two years now.

Well... now that I think about it, I DID build a new computer last year... so yeah, I guess this install is only 9 months or so old.  Anywho... I didn't HAVE To have Windows 10.  But I wanted it.  And Microsoft knew it.  And Microsoft played with my expectations.  They said they would have it out in Summer.  YAY!  That means I can get it in June right?  No... when they announced the date they said it would be July.  When they put a specific date on it, they said July 29th.  And when July 29th came around... they said it would be installing in waves.  That I would probably get it before September.

Grr.


I got angrier and angrier about that especially when I learned that Mom's computer was running so freaking slow.  She has an HP all in one computer from a couple years ago.  If I'm remembering it right, she got it soon after I installed Windows 8.  Anywho, she doesn't use a computer in the same way that I or my brother R do.  We power use the computer.  I selected the most powerful processor I could get my hands out without getting completely raped on price.  That meant an Intel i5 4690K (Devil's Canyon) processor.  Sure, I could have gotten an i7, but that would cost over a hundred dollars more and not net me much extra performance.

With mom... well we didn't think of performance.  At least not in the 'get as much as you can afford' way.

lemme step back and explain a few things about Mom and her computer.

Mom has been using a computer as long as my brothers and I have.  When we first got our Commodore 64 (Christmas 1985), she used it as much as we did.  She loved doing creative things and has been a fan of casual games since that first Christmas morning.  I recall her playing Jumpman for hours and hours and hours.

While Dad was still alive they actually had to get seperate computers because she was on it so much that he never got a chance.

When I was out driving an 18 wheeler around (circa 2006) I bought a huge laptop.  17 inch screen, bugger hard drive, good graphics... the whole deal.  When I stopped driving and after Dad died, and Mom got sick, everything kind of fell into place.  Her computer was a little long in the tooth and was upstairs.  Going up the stairs was getting more difficult.  So I gave/sold her my big Laptop.  I didn't use it, and she could use it at the dining room table.   She used that for a good 4 years.... long enough that it was just dead ass slow.

So when Mom got her all in one, that's what we were replacing.  The whole idea was to get a computer that could do everything she wanted faster than the laptop could, and sit on the dining room table.  I knew her eyes weren't as good as she'd like them to be so one thing I thought of was a larger All in One.  The 27 inch models were out, but they were prohibitively expensive.  So she ended up with a 23 inch model.

It was nice.. for someone that plays casual games, gets her email, and browses the web.  It only had 4MB of Ram, a 1TB hard drive, and an AMD E2 1800 processor.  I think even straight out of the box, the computer would have curled up and died if you tried to play any 'current' game on it.

Now two and a half years later, it was just tired.  I know that she's been having some problems with viruses and malware, and figured that was at least part of it.  So I was looking forward to a clean install of Windows 10 helping her out.

When July 29th came and went, I was upset enough at Microsoft that I found the 'back door' in.  Microsoft had the OS up and available to install manually.  It took me about 6 hours to figure out how to do it (I took many wrong turns getting to the right file) and about 20 minutes to upgrade my OS.  The next day I 'upgraded' Mom's OS to Windows 10.  Yeah... that process of upgrading the OS that took me 20 minutes, took Mom's computer about 3 hours.

THREE FUCKING HOURS!

A lot of that has nothing to do with viruses and malware slowing things down.  In other words... it was time for a new computer.  I talked to her about it and she just outright refused.  She said she could deal with her computer being "a little bit slow".

Her computer takes about 6 minutes from hitting the on switch to being ready for use.  She plays Pogo online (a community of casual games), and it can take her 3 minutes to load one of those up.  This isn't the internet slowing her down (we currently have a nearly 70 megabit connection to the internet!), this is her computer taking that much time to load JAVA.  I tried it on my computer...  5 seconds.  I had to do it several times to get the stopwatch just right.

Now when Mom bought this All In One, it was on her dime.  She doesn't like spending money unelss she needs to.  So from the get go, I just figured I'd buy her one.  I have the cash sitting in my account and it's going to get spent one way or the other... why not spend it on her.  But she still refused.

So I got help.  I involved my brother R.  That was a blessing and a curse.  He not only agreed she needed a new computer, he said she should dump the crappy All In One design and get a desktop.  Yeah... for the dining room table.  So that threw another whole wrinkle into the conversation/debate.  I finally just put my foot down... we (R and I) were going to get her a computer.  Her only choice was deciding on what exactly she wanted.  A laptop?  An All In Once?  Custom built Desktop?

The next morning, I realized if I even let her have that much of a choice, she'd still spin it around to "no, I don't need a new computer".  So I did some searching online, and told R to head on over to NewEgg (his favorite computer shopping site) and figure out what he'd build her computer out of.

Mine was fairly simple.  I looked primarily at Best Buy as I could pick the computer up that day.  I found her three All In Ones that would be fairly nice.  All of them had an Intel i5 mobile processor, all of them had 8 Gigs of Ram, two of them had a 1TB SATA hard drive, while one had a 1TB SSD drive.  Two were 23 inch screens and one was a 27 inch screen.  All of the screens were touch enabled.  They cost between $850 and $1000.  $1000 was the top end of my price range... if R wanted to chip in, then we could go several hundred more.   These would all be an equivilent experience to her current All In One.  They would run circles around hers performance wise, they wouldn't take up to much space (and in fact would take up less space than her current setup).  They would also have the same disadvantages... they cost more, and they aren't upgradeable.  In two or three years they would probably need to be replaced.

R had an advantage.  Between my and his old PCs, he has parts to use from the get go.  He figured out a nice small microATX case, a new motherboard, one of our processors, our old RAM (8 GB), our old Hard Drive (750 MB), our old Video Card, and his old 21 inch monitor (with it's speakers).  Mom would keep her wireless keyboard and mosue.  The processor would be a couple generations old, but FAR more powerful than what she currently has, and in all honesty, about on par with what I was looking at (underpowered mobile intel i5s).  R's price was about $300.  The disadvantage is that it would be louder, it would take up more space, and it would have more cables.

When R and I presented her with the options we also emphasized that we had the money for this.  That this wasn't taking away from anything we wanted to do.  I actually made the point that I was going to spend the money anyway... I'd either waste it on things or use it on something usefull.... i.e. this computer.

Mom decided upon the desktop.  I'm 90% sure that it came down to price.  So R and I went back to his computer and did more than a cursory glance at parts.

We had to change several things... there was no motherboard that would bit into that case that would take our old processors, so we upgraded to a better processor.  We both agreed that since money wasn't as important, we'd upgrade her to a 500 GB SSD drive.  We found a better case, and it ended up costing about $500.  The comptuer is mostly put together, we're just waiting on the power supply.  We had planned on  using my old 700W supply, but it's too big for the microcase.

I guess one big problem I have this process, is trying to figure out whose 'want' is more important.  R and I 'want' Mom to have a nice computer.  It doesn't need to scream or be nearly the level of our powerhouses... but it should boot in a timely manner and let her play her games without waiting for minutes.  Mom doesn't want to 'take' money from R and I.  Does forcing this on Mom make her feel guilty?  Yes... at least to a degree, I know she feels guilty.

So which bad situation is the one that we should have gone after?  The one where she's frustrated with her computer and frustrated that she can't afford a new one?  Or the situation where she's happy with the computer but guilty and upset because she took money from R and I?