Page 1 of I need to buy/build a very cheap first user/novice PC - some advice needed please!!!

I need a PC for my father in law. He basically just wants to get into computing, has no clue really. It must be able to be used on the net, does not need to play games, or multi-media or anything fancy.

Any advice on places that do refurbished/second user machines.

I`m looking for something roughly under £150, so if it doesnt get used then its no biggy.
Have checked out Ebay, and found some fairly decent ones, but I know what a ripp off ebay merchants can be at times, so where else should i look?

BTW, its just the system I`m after with possibly a keyboard/mouse chucked in. A monitir is not a problem

For me, I would try and stretch the budget a bit, and have a look at
http://prices.cclcomputers.co.uk/pricenav/retailframe.htm
Might be worth giving them a ring, seeing what they can do, I have had no problems at all with them, and they are really good about swapping out faulty parts. As I say it might stretch the budget a bit, but atleast you would have a decent warrenty on it.

someone here gave me some good advice on this matter, get yourself a copy of micro mart (from wh smith etc)
this has got some great deals in and i think you should be able to get what you want for the price. check out www.pc-123.co.uk, they had a couple of very cheap base systems when i last looked.

If you know anyone who works for a University, or in the IT dept of a company, it`s worth asking if they can put one together for you. They upgrade their machines as often as they can afford to, which means they usually have a load of surplus parts that are not good enough to put in their PCs but are still perfectly OK. I got one built for the price of a bottle of malt whisky with the following specs:

AMD 333Mhz processor
128Mb RAM
CD-ROM
2x1.2Gb Hard Disks
Keyboard, monitor and mouse

I bought a modem for £10 and away I went! It does exactly what I need it to do (basic internet access, runs Word etc). I`m never going to use it for games or owt so do I really need more? Not at this stage.

One thing to point out is that they might have an issue with leaving any software on it, so you might get it wiped clean and have to buy the programs.

Could try

http://www.rdc-shop.co.uk/shops/main.php

they seem to sell refurbished old office PCs - PIIs of the Compaq variety from around £85

Have a look at http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk. They have various computers that are sold to them in bulk by manufacturers when they release new models. There`s nothing in your price range at the moment, but they seem to update their stock fairly regularly - it`s probably worth popping into the store if there`s one near you.