Recommendation needed

[LGB15]

I was nominated to upgrade the 10 year old dell computer for a non profit preschool. They would primarily use it for writing correspondance in word, basic excel spreadsheets, internet email like gmail, itunes account for the schools library of CD's and maybe some teacher clip art projects. Very basic and maybe only used 4 hours a week. They will not be playing games or watching videos on it. My guess is they will keep it 8+ years so I am more concerned with something that will last a long time. The budget is $900 and that would include buying MS Office 2013 since I am noticing most don't come with that preinstalled.

The salesman at bestbuy recommended this one but I always thought AMD processors were inferior to intel.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pavilion-touchsmart-23-touch-screen-all-in-one-computer-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/1743009.p?id=1219062805235&skuId=1743009&st=categoryid$abcat0501005&cp=1&lp=4

I may be overthinking it though as the use will be very minimal....maybe only an hour a day at most.

 

[Kusheire]

There's nothing wrong with AMD processors, and the processor is not going to be the failing point for a computer used by preschoolers. The question I would ask is this: Will the computer endure constant use from a preschooler? (Keep in mind that this is a touch screen and they are going to touch it). The answer, probably. Don't focus on the specs though, a preschooler doesn't know or care for the difference, and unless the teacher is using it for something else, all that really matters is durability for the tasks you described.

 

[LGB15]

it is not going to be used by any of the students. It is for the office manager and teachers use only.

 

[PP Mguire]

Are you upgrading just the tower itself, or does the monitor need to be included?

Pre-schoolers? A touch screen is a no no. I have little ones myself, and that's a big fat nope.

For 900 dollars you can get a high end gaming machine with a monitor. So really, you don't even need to fill this budget which they will probably be happy for.
The question is, are you willing to build or not? You can save about 400 bucks or more by building yourself and getting something that will last a very long time and saving them money.

i3 4130, ASRock B85, 8GB of 1333 RAM, a Seasonic 380w PSU, mATX standard case or desktop, and that's that plus the software you need. The high school I graduated from in 2006 is still using Pentium D machines to this day which they got when they were brand new. Been chugging along almost 10 years now.

 

[LGB15]

the computer is for the office manager and the teachers only to be used in an office not the classroom. No preschooler will be using it I could just upgrade the tower as the old one works it is just small so I thought I would upgrade all at the same time with that budget. That is when I saw the all-in-ones but it certainly does not have to be that. It just made my life easier to research those than also have to look at a monitor. I thought an all-in-one would might make the office look more tidy.

haha build myself. No way!

 

[PP Mguire]

Then by all means, and with no offense, listen to the Best Buy guy if you don't want to build yourself. In this case since it's not a gaming machine at all, you can seriously get way more bang for the buck with the setup I was mentioning previously.

 

[LGB15]

No offense taken. If I knew more about computers I would love to try to build myself it is all just so foreign to me which is why I am here.

 

[PP Mguire]

There are plenty of guides and Youtube videos that teach you the basics as it's a very basic and simple process. Good place to start are the Newegg videos. If you feel you want to build just let us know.

 

[LGB15]

Thanks. Maybe I will try that when I need to upgrade my computer which will be very soon.