Name: Dragon306 Date: November 15, 2005 at 14:01:09 Pacific Subject: need opinions: which pc to donate?? OS: xxxx CPU/Ram: xxxx
Comment:
weekend before last at church a very poor family (mother w/ five kids) joined. they looked quit poor, wearing t-shirts and ragged jeans, and the little girl had on men's shoes at least two sizes too big. I felt bad for them, and spoke with the woman after mass. her husband died in a car wreck just two weeks before. they had been poor then but were even worse now, barely affording food and a home. no telephone, tv, vaccuum, toys for the kids, nothing. i felt very sympathetic toward them. i said do you have electricity at your home? she says yes. i say would you like some toys and stuff we dont use? she nearly cried. i came home and spent the week taking inventory of anything i could give her. i gathered a small working color tv with antenna, some no-longer-used toys from when my sister was younger, and then saw the pile of unused but working old computers in the basement (pentium 1s, pros, k6-2s, etc.) last weekend i speak to her again and say i am gathering some things she can have. she hugs me very tight, and i think man they must be in a bad way right now. i say would you like a computer she says that would be wonderful i say would the kids play games on it she says yes they did on their old one before it broke i say okay what about internet she says no need we dont even have a phone line i say okay i will see you next weekend. after the poor family left (in a dodge omni that looked as though it is about to fall apart) i sat and thought for a while, and prayed for them. then i came home and took stock of my old computers. i wanted to give them something fast enough for basic arcade and children's games and office 97 for them. it came down to one of the following two:
Compaq Deskpro 2000 Pentium Pro 200mhz 96mb EDO RAM 4.3gb hard drive 32x CD-ROM 4mb 3D-accelerated video card
-or-
IBM Aptiva 300mhz K6-2 128mb PC100 RAM 4.3gb hard drive 32x cd-rom 2mb 3D video (integrated)
the games i have gathered for them (old windows 3.1 and 95 arcade games, math and reading blaster for the kids learning, etc.) meet or exceed the requirements of the Deskpro (the 200mhz machine) but i want to give them somthing they can actually make use of. i am also giving them a 15" monitor, keyboard, mouse, and older color inkjet printer i have but am not using. so heres my things a)is the Aptiva (300mhz K6-2 system) worth anything money wise? and b)should the Deskpro (200mhz system) suit them just fine? i am already being quite charitable as i am just a nice person (despite what jboy and plainandsimple might think), but i am unsure of whether or not to give them the "better" computer, if it is still worth anything or if they need more "power" then the Deskpro provides. OPINIONS ON ALL THIS AND WHAT I SHOULD DO???
Just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, the roof caves in.
Go with your gut feeling. If you're more comfortable giving them the deskpro, do so. I have an old P166 that runs some older games, Office 97, and some of my daughters programs - clifford reading for example. That should do just fine.
By the way, I think what your doing is just great. You are to be commended for your generosity.
Hi nice gesture, neither pc have real $ value, but are still usable, so which dont you want?, (& with a 56k modem gets ppl on the net for emails etc hint :) plenty of 2nd hand about.
irregardless of other peoples opinions, charity begins at home :)
if you include the modem you can create a free internet account (10hrs a month) at netzero and download it onto a floopy, all you need is the persons name. Juno has a similar deal (really the same company). I usally create 1 of each to get the person 20hrs a month.
good idea larry! they would like that! they can set up a free yahoo email account and communicate w/ people. is a 33.6k modem enough for dial-up or is 56k really necessary?
Just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, the roof caves in.
Re #1. No edit feature after posting but before you confirm the post you get a full preview. At that point you can edit any errors/changes. You can also "check to show confirmation page again" (with preview), as many times as you wish.
56k is prefered, but 33.6k will work. when choosing the phone #s, be carefull to choose local toll free numbers, I usally choose 3. Best to write them down and check with the phone company to be sure. Keep in mine that netzero uses internet explorer, so any tweaks to it (eg. changing the # of simultaneous sessions per server), will make in run better. Always reject new phone numbers when offered by netzero.
Regardless of which computer you decide on, the best gift to them will be your availability to fix it when it when they unintentionally (but inevitably) screw it up.
Oh, and I've had some problems with 56K modems in pentium pro machines.
thank you everyone for your advice (except jboy & plainandsimple with their never-ending insults), and i was planning on providing free "tech-support". it is a great thing to do.
Just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, the roof caves in.
The modem is not a high priority item if they have no telephone. (Original message) Also have you looked at the price of ink cartridges lately. If you can find one a dot matrix would be more economical. If you can, occasionally updating their educational and entertainment software would be nice. Lot of internet freebies that they can't access. Good luck. And Thanks for caring.
some people spend to much time behind a keyboard and have no idea how to interact with others . get a life and leave the kid alone ! if you can't stand him , ignore his posts ! grow up you keyboard bullies !
romance! you jerk you are the one who is gay not me! i never said i was exceptionally smart or noble, but i did say i am not stupid.
*sigh...*
i have tried tell you to stfu, that didn't work; i have tried "apoligizing", that didn't work; i doubt it will work but now i will try asking nicely:
please stop insulting, degrading, and otherwise deliberately angering me. i have done nothing to you directly except telling you in more words to stfu, and i have as much right as anyone else to use these forums without being treated like s---. so if you dont have a legit, helpful, non-insulting response, i ...politely... ask you to not respond to my posts at all. no person deserves to be treated like crap and i am just as much of a person as you, your mother, bob down the street, jam, heropsyco, or any body else. fine, you dont like my posts, my name or anything about me. you only know a little bit of me and you have formed opinions based on that, fine. i accept this as simpley the way it is. but none the less i ask for the same ...common courtesy... as any body else, despite the fact that we may be behind our own keyboards and will never meet, even people over the net deserve the same common courtesy as people IRL. so i ask for that same common courtesy and say that if you are not going to follow-up with realted and helpful info and without insults or sarcasm, please stay out of my posts. you do have a sense of humor but you should not use it at the expense of others. i hope this time i am calm enough and reasonable sounding enough that you will understand and listen.
Just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, the roof caves in.
Geez Jboy, sounds like you are an annoying turd. Leave the dragon alone already. They seem to be asking nicely, get a life other than trying to find ways of getting of peoples nerves...
I've watched you for some time and I've gotta say that you're negative and that your posts contribute to nothing.
Brendan is doing a good thing. He has a right to tell us that he's doing a donation - so what if he WAS fishing for compliments? You're fishing for attention. Same thing.
