unastronaut*

They don’t want, or need, anything fancy. So they say. I agree. My parents basically use a computer for a few things: word processing, email, web browsing and the occasional PowerPoint. My parents don’t even play music while at the computer, but they need the ability to hear videos they watch online.

We don’t have a ton of money, and if we did we could easily have gone a bit overkill. Not that they wouldn’t enjoy something a bit newer and nicer, they just don’t need much, just something to replace a PC with a toasted motherboard. After putting their old hard drive in an external enclosure, I set out to replace their PC.

This process was essentially scouring craigslist.org for deals in our area and getting in contact with potential sellers. Things I look for include why people are selling, what attitude they give you about how they take care of their stuff and all original parts.

This is what I ended up with: 17″ G4 800MHz iMac with the arm mount monitor and dome top (not the ones that fooled the Danish police) 768MB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and a SuperDrive. It included OSX 10.4 (Tiger), Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop. I was also surprised with all of the original discs for the software. After about a day of installing updates, Firefox extensions and bookmarks, personal photo library and some music I took it to my parents. The side of the screen is great for holding post-it notes I’ve put up to help them get used to the new platform, but so far I’ve had one “How do I do…” phone call, so they must have a bearing already.

There were plenty of deals on both craigslist and eBay about this good for between $300-$500, and you can easily get 2-3 years use out of a computer like this. Anyone else find similar deals? I’d tell you about the PC I got for $400 but by now it’s not even close to that good of a deal, I don’t want to sound so biased…I’m truly curious about computers for the old folk in their lives. This is the most common topic for my family to ask me about. Just trying to do a bit of research.

Picnik: www.picnik.com

Free online photo editor replacement for everyday users. I started using this to stave off buying CS3. I haven’t even thought about saving up for Photoshop. I can get away with less, but for basic stuff Picnik is a godsend. Try it out today, you’ll thank me!

Google Location Search: www.google.com/m/lcb

Pure genius! Search for types of business (i.e., Restaurants – Mediterranean or Entertainment – Night Clubs) around an address. If you’ve ever asked “what’s near here?” this is the Google tool for you.

DropBoks: www.dropboks.com

1GB, simple and organized online ‘jump drive’. This may not be the best available, so a follow-up may come soon, but if you didn’t already know, there are plenty of online storage sites that are like having an online jump drive. Very useful.

Mailinator: www.mailinator.com

It says ‘let them eat spam!’ Have a site send an email to a fake address, get the info and avoid the spam. Just make up an address name like juandao@mailinator.net, then when you go to the site and check that mailbox and don’t have constant nagging from the sites that always force you to create an account, very useful at times.

Cl1p: www.cl1p.net

This internet clipboard is invaluable to me for times when I don’t have anything to upload but I need to get information or a code back-and-forth between computers. You can also upload a website and tell an IM buddy or text message someone where to find it. Just like Mailinator, just “make up” a website cl1p.net/madeupwebsite and it is created. Simple as that.

Kiva: www.kiva.org

Kiva is an incredible tool for eliminating poverty in underdeveloped nations. Microfinance loans have a 96% repayment rate, as opposed to collateral based loans with a repayment rate of 85%, they are also less risky. Loan as little as $25, and it cycles through 1-2 times a year…helping more with the same money.