I know this is waaaaaaaay off topic but the guys here seem to be reasonably
knowledgable about a load of weird stuff so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get
their first PC and there is a Mesh one that looks good on paper but I
haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm not sure what their service etc is
like. As I will probably be having to fix/identify any problems down the
phone from 300 miles away I want to minimise any potential cock-ups as much
as possible.

Cheers for any input

Mark

In message , Mark Spice
writes
I know this is waaaaaaaay off topic but the guys here seem to be reasonably
knowledgable about a load of weird stuff so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get
their first PC and there is a Mesh one that looks good on paper but I
haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm not sure what their service etc is
like.

My Mum got a Mesh about 3 1/2 years ago mostly because I thought it
looked a good deal and they seem to get good write ups etc.

It's a well put together machine, nice and tidy inside (has a nice case,
with easy access for fiddling about - though new cases are different)
it's worked fine (though wins the prize for the only PC I've ever had
to replace a dead CMOS battery on just recently).

FIL got one as well last year, partly on my recommendation - though he
likes to do his own research as well. Again worked fine. I don't think
either of them have really had to have any dealing with the service side
of the operation, but the sales staff were helpful.

As I will probably be having to fix/identify any problems down the
phone from 300 miles away I want to minimise any potential cock-ups as much
as possible.

I wish she'd had XP pro with Remote Desktop a couple of times when try
sort out some odd problem (software)
--
Chris French

Aged parents want to get their first PC and there is a Mesh one that
looks good on paper but I haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm
not sure what their service etc is like.

Can`t comment on Mesh, but unless they`re into playing games (which I
really doubt), then the cheapest basic unit you can find will probably
suit them down to the ground.

That should enable them to browse, play music, use skype, check email
quite happily.

The small business side of Dell can sometimes pull up some bargains,
with base units starting at £150+VAT (and they quite often throw in free
delivery) - although i`m guessing you want a "complete" system with a
monitor.

Dell have one on the "home" side of their site at the moment, £239 inc.
VAT & Delivery - that includes a 15" flat panel monitor !

The main reservation i`d have would be the 256Mb of RAM - but given
their probably "limited" use it shouldn`t be too much of an issue -
although if you want to push the boat out, pick up some more for them at
http://www.crucial.com/uk for about half the cost of buying it pre-
installed.

chris French wrote:

I wish she'd had XP pro with Remote Desktop a couple of times when try
sort out some odd problem (software)

There are loads of remote desktop solutions out there, no need for Win
Remote Desktop.

VNC is very good, but you'll need to open ports on your firewall for it.
TeamViewer is also very good and works nicely through firewalls.

--
Grunff

Grunff wrote:

VNC is very good, but you'll need to open ports on your firewall for it.
TeamViewer is also very good and works nicely through firewalls.

Have a look at WinVNC SC

This is the "Single Click" version that you program to phone home. Quite
handy since it traverses the users firewalls and NAT routers without any
configuration (you need a hole in your firewall to let it connect back).
Very good for remote support since the exe is only about 160K so you can
email it or stick it up on a web site, and the helpee can run it without
any installation or configuration.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Mark Spice wrote:

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get

No personal experiance, but they have been around for ages which is
always a good sign. They tend to do quite well in the performance charts
when they get tested head to head by the magazines etc.

Again, as someone else said look for the low end boxes - because even
the low end is still pretty high in absolute terms!


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Grunff wrote:

VNC is very good, but you'll need to open ports on your firewall for it.
TeamViewer is also very good and works nicely through firewalls.

My vote goes for the beta version of TightVNC simplified connection
options i.e. low bandwidth, default, high bandwidth,

Also now features file transfer utility which is essential.


On the MESH side, I have one running as a file server for accounts
database base also use it as remote desktop via VPN through TightVNC to
work from home when I need to do stuff not suited to regular VPN connection.

It's been left on for the last 2 years and the only modification needed
was to seal up the vent at the bottom of the front panel to stop dust
and dog hair filling it (PC) up.
Only maintenance required has been to remove the side cover (which is
really quick) in order to suck said hair and fluff from the CPU fan as
it was thick with the stuff and kept shutting down as it overheated.

No problems with either heat or dust since sellotape case mod.
:¬)

--
http://gymratz.co.uk - Best Gym Equipment & Bodybuilding Supplements UK.
http://trade-price-supplements.co.uk - TRADE PRICED SUPPLEMENTS for ALL!
http://fitness-equipment-uk.com - UK's No.1 Fitness Equipment Suppliers.
http://Water-Rower.co.uk - Worlds best prices on the Worlds best Rower.

In message , Grunff
writes
chris French wrote:

I wish she'd had XP pro with Remote Desktop a couple of times when
try sort out some odd problem (software)

There are loads of remote desktop solutions out there, no need for Win
Remote Desktop.

VNC is very good, but you'll need to open ports on your firewall for
it.

Yeah I know (in fact use VNC) but I had fussing baby in in arm and was
writing one handed and gave up there. :-)

Problem I had was that I hadn't preinstalled any sort of remote desktop
before hand, and try as I might, my Mum couldn't managed to get it
installed and running.

--
Chris French

Colin Wilson wrote:

Dell have one on the "home" side of their site at the moment, £239 inc.
VAT & Delivery - that includes a 15" flat panel monitor !

Have you got a link ? The cheapest one I can see that they have is 289.

Dell machines, despite the slagging they get, are pretty good. I like
the way the case and components inside neatly open out, so maintenance
is a doddle. I guess some of their parts are proprietary, but for that
price you can't go too far wrong.

The main reservation i`d have would be the 256Mb of RAM - but given
their probably "limited" use it shouldn`t be too much of an issue -
although if you want to push the boat out, pick up some more for them at
http://www.crucial.com/uk for about half the cost of buying it pre-
installed.

Crucial are indeed excellent, have used them several times and the goods
are always in place first thing the next day.

In article ,
Grunff writes:
chris French wrote:

I wish she'd had XP pro with Remote Desktop a couple of times when try
sort out some odd problem (software)

There are loads of remote desktop solutions out there, no need for Win
Remote Desktop.

VNC is very good, but you'll need to open ports on your firewall for it.
TeamViewer is also very good and works nicely through firewalls.

I use VNC to access my parent's desktop when things need
fixing, which works well. I'm completely Unix-based at
home, and it interworks between the two systems fine.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article ,
Colin Wilson writes:
Can`t comment on Mesh, but unless they`re into playing games (which I=20
really doubt), then the cheapest basic unit you can find will probably=20
suit them down to the ground.

That should enable them to browse, play music, use skype, check email=20
quite happily.

For this sort of use, I've often picked up second hand PIII's in the
700-1GHz range from computer fairs for ~£45.

although if you want to push the boat out, pick up some more for them at
http://www.crucial.com/uk for about half the cost of buying it pre-
installed.

Just looked out of curiosity, and Crucial are about twice the price
I pay at computer fairs. http://www.computerfairs.co.uk lists many
of the ones around the UK. Bracknell one is very good, but you just
missed April's. Luton one used to be good but has been dwindling over
the past year - now not so many stalls and prices consequently higher.

--
Andrew Gabriel

On Tue, 11 Apr 2006 22:48:43 +0100, "Mark Spice"
wrote:

I know this is waaaaaaaay off topic but the guys here seem to be reasonably
knowledgable about a load of weird stuff so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get
their first PC and there is a Mesh one that looks good on paper but I
haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm not sure what their service etc is
like. As I will probably be having to fix/identify any problems down the
phone from 300 miles away I want to minimise any potential cock-ups as much
as possible.

Cheers for any input

Mark

The Mesh computer I bought had some of the good points already
described. However, I bought it on the strength of an advert that had
a clearly defined components list highlighted to impress the punter.
The computer I received didn't contain some of the components listed.
So began the long and arduous task of getting what I'd paid for.
The boss of Mesh who I had to communicate with by recorded delivery
letter justified the discrepancies by claiming that I didn't really
need the advertised components. That more than anything else ensured
my insistence on getting the originally promised spec.
I'd rather have just paid the money and got the right goods in the
first place though.

--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

Drop the (EGG) to email me.

Mark Spice wrote:
I know this is waaaaaaaay off topic but the guys here seem to be reasonably
knowledgable about a load of weird stuff so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get
their first PC and there is a Mesh one that looks good on paper but I
haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm not sure what their service etc is
like. As I will probably be having to fix/identify any problems down the
phone from 300 miles away I want to minimise any potential cock-ups as much
as possible.

Cheers for any input

Mark


I am gong to say two things.

There are two utterly reliable routes to a BASIC PC.

1/. Find someone local who really supports and PAY WHATEVER THEY ASK

2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
training session.

Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things - web,
mail, word processing etc.

Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)

chris French wrote:

Problem I had was that I hadn't preinstalled any sort of remote desktop
before hand, and try as I might, my Mum couldn't managed to get it
installed and running.

That's the beauty of TeamViewer - it's just a single exe, no
installation. So all you do is point the user at the website, and get
them to click the download link. It's very handy for situations where
you haven't pre-installed anything, and the user is not very confident.

--
Grunff

In article
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Colin Wilson writes:
Can`t comment on Mesh, but unless they`re into playing games (which I=20
really doubt), then the cheapest basic unit you can find will probably=20
suit them down to the ground.

That should enable them to browse, play music, use skype, check email=20
quite happily.

For this sort of use, I've often picked up second hand PIII's in the
700-1GHz range from computer fairs for ~£45.

although if you want to push the boat out, pick up some more for them at
http://www.crucial.com/uk for about half the cost of buying it pre-
installed.

Just looked out of curiosity, and Crucial are about twice the price
I pay at computer fairs.

Crucial isn't cheap (it's not expensive either) but it does have a handy
selector tool and lifetime warranty.

Geronimo W. Christ Esq wrote:
Colin Wilson wrote:

Dell have one on the "home" side of their site at the moment, £239
inc. VAT & Delivery - that includes a 15" flat panel monitor !

Have you got a link ? The cheapest one I can see that they have is 289.

I have never to this day been able to find one of their "special offer"
PC's like the one described above.

Also don't forget the obligatory £60 delivery charge or whatever.
I don't buy Dell out of principle now after their repeated non-existent
special offers.
I once actually phoned to order one from their mail shot, and ended up
in the Bombay sales centre who conveniently "lost" my order at the
special price.

Just bought another Mesh PC this morning for my Dad.

:¬)


--
http://gymratz.co.uk - Best Gym Equipment & Bodybuilding Supplements UK.
http://trade-price-supplements.co.uk - TRADE PRICED SUPPLEMENTS for ALL!
http://fitness-equipment-uk.com - UK's No.1 Fitness Equipment Suppliers.
http://Water-Rower.co.uk - Worlds best prices on the Worlds best Rower.

I think to get a decent deal from Dell, you don't just go ahead and buy
one - you have to lurk on the various Dell offer deal groups and
websites, stalking a deal that meets your requirements )

I got my 5150 with 19" monitor a few months back after waiting around
for a month or so for the deal I wanted to appear, so they definitely
do exist. Great machine (whisper quiet!) at a great price. Don't know
about Dell's service, and hope not to have to find out!

Hi,

""Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk ;¬)"" wrote in message
. uk...
Geronimo W. Christ Esq wrote:
Colin Wilson wrote:

Dell have one on the "home" side of their site at the moment, £239 inc.
VAT & Delivery - that includes a 15" flat panel monitor !

Have you got a link ? The cheapest one I can see that they have is 289.

I have never to this day been able to find one of their "special offer" PC's
like the one described above.

Try the Dell outlet. Mostly it's full of 'ordered and then cancelled'
machines,
so you can't configure your own, but if something there is suitable, the
prices are good. Link he

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/de...=uk&l=en&s=dfo

I almost always build my own machines (having spent fifteen years in tech
support), but given a choice between Dell and Mesh, I would usually go
for Dell. I would pick Mesh for a games box, but not a general purpose
house PC. I've spent a lot of time at both organisations. My only criticism
of Dell is the way they (used to?) partition the hard drives, and the fact
that
they have used cable select instead of setting drives to master or
slave with a jumper. Windows doesn't care, but it can mess Linux up.
As always, YMMV.

My wife and family have had a few decent deals from Dell.

Regards,

Glenn.

Hi,

"Mike Halmarack" ... wrote in message
...

The Mesh computer I bought had some of the good points already
described. However, I bought it on the strength of an advert that had
a clearly defined components list highlighted to impress the punter.
The computer I received didn't contain some of the components listed.

Sadly, that happens all the time, and it isn't just Mesh. The machines that
get submitted to magazine reviews are optimised (sometimes overly
so). I've even known one unscrupulous PC company to remove the
cache chips on hard drives and replace them with bigger ones to
get a little more performance out of a review machine on a certain
benchmark.

Winning reviews makes sales, and 'cross selling' customers to other
components is a standard sales ploy.

I'd rather have just paid the money and got the right goods in the
first place though.

Quite so. Getting anything other than what you paid for is not on.

Regards,

Glenn.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:


2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
training session.

Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things -
web, mail, word processing etc.

Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)

One reason for using Linux that has not been mentioned, and may not be
understood by Windows users, is that all the software that they could
ever want comes free with most Linux distributions. SuSE is a good one
and easy to install.

--
Geoff Beale
Extract digit to email.

On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:43:38 +0100, Geoff Beale
wrote:

|The Natural Philosopher wrote:
|
|
| 2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
| get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
| training session.
|
| Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things -
| web, mail, word processing etc.
|
| Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
| doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)
|
|One reason for using Linux that has not been mentioned, and may not be
|understood by Windows users, is that all the software that they could
|ever want comes free with most Linux distributions. SuSE is a good one
|and easy to install.

But on Windoze we expect things to be absolutely *dead* *easy* to install.
Half a dozen clicks and it works.

I have a copy of Red Hat Linux somewhere which did not get used because I
was not willing to read and understand umpteen pages of documentation,
before I could get it running
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.

On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:49:25 +0100, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:43:38 +0100, Geoff Beale
wrote:

|The Natural Philosopher wrote:
|
|
| 2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
| get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
| training session.
|
| Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things -
| web, mail, word processing etc.
|
| Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
| doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)
|
|One reason for using Linux that has not been mentioned, and may not be
|understood by Windows users, is that all the software that they could
|ever want comes free with most Linux distributions. SuSE is a good one
|and easy to install.

I dual boot Ubuntu.I had no trouble installing it and little in the
way of problems with additional software.
But on Windoze we expect things to be absolutely *dead* *easy* to install.
Half a dozen clicks and it works.

I have a copy of Red Hat Linux somewhere which did not get used because I
was not willing to read and understand umpteen pages of documentation,
before I could get it running

I'm counting on intuition kicking in after some preliminary confusion.

--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

Drop the (EGG) to email me.

Dell have one on the "home" side of their site at the moment, £239 inc.
VAT & Delivery - that includes a 15" flat panel monitor !
Have you got a link ? The cheapest one I can see that they have is 289.

Search on code: UKDHSONL-D04115

Otherwise, from their home page, Home, Desktops, and it should be
displayed...

Note that the warranty option is now "nested", so find the "Cover It
with Dell Support Services" option and click the blue drop-down arrow on
the right of the grey bar and hit "90 days collect and return"

Oh - it also includes a free printer !

On Tue, 11 Apr 2006 22:48:43 +0100, "Mark Spice"
wrote:

I know this is waaaaaaaay off topic but the guys here seem to be reasonably
knowledgable about a load of weird stuff so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get
their first PC and there is a Mesh one that looks good on paper but I
haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm not sure what their service etc is
like. As I will probably be having to fix/identify any problems down the
phone from 300 miles away I want to minimise any potential cock-ups as much
as possible.

Cheers for any input

Mark



Get AVG and thew ms spyware thing installed. Tell them under no
circumstances to instal those smikleys in emails thingys.
Find a neighbour who's clever with the pc stuff. Trying to do it by
phone will drive you mad.

--
Get money off vouchers for everything
http://www.moneyoffvouchers.co.uk

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:
But on Windoze we expect things to be absolutely *dead* *easy* to install.
Half a dozen clicks and it works.

On RISC OS most programs install by dragging the application icon from
CD/floppy to wherever you want it to go on your hard drive. One click and
drag. ;-)

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

Have you got a link ? The cheapest one I can see that they have is 289.

Hopefully my post with the link should have appeared by now...

I have never to this day been able to find one of their "special offer"
PC's like the one described above.
Also don't forget the obligatory £60 delivery charge or whatever.

The one for £239 has free delivery (finishes today though)

On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:33:42 UTC, John Cartmell
wrote:

In article ,
Dave Fawthrop wrote:
But on Windoze we expect things to be absolutely *dead* *easy* to install.
Half a dozen clicks and it works.

On RISC OS most programs install by dragging the application icon from
CD/floppy to wherever you want it to go on your hard drive. One click and
drag. ;-)

Presumably you also have to select options sometimes....that might use a
few more...!

Same on this system - most things install with one double click on the
install package.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

Colin Wilson wrote:
Dell have one on the "home" side of their site at the moment, £239 inc.
VAT & Delivery - that includes a 15" flat panel monitor !
Have you got a link ? The cheapest one I can see that they have is 289.

Search on code: UKDHSONL-D04115

Otherwise, from their home page, Home, Desktops, and it should be
displayed...

Note that the warranty option is now "nested", so find the "Cover It
with Dell Support Services" option and click the blue drop-down arrow on
the right of the grey bar and hit "90 days collect and return"

Oh - it also includes a free printer !

Ah, I see what they do now....
They cunningly decide you want the 3 year upgraded service plan for an
extra £100 !

I have never noticed that in the past, and always dumped the shopping
cart as the price always seemed to jump up well above the offer price.

I'll watch out for that in the future.


--
http://gymratz.co.uk - Best Gym Equipment & Bodybuilding Supplements UK.
http://trade-price-supplements.co.uk - TRADE PRICED SUPPLEMENTS for ALL!
http://fitness-equipment-uk.com - UK's No.1 Fitness Equipment Suppliers.
http://Water-Rower.co.uk - Worlds best prices on the Worlds best Rower.

In message , Geoff Beale
writes
The Natural Philosopher wrote:


2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
training session.

Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things -
web, mail, word processing etc.

Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)

One reason for using Linux that has not been mentioned, and may not be
understood by Windows users, is that all the software that they could
ever want comes free with most Linux distributions. SuSE is a good one
and easy to install.

http://en.opensuse.org/Download


--
geoff

Get AVG and thew ms spyware thing installed. Tell them under no
circumstances to instal those smikleys in emails thingys.
Find a neighbour who's clever with the pc stuff. Trying to do it by
phone will drive you mad.

May I humbly suggest my site for info on helping lock down the shyte ?

http://www.coreutilities.co.uk

AVG is listed but not on my recommended list, having had to sort out a
few machines with it recently...

Geoff Beale wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:


2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
training session.

Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things -
web, mail, word processing etc.

Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)

One reason for using Linux that has not been mentioned, and may not be
understood by Windows users, is that all the software that they could
ever want comes free with most Linux distributions. SuSE is a good one
and easy to install.


Indeed.

However teh tme taken to install and get it all working is high.

Basically I think that hardware is irrelevant in this context, what is
required is SUPPORT.

Either get it from someone who will, and install whatever OS/software
they are happy with, or bite the Linux bullet, and install it yourself,
knowing that once set up it will probably never ever fail to work.

I consistently go to one supplier, who has never ever let me down on
hardware support. Software support..well if its bloody windoze, he helps
too.

He is +15% more expensive than most people, and i don't care. I buy
whatever he has cheapest that he assures me is reliable.

My time is worth more than a hundred quid if I have to hassle with some
bloody nerd in PC world/Dixons/substitute your won horror story
shed/mail order company.

Dave Fawthrop wrote:
On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:43:38 +0100, Geoff Beale
wrote:

|The Natural Philosopher wrote:
|
|
| 2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
| get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
| training session.
|
| Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things -
| web, mail, word processing etc.
|
| Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
| doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)
|
|One reason for using Linux that has not been mentioned, and may not be
|understood by Windows users, is that all the software that they could
|ever want comes free with most Linux distributions. SuSE is a good one
|and easy to install.

But on Windoze we expect things to be absolutely *dead* *easy* to install.
Half a dozen clicks and it works.

I have a copy of Red Hat Linux somewhere which did not get used because I
was not willing to read and understand umpteen pages of documentation,
before I could get it running

This is a valid point. However, once you have Linux running, it doesn't
crash, or need rebooting endlessly. This may be relevant in the context
of a remote installation with people who are unlikely to fiddle, or ant
to download and install heaps of crap.

The biggest downside to Linux is that there are still many sites that
ONLY work with IE6...and some of them are online banks...there is not
browser for Linux that is absolutely guaranteed to have the same bugs
and workarounds and sloppy coding as IE6 and its excuse for Java.

Its all very well talking about remote maintenance, but that requires
the PC to be up and running to some level first.

In article , Bob Eager
wrote:
On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:33:42 UTC, John Cartmell
wrote:

In article , Dave Fawthrop
wrote:
But on Windoze we expect things to be absolutely *dead* *easy* to
install. Half a dozen clicks and it works.

On RISC OS most programs install by dragging the application icon from
CD/floppy to wherever you want it to go on your hard drive. One click and
drag. ;-)

Presumably you also have to select options sometimes....that might use a
few more...!

Options?

Same on this system - most things install with one double click on the
install package.

I hate install packages. I want to have full control over what I store where.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 09:01:04 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Mark Spice wrote:
I know this is waaaaaaaay off topic but the guys here seem to be reasonably
knowledgable about a load of weird stuff so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get
their first PC and there is a Mesh one that looks good on paper but I
haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm not sure what their service etc is
like. As I will probably be having to fix/identify any problems down the
phone from 300 miles away I want to minimise any potential cock-ups as much
as possible.

Cheers for any input

Mark


I am gong to say two things.

There are two utterly reliable routes to a BASIC PC.

1/. Find someone local who really supports and PAY WHATEVER THEY ASK

2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
training session.

Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things - web,
mail, word processing etc.

Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)

There's a third.

Buy a Mac.

I'm in the throes of dispensing with the services of a Dell notebook
(not a cheap one I might add) which has had two new displays and two
new motherboards in 2 years. When running XP, even though it's a
3GHz machine, with all the applications loading their bits of service
software etc. it takes ages to boot from cold and then runs
disappointingly. It does run very well with Linux or FreeBSD, but
the hardware is still unreliable.

So I have bought one of the new Intel based Macbook Pro machines. What
a difference. All the applications I need. It reliably runs with
Unix and if I want to do the multimedia stuff I can as well.
I can even load up a virtual environment to run XP as a guest OS if I
really wanted to.

The physical build quality is streets ahead of anything I've seen in
PCs.


--

..andy

In message , "Pet @
www.gymratz.co.uk ;¬)" writes
I have never to this day been able to find one of their "special offer"
PC's like the one described above.
Do you know what, I've bought several and very happy I am with them.

Also don't forget the obligatory £60 delivery charge or whatever.
I don't buy Dell out of principle now after their repeated non-existent
special offers.
The trick with Dell is to make sure you follow the spec through and
remove options like 3 yr onsite support and you'll get the special offer
prices. It's quite often cheaper to downspec a better model than up-spec
a low end one, they charge ludicrous prices for things like DVD writers
or extra RAM.
I once actually phoned to order one from their mail shot, and ended up
in the Bombay sales centre who conveniently "lost" my order at the
special price.
I must have ordered over thirty Dell systems last year for people and
never once had a mistake made. I've only ever had one problem with an
order and that took four weeks to sort out but on the whole, I'm a happy
bunny with Dell.

Just bought another Mesh PC this morning for my Dad.

:¬)



--
Clint Sharp

"Mark Spice" wrote in message
...
I know this is waaaaaaaay off topic but the guys here seem to be
reasonably
knowledgable about a load of weird stuff so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get
their first PC and there is a Mesh one that looks good on paper but I
haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm not sure what their service etc
is
like. As I will probably be having to fix/identify any problems down the
phone from 300 miles away I want to minimise any potential cock-ups as
much
as possible.

Cheers for any input

Mark

I know it's bad form to reply to myself but it seems the easiest way.

Thanks to all who responded. I'm afraid I don't know enough Linux to make
that a sensible solution as the aged parents have almost got the hang of
Windows now and I think a total learning curve for both them and I would be
far too much stress. The same goes for Macs as well with the addendum that
they are far too much money and I really don't see the point of them - I
have yet to find something that I need to do that a Mac can do that a
cheaper PC can't.

All in all I would probably get a Mesh if it was for me but having bought a
Dell previously myself I think the aged ones could do with the extra
hand-holding that is available

Cheers

Mark

Andy Hall wrote:

The physical build quality is streets ahead of anything I've seen in
PCs.

Take it you don't have a G4 Titanium laptop then, Andy? Bent Ti cover
(way too thin), snapped hinges (has anyone got one on its original
hinges?), blowing power supplies and a dead superdrive now. Had Mac
optical mice fail as well, never had MS optical one fail yet. Don't
get me wrong, still like Mac OS but I would not buy one for quality of
construction. If you want a well built laptop then the only thing on
the market as far as I am concerned is the Panasonic Toughbook range
which are simply in a class by themselves.

To the OP, if you want good customer service then you shop local -
there are loads of good small computer shops that offer service far
above the big boys like Dell and Mesh. Ask around for recommendations.
Do you want to deal with call centres, premium rate calls and flow
chart following "engineers"? Buy a Dell machine, your parents will end
up spending twice as much on the machine after their "trial" software
all expires three months down the line and it becomes infected with all
kinds of trash. I seem to be peering at a lot of small monitors from
them these days as well, if you do go that way, check what size monitor
they sell you, they have one that is tiny, not suitable for old eyes at
all.

Regards

William MacLeod

...spending twice as much on the machine after their "trial" software
all expires three months down the line and it becomes infected with all
kinds of trash.

Pretty much everything you need to keep them clean can be had for free -
as I mention on my site per the other post.

Avast is, IMO, the current cream of the crop as far as free virus
checkers goes.

On 2006-04-12 23:15:23 +0100, said:

Andy Hall wrote:

The physical build quality is streets ahead of anything I've seen in
PCs.

Take it you don't have a G4 Titanium laptop then, Andy?

I have used one without problems


Bent Ti cover
(way too thin), snapped hinges (has anyone got one on its original
hinges?), blowing power supplies and a dead superdrive now. Had Mac
optical mice fail as well, never had MS optical one fail yet.

I've had two Dell power supplies.


Don't
get me wrong, still like Mac OS but I would not buy one for quality of
construction. If you want a well built laptop then the only thing on
the market as far as I am concerned is the Panasonic Toughbook range
which are simply in a class by themselves.

I suppose if you want something for use in a steelworks....... :-)

Andy Hall wrote:
On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 09:01:04 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Mark Spice wrote:
I know this is waaaaaaaay off topic but the guys here seem to be reasonably
knowledgable about a load of weird stuff so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience with Mesh PC's? Aged parents want to get
their first PC and there is a Mesh one that looks good on paper but I
haven't had any dealings with Mesh so I'm not sure what their service etc is
like. As I will probably be having to fix/identify any problems down the
phone from 300 miles away I want to minimise any potential cock-ups as much
as possible.

Cheers for any input

Mark


I am gong to say two things.

There are two utterly reliable routes to a BASIC PC.

1/. Find someone local who really supports and PAY WHATEVER THEY ASK

2/. Buy a cheap reliable PC locally, install LINUX, spend the time to
get it working exactly as desired and install at parents house with
training session.

Linux will do at vastly improved reliability all the basic things - web,
mail, word processing etc.

Of cpurse if they want to edit videos, download gangsta rap, and play
doom, its not the OS of choice...;-)

There's a third.

Buy a Mac.


I have to say, thats no bad option either.