Parents need a new PC

[KrugSmash]

My old Dell XPS (from maybe 2004) that my parents have been using finally gasped its final breath this morning, and I just don't think it's worth it anymore to keep trying to replace individual parts.

I will need a new windows OS, as I don't think the old XP discs I have will cut it anymore. I do not need monitor, speakers, or any other peripherals, and the only gaming they do is the occasional game of solitaire, though one of these days I may get them Plants v Zombies or something. The main use of the computer is browsing internet, managing powerpoint presentations, and working with excel and word documents.

The only other concern being the data they have on the old PC(my dad loves his hundreds of bookmarks). I would be ok just getting any 3.5" external HDD enclosure, sticking the old HDD inside (windows XP), and then plugging it in right?

If anyone can recommend a parts list(including case and OS), preferably keeping it under $400, I would be grateful. It's been years since I last built a PC and it's a touch daunting.

[tielknight]

Went through Marest's sample build thread and got one(with a few tweaks as some thing were not available anymore/changed) that should work just fine for what they want to do with it.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12V9f

CPU: Integrated with Motherboard
Motherboard: ASRock E350M1 Mini ITX E-Series E-Series E-350 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot G Series Sector 5 Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($49.11 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case: Inwin BP655.200BL Mini ITX Desktop Case w/200W Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $338.01


Not entirely sure about being able to just slap it in a enclosure and plug it in, better wait for someone more knowledgeable to stop in here.

[Deleted]

Favorites take up almost no storage, you can probably put those on an usb stick or use a google drive to copy them over (It has 15gb free storage). There's no need to buy an external HDD enclosure for that old a harddrive.

[Deleted]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Integrated with Motherboard
Motherboard: ASRock E350M1/USB3 Mini ITX E-Series E-Series E-350 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Scorpio Black 250GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Silverstone SST-SG05B-USB3.0 (Black) Mini ITX Desktop Case w/300W Power Supply ($117.94 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On DS-8A9SH-01 DVD/CD Writer ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $411.84
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-04 15:05 EDT-0400)

I forgot OS in the first build, if USB 3.0 isn't a concern you can change board and case:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Integrated with Motherboard
Motherboard: ASRock E350M1 Mini ITX E-Series E-Series E-350 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Rosewill RS-MI-01 BK Mini ITX Tower Case w/250W Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $159.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-04 15:12 EDT-0400)

[tielknight]

snip

Fairly certain they can get by just fine with a 200W PSU, pcpartpicker puts the estimated wattage at ~72w and that would leave room for some extras(wireless card and whatnot). I did forget the optical drive though. /facepalm

That Rosewill case does have a stronger PSU but, from the looks of the pictures, less interior space to work with. Did some tweaking though. The 500gb hdd and 8gb ram were a bit overkill though. Heck you could probably get them a SSD if they don't use up a whole lot of space with their work and whatnot.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Integrated with Motherboard
Motherboard: ASRock E350M1 Mini ITX E-Series E-Series E-350 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Scorpio Black 250GB 2.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Inwin BP655.200BL Mini ITX Desktop Case w/200W Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $330.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-04 15:29 EDT-0400)

Would be nice if Windows 7 actually went down in price more often.

[Deleted]

I didn't pick the cases bases on their wattage. Besides the case and changing to one stick of RAM (?) I don't see a difference in the builds. Personally I would pick the first of my builds but then again I don't mind paying a little extra for some extra quality.

[KrugSmash]

Favorites take up almost no storage, you can probably put those on an usb stick or use a google drive to copy them over (It has 15gb free storage). There's no need to buy an external HDD enclosure for that old a harddrive.

That was just an example, of sorts... there are tons of photos, documents, etc...

---------- Post added 2013-06-04 at 04:44 PM ----------

Thank you both for your input, but I've decided to go with the build given by someone in a different forum. Here is the final parts list if you're interested;

Actually it appears I haven't hit the required number of posts on the forum to be able to do links, but the pcpartpicker bit is /p/12XCv