mostly a rant, but advice definitely appreciated

[KellyHabersham]

I know I've posted in here before with some of my gripes about the computers in the church office, so I just wanted to mention a few things first -

1. We've had tech people come out to examine the wiring, and they've said everything is as it should be, it's the age of the computers that is causing the problem. 2. the church is NOT in a good financial position and doesn't have the money to replace computers.

Unfortunately, my office computer has gotten to where it freezes up/has to be manually restarted several times a day. So in addition to having to spend time plugging/unplugging the "Internet connection" cord to get the Internet back on, I sometimes have to spend time getting the computer powered back up. I wouldn't mind this so much if I had full-time hours in the office, but I only get twelve hours a week, and I hate having to waste that time having to deal with the same computer problems over and over. (not to mention that it pisses me off when other people are in the office area, and they just stand around making jokes about how I'm crawling around on the floor, and making comments like "hehehehe.....what are you doing down there?"

[Magpie]

Given that this is a church, have you announced that donations of computers in working condition that meet [specs] would be extremely helpful? I know my parents' church would request specific items sometimes, rather than just trying to purchase them, sometimes the parishioners can get much better deals than you can.

[PepperElf]

might wanna check out "freecycle" too
or see if there's any sites out there for low bids on computers.

here, there's a site called "auctions international" but i don't think they service other states.

kinda like craigslist or ebay but smaller (and i suspect less shady, since it's where my college dumps their old computers off at)



actually that's an idea....
find out where the local colleges send off their stuff too.


Or you might wanna surf around for a new one anyway.
i'm currently doing a project for my computer class where i have to find computers for a fictional company.

I actually found some for under 400 bucks, brand new. (i was searching Best buy, HP & Dell)
even if you don't have the funds for one, you might be able to work out a deal with a sponsor from the local community?

[BlaqueKatt]

I actually found some for under 400 bucks, brand new. (i was searching Best buy, HP & Dell)

heck there are some basic no frills computers for a couple hundred @ those stores

[Der Cute]

You need to discuss this with the pastor.
Really.

Tell him you're using up, oh, 2? hours a week trying to GET the pc to work- which translates to $X total per week. Which is then X/month and X/year wasted.

If he invested $Z into a new pc, that wasted money = accounted for and used for work time, not fix time.

If he's afraid , the classic "OMG it costs over a grand for a new Pc and stuff and things and omg it's expensive" call him on it. Bring in an ad for Best Buy, local stores that sell it, and show him how cheap one can be.

BUT BEFORE DOING THIS.....you need to know what you need.

What are ALL the tasks on that clunky PC ?
Word?
Email?
Internet? (for what, surfing and reading?
Accounting?
What software (list it, all of it)

Then we can help you find something that fits your needs and budget.
Then you can pitch the sale to the pastor.

Cutenoob