Buying Internet Cafe

simon

simon

New member
Hey guys I need some help
As the title suggests I am looking to buy an internet cafe, the one where I work at.
So I am setting aside a budget of about R40k to buy a total of 11 computers.
1 server, needs to be a fast computer, with screen etc, not a regular server. (5.5k budget)
8 basic computers for skype, office and internet (3.2k)
2 basic gaming computers, capable of playing latest games at low to medium settings. (4.5k).
Computers need to come with screens, keyboards, mice, and 10 headsets. No webcams. They also need to come assembled. I will buy window's by itself so it is excluded from the budget.
Thanks
 
For the 8 basic computers do you need to run Windows on them? Ubuntu should be fine for that task and it's not that difficult to use. You are also budgeting quite low for a server, but you could look here for an idea

http://pcint.co.za/servers.php
 
Lupus said:
For the 8 basic computers do you need to run Windows on them? Ubuntu should be fine for that task and it's not that difficult to use. You are also budgeting quite low for a server, but you could look here for an idea

http://pcint.co.za/servers.php
Click to expand...

I don't have experience with Ubuntu, it has to be really really close to Windows as a lot of customers here are still learning pc's so if they see something they don't understand they tend to give up and go with staying to learn.
The server is more like a main computer, used for data copying, music storage, showing customers things before printing. So a Xeon or something isn't that necessary, as far as I know.
I have in mind something like the i5 with 4gb ram to use as the server (main pc)
 
You should try it out youself then see how difficult it is, it's a little different but not difficult.
 
Internet PC can have something like:

Pentium E3200
G41 Mobo
2GB's DDR3
500GB HDD
Gigabyte GZ-M1 Micro ATX Chassis (incl. A Keyboard and Mouse)
19" LCD

Avg price of those components on line is about R 300~R 400


Could say avg ~R2478 Excluding OS (windows 7, XP, Ubuntu)
 
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Hi guys the internet cafe is in southern peninsula in Cape Town so if you guys want to send me contacts for cheap places it will need to be in Cape Town
 
Putting Linux in an internet cafe is not a good idea at all!!

Remember the people who will be working on them. You will end up with 100000 questions constantly.

"how do I do this, how do I do that, where is this"

Trust me. big no no.
 
Grimspoon said:
Putting Linux in an internet cafe is not a good idea at all!!

Remember the people who will be working on them. You will end up with 100000 questions constantly.

"how do I do this, how do I do that, where is this"

Trust me. big no no.
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Yeah its one of the things that I am scared of. We have a lot of people who are very new to computers so something that is that out of the ordinary could chase them away
 
Grimspoon said:
Putting Linux in an internet cafe is not a good idea at all!!

Remember the people who will be working on them. You will end up with 100000 questions constantly.

"how do I do this, how do I do that, where is this"

Trust me. big no no.
Click to expand...

How is it a no no, it's an internet cafe, you have Chrome or Firefox as the browser on the GUI, make sure it's running Gnome or KDE so it's got a GUI and bam you will be fine. It's probably better if it does run Linux therefore no smart aleck can come along thinking he knows Windows and screws up the install. It will also have open or Libre office for office tools etc...
 
simon said:
Yeah its one of the things that I am scared of. We have a lot of people who are very new to computers so something that is that out of the ordinary could chase them away
Click to expand...

Exactly, so don't scare them away from the start :p

Lupus said:
How is it a no no, it's an internet cafe, you have Chrome or Firefox as the browser on the GUI, make sure it's running Gnome or KDE so it's got a GUI and bam you will be fine. It's probably better if it does run Linux therefore no smart aleck can come along thinking he knows Windows and screws up the install. It will also have open or Libre office for office tools etc...
Click to expand...

Its a no no, because people don't just use an internet cafe for internet. They use word, excel, printing, PDF's and the like. Sure Linux can offer all of these features with open office etc, but thats not the point. The point is most users will probably not be used to a PC to start with, or at least thats the assumption you need to make. You going to have all sorts coming in and you have to cater for the masses. Linux doesn't do that. Most people that are sat in front of a Linux box will go "WTF?" Yes it make just look different to you and me but to them its a completely different realm. Bad idea if you ask me. Windows is decently cheap nowadays so just stick with Windows and leave Linux to the basement rats :p
 
Lupus said:
How is it a no no, it's an internet cafe, you have Chrome or Firefox as the browser on the GUI, make sure it's running Gnome or KDE so it's got a GUI and bam you will be fine. It's probably better if it does run Linux therefore no smart aleck can come along thinking he knows Windows and screws up the install. It will also have open or Libre office for office tools etc...
Click to expand...

We had open office on a lot of the computers until people started complaining that the people that they were sending the documents to couldn't open it because the format was in "odf" I think so they had to come in again to re send it
 
The only real issue that you should be concerned about is management, managing a Linux environment with any one of the numerous Internet Cafe Management Software applications is not feasible, all of them are for Windows and all of them are designed to not power down the machine to lock it at the end of a session but to suspend input and output

Therefore, to manage your Internet Cafe effectively, stick to Windows
 
you can get yourself a dell server for around that. Properly made servers need components that are reliable so buying retail equipment is not a great idea.

Windows is the norm. Internet cafes are about making life convenient and easy. people don't want to waste their time/money trying to find something on ubuntu even though it is super easy to do basic tasks on.

Proline make great blackbox pc's with the pc as a whole getting a 3yr guarantee as opposed to individual items having varying length ones. They are also very reasonably priced. So check them out.
 
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