re: can you tell me if this desktop is decent

I was a hold-out for a long time. I got a new SSD this week and did a fresh install of Windows 8.1 last night. It's fine. It will be more secure than 7 right out of the box. In fact, it was annoyingly secure to me until I disabled some shite, so it's perfect for the non-savvy. It's more Apple-happy-easy-hand-holding than ever. 8.1 will boot to desktop, and if you install "start is back," the interface differences between 7 and 8 disappear almost entirely. The ones that do remain are ridiculously watered-down user-friendly.

There is no reason to hunt down older desktops just for Windows 7.

Old people simply need a patient, intelligent person who can set the computer up appropriately -- Migrate the Windows installation to an SSD, reformat the hard drive, redirect libraries to the HDD, install every application and applet he would need (word processing, browsers, java, flash, silverlight, a media player like VLC that can handle anything and everything and set to play all video/audio file types by default, etc.), make his main programs easily accessible shortcuts on a clean desktop, and show him the basics. My dad is in his 60s as well, and he never has to call me for PC help anymore.