Internet PC?

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bubbaaaaaa

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Dec 26, 2005
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I got my eMachine T6524 last night and love it! But now I need to find a Internet PC for the family..we got a 1999 Compaq and since we are entering 2006 I think its time for a new one. Only need the PC no monitor, keyboard, mouse. It will only be used for CD burner and the interent. Doesn't need to be anything super fast. I kinda wanna keep the price down in the $300-400 range. Only PCs Ive seen that low are at walmart with Lindows..eek. Anyone have any ideas? Only problem I have ording online is most of these sites (dell, compaq/hp, gateway) will charge $100 bucks for shipping. Is $400 too low you think just for an internet PC? Maybe I should look at used ones at tiger direct? Any comments or suggestions would be great!
 
Search for barebones PCs.

Dell, Gateway and HP can give you a really basic system for that pricerange.
 
Heh they offered them haha. I'll check those out..since its going to be mainly interent does it even matter what kind of cpu is in it? I know 512ram is atleast needed for xp to run smoothly.
 
Dell Home generally sells the Dimension 1100/B110 (same machine) for $319 plus $24 shipping plus tax in some states. This model starts at $369 but I subtracted $50 for no monitor.

This includes 80GB hard drive, Celeron D 325, 512MB RAM, CD-RW drive, Windows XP Home, and 1 year warranty. I would upgrade to DVD+CD-RW for $20 and the optical mouse for another $10.

You'll need the included keyboard/mouse as they are now USB only with no PS/2 ports.

You can sometimes get this system or the Dimension 3100/E310 with a 17" LCD monitor for $399 depending on what Dell ad you see floating around.

Brian Elfert
 
Second reply:

CompUSA will have a Compaq desktop Sunday/Monday for $199 after rebates. It will probably have everything you need for an Internet PC. Have no idea how much RAM and such.

I found the specs: This is HOT! 64 bit AMD processor, 256MB RAM, both DVD drive and CD-RW drive. I would get this over anything else if you have a CompUSA in the area.

Brian Elfert
 
bubbaaaaaa said:
I got my eMachine T6524 last night and love it! But now I need to find a Internet PC for the family..we got a 1999 Compaq and since we are entering 2006 I think its time for a new one. Only need the PC no monitor, keyboard, mouse. It will only be used for CD burner and the interent. Doesn't need to be anything super fast. I kinda wanna keep the price down in the $300-400 range. Only PCs Ive seen that low are at walmart with Lindows..eek. Anyone have any ideas? Only problem I have ording online is most of these sites (dell, compaq/hp, gateway) will charge $100 bucks for shipping. Is $400 too low you think just for an internet PC? Maybe I should look at used ones at tiger direct? Any comments or suggestions would be great!
Click to expand...

From the gist of your post, i'm going to say your not up to building one from scratch (which is perfectly fine).

First off. Ask yourself what is wrong with the 1999 compaq computer you have. Is it too slow? If its fine....... best just to save your 400$.

If you find that its not up to the task of loading images on the internet, etc... then you can get a generic computer. No graphics card, no sound card, small memory, cheap processor, CD burner, small hard drive, small warrenty, generic case... you know.

Check out monarchcomputer.com and look under their "barebones". You can find some nice sempron based computers which will scream through the internet. Once in a while you can find a dell for under 400$, but I do not recommend them due to the net hassle they are, and for their "home" section, their customer support is horrible.
Check out your local computer stores for HP and Compaq computers. Sometimes you can find an AMD based system for under 400$. example

So yes, you can get a fine computer for under 400$.

~Hope this helps
 
I think buying is a better option then building (but I may look around for a deal or ask someone I know to build it see what he will say) since this pc wont be upgraded ever unless you count the ram. The compaq just runs really slow its an old school K-6 cpu, 135 ram, 500mhz...I remember it cost about $600 bucks at the time. I do feel it will give out very soon. I'll check that compusa one out..I'm pretty sure theres none where I live (central missouri) but I can always order it..atleast they dont charge 100 bucks for shipping..I think.

Edit: Should I order more ram asap if and when I find a computer that only has 256ram? Will xp run really slow if it doesn't have 512MB?
 
Compusa has emachines that start right under 400 bucks and they are 3100+ amds with agp slots which is really nice for a low end machine. The only issue is 256 ram but a 512 stick can be had for under 50 bucks now. They seem to be good machines as I know a few people that have picked them up as a second machine or a machine for mom/dad. You can do better then this machine but it is still not that bad of a deal.
 
Yea, if you order a standard 512mb ram stick and add that to the 256, 768 will be fine.
For general internet use, you won't notice much diffrence between page file'ing and memory, but with other things like printing large files to a printer, etc.... it will help out.

The computer will be much faster then the one you currently have, that's for sure.

You can pick up a 512mb stick of memory for about 37$us, plust 5$ for shipping......... cheap enough. example

I just noticed that compusa also had this, although the instant savings expired on the 31'st (still has 2 mail in rebates) http://www.compusa.com/adproducts/p...ode=333208&pfp=adproducts&tabtype=pi#moreinfo

Great price for a basic computer, and it comes with WindowsXP as opposed to the walmarts with a version of linux.

~Hope this helps
 
I would say even the 256MB of memory would be fine for internet usage and CD burning. XP wouldn't be overly slow. My old computer had 256MB of ram and it was fine running XP (just not much of anything else :D although it was 600 MHz) My cousin has the lowest emachine you can buy, which I believe is $330, and he even plays WoW on it... I wouldn't consider it playable at all (3 FPS?) but he's happy with it. Still, I'd suggest a generic stick of 256 if you're going to upgrade, anything over 512 megs of memory for what this computer would be used for would simply not be used.
 
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