Cheap computer review

Soundguy · Oct 31, 2005

Quick review. As most of you know, from my previous 'laptop' thread, The wife was looking for a cheap laptop. ( think I've found a recertified unit from IBM.. warranty and all.. not too bad $$$ ).. During this same time.. wife wanted a new desktop pc to replace her old 400mhz one that runs fine.. but slooooooowwwwww.

We went to all the box stores.. OD, CC, BB, Staples, Target, Sams, and walmart. We wrote down all the specs for each machine .. dvd/cd burner or reader.. usb / hdd / ram / cpu / price. Made a matrix chart.. compaired all units side by side..and came up with a 'cheapy' unit from walmart that scored overall highest features for lowest money..

The PC is an everex? and cost a whopping 328$ for the pc, KB, mouse, and speakers.

Here's a quick review, as i played withit.. er.. set it up for a few hours yesterday evening

Bootup takes about 20 seconds to go from off to desktop. Installed some of our usual software on it.. word / corel suite. and then migrated her internet account over, and setup norton internet security.. etc.

So far.. no glitches, and runs way better than I expected it would. here are the stats:

dvdrom / cdr/rw ( 52-??-16x ) 256mb ram, high speed usb , 6ports, 2 front 4 rear, built in network 10/100, generic 56k modem, that makes good 46k connects.. which is what my computer also gets.. etc.. ) some generic onboard sound, legacy ports ( lpt/com) and video is either SIS or s3 chip.. thinking s3.. has some 3d accelerator features...( that will never be used ). 40gb hdd. sempron 2800 cpu... not bad for 3bills and some change.. everything else we saw in that price range had less usb ports, less hdd, and less ram. ( 2/20/128 )

Soundguy

MossRoad · Oct 31, 2005

Ha! I paid $320 for a 2X cd-r several years ago. Now you can get a whole PC for that! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

CTyler · Oct 31, 2005

Those cheap PC's work fine especially for your needs, wouldn't expect any problems out of the box. The only down side to them upgrading anything, they may only have one or no extra slots.

BillG_in_TX · Oct 31, 2005

I just helped a friend buy a factory refurbished HP/Compaq from Microcenter for $99 after $250 in rebates. What's nice about Microcenter is that they process their rebates internally, and they come pretty quick.

It's a lot more computer than the one I have at home (also a HP) for only $128 including sales tax. She also picked up an Epson printer/scanner/copier for $27 after tax and rebates. You've gotta love those loss leaders! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

California · Oct 31, 2005

Excellent!

The only thing I would add is a 512mb ram stick so everything runs from cache instantaneously, and install the old HD in the second HD slot.

Jagmandave · Oct 31, 2005

I just can't get over how much you can buy in modern electronics for so little money. Which is also the bad news, they become land fill, throw away items when they quit working.

Soundguy · Oct 31, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The only thing I would add is a 512mb ram stick so everything runs from cache instantaneously, and install the old HD in the second HD slot.
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I'llprobably keep the old computers HDD in it, so we can send it to school as a computer for her music room.

And yes.. Might upgrade the ram... even if I dropped in a 256 stick.. it would help immensly.

On my computer.. it had 512.. I droppe din another gig on top of that.. and it made a huge performance difference.

To the other poster who commented about limited upgradeability.. YEP.. only 2 slots... But.. they will probably never be used.. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I still can't get over the price.. hard to believe that was 328 bucks. For a person on a budget needing an entry level computer for school/college or something.. that is the way to go..

Soundguy

fishman · Nov 1, 2005

BillG,

That's a darned good price, even better than Soundguy's which is just silly cheap anyway. Question: When I go to the page you linked to, they only list a $70 rebate. Did the rebate change or am I missing something?

BillG_in_TX · Nov 1, 2005

John,

The Microcenter store here is Dallas was offering a $150 rebate on that unit for about two weeks in October, which brought it down to $199. Then, if you open a Microcenter Visa account and charge any computer to it, you get an additional $100 rebate (this is a regular offer, but can only be used once) and that brought the price down to $99. A very good deal on a good computer for a lady that couldn't afford much more than that. She had asked me to find her a good used computer for not more than $200. I told her if she could be patient (and she was - for about 6 months /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif), that we might be able to pull that off - and we did.

We have an annual rummage sale at my church, and I've been setting up and selling old computers for $50-$100 for years. With prices like these, I may have to go lower in the future. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Anyway, it's a good way to keep the computers out of the landfills - for a little while longer, anyway.