I have never bought a pc in my life so I need some advise and I dont know where else to turn. I need to get something that runs windows for business purposes. It only needs to run one application so it really doesn't need to be too wiz bang. I would like to keep it in the $200- $250 range so it will have to be used I assume. Where is a good place to look?

Thanks

 

Check out e-bay i am sure you will find it there..

 

Heck, I just built one for my 9 yr old daughter for that.
Case: $30
Chip: PentiumIII 700 $40
Heat sink/fan $5
MOBO: $25
40G Western Digital HD $40 (after rebate)
Sound card: $10
64 MB Vid card: $25
Modem: $10
CDRW 48x16x48x: $20 (after rebate)
DVD 16x: $35
Win XP OEM edition $135
Total $365

To buy used, try your local flea market if you have one near you. If you don't see anything you like, and are going to have to pay much more than $400, just get a new or refurbished Dell for $600. Many times they include free shipping. It's a buyers market.

 

You can get one for that at http://wal-mart.com or you can build a better one for the same price. I would also recommend going with the AMD processor.

Andthensometoo: You forgot to buy a Motherboard

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com

They have refurbished brand names with warranties (eMachines, Hewlwt-Packard, etc.) for around that price.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...%20P&CatId=110
<--$249

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...%20P&CatId=110
<--$229

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...%20P&CatId=118
<--Good deal here, $299

Like I said, they have a ton on there website, and I buy junk from them all the time and have had no trouble.

 

Actually it was the memory. You can get 512MB for $60. Also if you're hooking it up to a cable modem you'll want a network adapter instead of the modem. That'll be $10 also.

Anyway, there's lots of options. For $300-$400 you can get/build a good machine that will last you for quite a while if all you're doing is running basic buisiness type stuff. You porbably won't need a dvd or cd burner (that can be added later). I have seen at some of the office supply places 52X cd rom drives for free (plus tax) after rebate. I ran across 256MB of DDR ram for free a couple weeks ago. You could build a machine pretty cheap with just Case, Motherboard(built in video/sound), processor, memory, cd rom, modem/net card, hard drive, and an OS. Oh, you'll need a mouse and keyboard but those are cheap too. Watch your adds in the weekend paper you'll find all kinds of stuff to add to it later if you don't mind rebates.

 

Bloomquist, MOBO = motherboard

 

Thanks a lot for all the info guys, I guess I have one more question. How big of a deal is the brand? That Firelight seems really cheep but I have never heard of the brand. Would it be wise to go with the machine for $50 more?


One other consideration: I already have a monitor but I think it uses the VGA video port. I dont see that listed on the emachine, will this computer work with my monitor?
Thanks

 

Make your own brand! Brands are for lazy people.

 

I would make my own except; I am lazy, I don't have time, and I dont have the slightest clue how.

 

Making your own is a lot of fun, however like black2k1 said he doesn't have the time or knowledge.

There really are only two processors out there; Intel and AMD. People have great opinions on both, just like Ford vs. Checy I guess. My preferecnce (as if it matters) is AMD. However, with what you'll be using it for, I'm sure either will be plenty sufficient. Same goes with the Celeron version of the Intel, and the Duron version of the AMD, you could easily use on of those for just surfing the net, word processing, spreadsheets, and most games.

Hard Drives, you start to get into more company's. Western Digital (again my preference), Maxtor, Seagate are just a couple. Today, they all seem to be really reliable.

RAM, there are TONS of company's, the good thing is, the memory is very simplistic in design and nature, so reliability isn't really an issue. Usually, if there is a problem with it, it is becuase it isn't installed correctly.

Video cards, there are several, they'll all work good for you on the machines.

My point is that all of the name brands out there, Dell, HP, Compaq, etc; all more or less use the same parts in different configerations. I would not worry about one brand over another. Often, in the computer buisness, the brand that has been around longer gets the better reputation simply because of the mere fact there machnes have been around longer to be tested.

 

Well I did it:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...%20P&CatId=118

I hope it works out. Thanks for all the info.

 

Wow that sounds like a really nice computer

 

Man, that is cheap, very cheap...