$150 FS cheapie: HP Tower PC - Dual Core AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 1GB, 80GB, DVD/CD±RW, XP, mouse/keyboard

Think Grandpa Simpson.

One trick is to tell stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m'shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt. Which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you'd say. Now where was I... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn't get white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

LOL .. you truly are a "senior" member!

captainkirk said:   no media with this..does it at least create a set of re-install disks? Or can we get them cheap from HP? or can we get a plain xp pro install media somewhere cheap? I have xp non-pro disks already, but I want to make sure I can re-install xp on this baby...

you can get restore disks from HP for $10 OR download a copy of the OEM version of windows from bit tiorrent or something and use the key on it's COA

sgogo said:   overclock said:   My kids' P4 1.6GHz barely runs Webkinz. Flash games require so much CPU nowadays. So I got them an i5-2300 quad core. I should be set for quite some time now. But this system should be good for a couple more years.

You should figure out why that is... my kids are using a P4-2Ghz with XP which does fine.

Perhaps you have a virus, or maybe it just hasn't been maintained. Try reloading the operating system, turning off indexing, and you should find that machine OK.

However, personally, I would not buy the PC in this post... I would invest a few extra dollars and get an i3.

Regards
SteveG

Got a link for a comparable i3 for a few extra dollars?

oh, I see the problem..you think 2X to 3X is a "few extra dollars". I have no problem finding faster processor desktops for 2X the cost, but I don't think most people consider 2X (or more) to be "a few extra dollars".

captainkirk said:   oh, I see the problem..you think 2X to 3X is a "few extra dollars". I have no problem finding faster processor desktops for 2X the cost, but I don't think most people consider 2X (or more) to be "a few extra dollars".

2X to 3X is not relavent at this price range. When it costs $55 to fill my gas tank once, I think $150-$250 for something that should last 2-4 years is a "few extra dollars".

I stand by my reccommendation, since the first cost of the computer is only part of the investment... after you buy it you need to install (and pay for) many programs... this ends up costing more than the computer in the long run. Also the items I reccommended are not off lease, so I think they have a better warranty and are more likely to last, and have better specs.

SteveG

Tiger direct runs deals all the time to build your own PC and for $200 the components are much more current (4gb ram, newer AMD processor, boards, etc). The only issue is software which I am sure that this site has no real "legal" XP licenses.

Edit: and have you looked at the price to upgrade DDR2 ram? It's cost prohibitive. 80GB hard drive is pretty tiny, even at rock bottom you are spending about $40 on a new 320-500GB drive. By the time you do the required upgrade you might as well have build yourself.

captainkirk said:   sgogo said:   captainkirk said:   oh, I see the problem..you think 2X to 3X is a "few extra dollars". I have no problem finding faster processor desktops for 2X the cost, but I don't think most people consider 2X (or more) to be "a few extra dollars".

2X to 3X is not relavent at this price range. When it costs $55 to fill my gas tank once, I think $150-$250 for something that should last 2-4 years is a "few extra dollars".

I stand by my reccommendation, since the first cost of the computer is only part of the investment... after you buy it you need to install (and pay for) many programs... this ends up costing more than the computer in the long run. Also the items I reccommended are not off lease, so I think they have a better warranty and are more likely to last, and have better specs.

SteveG


Whether an i3 at 300 to 500 is better than this at $150 isn't the question, since there are a lot of considerations, like what software you run (old software - an XP is actually better, runs more of them easily than a faster I3 with win7 or vista!). I'm just pointing out that, to MOST people, something that is 2X or 3X is NOT a "few extra dollars". And you must have a lot of money if YOU think that $150 to $350 is only a FEW extra dollars. And thanks for bringing up gas - since gas is soaking up more of our income, in fact, $150 is a LOT MORE than it might have been before. And hey, since it costs over $100,000 to buy a house, compared to THAT, a couple thousand is just "a few extra dollars".

LOL at someone at fallwallet (where we pinch every penny, let along hundreds of dollars!) calling $150 - $350 a "few extra dollars". You must really be a noob or rich or something. Maybe you should start up "thin wallet" where people can pay "a few extra dollars" all the time.

I think the real captain kirk would be less argumentative or rude... but maybe thats why you are here.

I understand this is a good deal for YOU and you want to defend your purchase decision... I am just pointing out to others that maybe its not the best deal for them.

It's got a small hard drive, an older (albeit good) operating system, low RAM, older processor, limited warranty, and it is off-lease, meaning it may not have been taken care of well. The dvd-r laser may have burned thousands of disks and have 31 days left in it. The small hard drive may have been caked with dust until they cleaned it before shipping it out. 30 days is not long enough to check the computer out completely, so you wont be sure all of your pci/pci express slots work until its too late. It may have been left running 24 hours per day so the power supply is close to it's end of life. etc.

If YOU need to "pinch every penny" then buy it.

I treat this site like a sounding board for good values...not just buying the cheapest piece of garbage available. I like to let people know limitations on a deal if I see them. To me (obviously not you) its a good deal, but with limitations. People should know them.

SteveG

PS - And you really should think about how you are "LOL" at someone who is more successful than you. I am truly sorry that you cannot afford a house (even one for $100k), or gas, or a few hundred dollars over 4 years for a new computer... but thats no reason to be rude to someone trying to help you.

lol, I see i've hit a nerve.

I'm curious to know how you know how successful I am? Oh, that's right, you don't, you're just desperately making up nonsense to attack me because you've gotten an internet boo boo. How pathetic!

LOL.

And an EXTRA "LOL" at your pathetic need to give my posts a red just because your ego has been wounded. Even more pathetic.

I guess you can feel good about all the people showing up to tell you how they, too, think "a few extra dollars" is hundreds. Oh, that's right, they aren't. In fact, looking at the independent people who have rated our posts, you've gotten reds from them, and I've gotten greens. Hmmm..wonder which one of us is right?

And to avoid a flame war, that's all I have to say on this topic. You can even give me a red on this post too, if your ego demands it.

This probably wouldn't be bad for dicking around with ESXi