Cheap computer? help?

[Poly Daktle]

mine... is really bad.

I want to know if any of y'all know where I can find/ buy a better one, preferably under five hundred dollars... ^_^;;

Yeh. Mine is old, so upgrading would be more expensive than buying a new one. and 'sides, I want a new one. Purdy-er.

not a mac either. ^^;; see, they don't have a very good y!m... bad reason, ne? heh.

Pweese help? O_O

*notices smilies nearby* oh well. see y'all.

E-Machines (http://store.emachines.com/emachines/storefront/storefront.jsp) are extremely cheap PCs; however watch out for shipping taxes and "rebates". I highly suggest using Monarch Computer's (http://www.monarchcomputer.com) custom PC builder; or refurbishing your old machine. Campers and staff alike from last year may recollect me playing counter-strike on a Pentium II 266mhz. It was done by adding ram for a grand total of 320mb, and a nice AGP video card (savage4, cheap). Check out Pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com) for cheap parts.

I would suggest building your computer. It's very simple and really cheap - if you get everything at the right place. I usually use Computer Builders Warehouse (http://www.cbwnet.com) and pricewatch... if it's your first time building a computer and don't feel very comfortable... then you can build it at camp where people can help you, ask the people at CBW (they're pretty nice) or buy a computer. those emachines look pretty good - and cheap http://campcaen.engin.umich.edu/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[GPeszek]

Building your own is really cool and really cheap. I'm actually just about to do a presentation to some highschoolers about building their own, then we're going to put one together http://campcaen.engin.umich.edu/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Something you *could* do (just an idea) is buy all of the parts you need before you come to camp, then bring it all with you and build it during free time. There wouldn't be a shortage of people or experience when it comes to helping you build it.

i got a $20 dell at a tag sale once. it's now my openBSD streaming audio server http://campcaen.engin.umich.edu/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

thanks for adding absolutely nothing to this thread brian:) btw the problem with those prebuilt systems like emachines or peoplepc is usually the hardware is horribly generic and not compatable, it may be cheaper to build your own and now a days thats extremely easy.

Http://www.pricewatch.com GO GO GO! Â*http://campcaen.engin.umich.edu/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Â*So who's getting condition zero when it comes out?

[Stanley]

Pricewatch is a favorite website of the entire staff. Also be prepared for the inevitability of the staff selling off cheap hardware (summer is primo time for making upgrades to machines). I know i'm probably gonna be selling off some hardware i no longer need or use.