sub $100 computers

Hmm... Look around at companies, schools, friends and other silly people who would trash their old computers otherwise. My old school sold some 200mhz 2gb hdd for about 30 USD. But if you're looking for have new stuff, then it's going to get harder.

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Original post by nes8bit What?! Yes I need to find computers for less than $100. Does anyone make 400MHz K6-2s or anything still? This is just a hypothetical question of course. I haven't heard of anything less than $300 but I'd imagine that putting a NEW computer together for less than $100 SHOULD be possible since standard technology is already powerful and cheap. Any ideas?

Upgrade the price from 100 to 200 and your set [smile]. Nowadays even though the prices of computers are getting cheaper - older components are getting more expensive because they are becoming obsolete (try buying EDO memory! *ouch*). Now just about 2 weeks ago - we bought a $200 computer from Fry's - AMD XP 2000+. Pretty nice specs on it for the price.

Here's some hints on finding a good priced computer - assuming new from what you've said - you can find used for nothing.
* Look for computers that have some form of Linux or no-os installed - you will save a ton!
* Look for the ones that also have as few extra features as possible - but do not skimp out on the essentials - such as integrated video and usb ports.
* Expect to get your moneys worth - the more money you spend the better comp you can get.

I was trying to build a $100 comp - but I think its near impossible - when buying all new parts. Hard drives are now in the stage where you can get more GB/dollar - smaller hard drives are no longer as cheap as larger ones in comparision. Same goes for DDR-RAM. Finding a cheap case is hard as well retail. The best I've seen was a $20 from comp usa. Not only that the PSU is in a similar way. Now all these details and such are from my own experiences where I live. THey certainly do not apply everywhere!

- Drew

Try Ebay. always make sure of a few things though, Good rating, cheap(price wise), and make sure they will take the stuff back if it doesnt work. Those are obvious things though, I have had nothing but good luck with ebay, so thats the way I would go.

Intel still makes the PIII 300, which costs around $25 in bulk(mainly for embedded applications). An outdated motherboard should still be cheap, just fine one with everything built in. Inferier RAM(32 megs), CD-ROM and Hard drive should be relatively cheap as well.

However neither cases nor power supplies have never gone down in price. That would be the bulk of you $100, since I've never seen a case under $40 that wasn't complete garbage.

And of course, Keyboard and mouse should be around $10.

Binomine: I love you

now where do I find these new?

Look at Swap Meets. The stuff might look junky, and they are, but most of the time they still function fine, they're just somewhat old. Just pick out the cleaner-lookin' bunch and see what you can put together. I put built a respectable 1 Ghz computer with 256 ram and an old hard drive that I had (ok, so that's a bit unfair, but still) and the keyboard, mouse and monitor were already mine. But all in all I spent about $80. Half of that was ram, then case, then processor/mobo, then graphics card (junky old GeForce 2). It works very well as a Linux server

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Original post by nes8bit Binomine: I love you now where do I find these new?

Your going to have a really hard time finding these outdated parts new. I have no idea where you would look... I guess you could try online stores like Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com

ebay.
compgeeks.com
private schools and universties after they upgrade (by law public schools cannot sell the computers, they must be sent for recycling and storage).
thrift stores and pawn shops, I find old PC's there all the time.
geek friends.

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Original post by lethalhamster Quote: Original post by nes8bit Binomine: I love you now where do I find these new? Your going to have a really hard time finding these outdated parts new. I have no idea where you would look... I guess you could try online stores like Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com

tigerdirect is the antichrist.

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Original post by capn_midnight tigerdirect is the antichrist.

Really? Why is that? I have never used them, and before I ever do I'd like to know why/if they are bad.

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Original post by lethalhamster Quote: Original post by nes8bit Binomine: I love you now where do I find these new? Your going to have a really hard time finding these outdated parts new. I have no idea where you would look... I guess you could try online stores like Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com

I'm on it...

I need the parts new because I just do. :)

Anyway thanx everyone... ratings++ ^_^

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Original post by lethalhamster Quote: Original post by capn_midnight tigerdirect is the antichrist. Really? Why is that? I have never used them, and before I ever do I'd like to know why/if they are bad.

mainly because their "low, low prices" are always listed as the adjusted price AFTER rebate. Most of the rebate offers on their site are actually scams, you never recieve the rebate. Rebates are stupid, anyway, especially if you are being charged sales tax on the initial purchase (you pay the tax on the full price, so you really aren't getting the savings that you think you are). Companies are also counting on the fact that most people will not take advantage of rebates (which is true). Finally, the submission window on the rebates is incredibly narrow, and "supplies are limited," so there are plenty of excuses for the company to NOT give you the rebate.

Taking that into account, TigerDirect is actually one of the more expensive websites to order from.

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Original post by capn_midnight Quote: Original post by lethalhamster Quote: Original post by capn_midnight tigerdirect is the antichrist. Really? Why is that? I have never used them, and before I ever do I'd like to know why/if they are bad. mainly because their "low, low prices" are always listed as the adjusted price AFTER rebate. Most of the rebate offers on their site are actually scams, you never recieve the rebate. Rebates are stupid, anyway, especially if you are being charged sales tax on the initial purchase (you pay the tax on the full price, so you really aren't getting the savings that you think you are). Companies are also counting on the fact that most people will not take advantage of rebates (which is true). Finally, the submission window on the rebates is incredibly narrow, and "supplies are limited," so there are plenty of excuses for the company to NOT give you the rebate. Taking that into account, TigerDirect is actually one of the more expensive websites to order from.

Thank for the info. [smile]

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Original post by capn_midnight ... [TigerDirect's] "low, low prices" are always listed as the adjusted price AFTER rebate. Most of the rebate offers on their site are actually scams, you never recieve the rebate. Rebates are stupid, anyway, especially if you are being charged sales tax on the initial purchase (you pay the tax on the full price, so you really aren't getting the savings that you think you are). Companies are also counting on the fact that most people will not take advantage of rebates (which is true). Finally, the submission window on the rebates is incredibly narrow, and "supplies are limited," so there are plenty of excuses for the company to NOT give you the rebate. Taking that into account, TigerDirect is actually one of the more expensive websites to order from.

I've ordered quite a lot from TigerDirect. Only one item ever had a rebate offer. I honestly don't recall whether it was not honoured or (more likely) whether that was the one rebate I forgot about until it was too late; most likely my experience proves you correct on the narrow submission window, I'll concede that much. In any case, most of the items I have ordered have not had rebates, and I've yet to find a website from which I can get most things cheaper.

Here's Intel's page

It says embedded, but they're literally just desktop CPUs that are ideal for embedded systems. However, I'm unsure how to obtain them from Intel.

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Original post by Miserable Quote: Original post by capn_midnight ... [TigerDirect's] "low, low prices" are always listed as the adjusted price AFTER rebate. Most of the rebate offers on their site are actually scams, you never recieve the rebate. Rebates are stupid, anyway, especially if you are being charged sales tax on the initial purchase (you pay the tax on the full price, so you really aren't getting the savings that you think you are). Companies are also counting on the fact that most people will not take advantage of rebates (which is true). Finally, the submission window on the rebates is incredibly narrow, and "supplies are limited," so there are plenty of excuses for the company to NOT give you the rebate. Taking that into account, TigerDirect is actually one of the more expensive websites to order from. I've ordered quite a lot from TigerDirect. Only one item ever had a rebate offer. I honestly don't recall whether it was not honoured or (more likely) whether that was the one rebate I forgot about until it was too late; most likely my experience proves you correct on the narrow submission window, I'll concede that much. In any case, most of the items I have ordered have not had rebates, and I've yet to find a website from which I can get most things cheaper.

I've ordered a number of things from TD as well, and the items were either "cheap" with rebate, or mostly equivalent to retail. I applied for all the rebates (probably 4 or 5), and recieved none. Caveat Emptor.

Is there anything illegal about that? Or are they allowed to say you get $500 mail in rebate, and never give it to you?

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Original post by lethalhamster Is there anything illegal about that? Or are they allowed to say you get $500 mail in rebate, and never give it to you?

of course it's illegal, but how do you prove it? The company can easily say that you didn't fill out the form properly, or the paperwork was lost, or the paperwork did not arrive in time, or the quota for the rebate promotion had been met, etc. ad naseum. And how do you rationalize the court costs againts a relatively small rebate? If we were talking about getting jilted out of multi-million dollar lottery winnings, then of course you would take it to court, the rewards outweigh the costs, but these rebates are typically $10-50 dollars. It would HAVE to be a class-action lawsuit. However, I personally would object to such action, as most class-action lawsuits are of no real importance to the victims involved and just a cash-cow for the lawyers involved.