Cheap Computers

I am the volunteer tech support person for the Student Environmental Action Coalition. I try to run the tech aspect of the organization for as close to zero cost as possible. Thus we have a network cobbled together with people's hotshot personal computers (1.7 Ghz and better, running XP, 265-1028mb RAM) and older donated computers (windows 98 and 64-256mb ram).

As the old windows 98 computers start making too many funny noises, and drag, it eventually becomes worthwhile to replace them.

Thus I did some research on how to buy a cheap computer.

My findings: if you want a legitimate version of XP, I suspect the cheapest legal way to get it and a decent computer is to buy a used computer -- probably EBAY is your best best. Windows XP costs $100 and is often "worth" significantly more than the computers being sold. You can probably get a decent used computer on Ebay for $150 with XP. Speed doesn't seem to be as important as having enough ram (256mb is good, 512mb is great).

If you want to pirate your operating system (I don't think you can do this with XP, it's still possible with 98 and 2000), move an existing operating system to a new computer, or install a free operation system - then I think buying a computer online at TigerDirect.com is the best solution.

You can use rebates to buy it extremely cheap. For instance, you can currently get a barebones AMD 3300+ with power supply, motherboard, and case for $100. Stick in an old hard-drive (you probably have most of your files stored centrally in a large hard drive, so the local one doesn't need to be big, or you can probably get a really big one for $50), an old CD-ROM (harvested from an old computer - if you are listening to music, you can get away with a slow one -- or buy a DVD drive for $40), old keyboard/mouse (or spend $10-$15 and buy new ones), get the 512mb DDR RAM for $35 (with rebate), and you've got a super-fast computer! The motherboard will come with onboard video and a LAN connection - so you don't need to worry about that.

It's a mystery to me why people spend so much money on new computers. My latest personal computer cost $500. I guess I did save money by not getting a video card or CD writer, and recently spent $200 upgrading (external hard-drive, video card with 256mb ram, 512mb DDR ram, DVD/CD rw drive), but I only "needed" that stuff for my music, games, and because my website monthly log files can be over 500mb.

Alternatively for XP, if you are a 501c3 you can get XP for $8 as an "upgrade" from TechSoup.org, if you buy a minimum of 5 licenses which is kind of annoying for small nonprofits (Ex. SEAC only needs 1-2 computers).

Choices, choices!