Where to get a CHEAP computer

[Patman21967]

Mine is great

I got mine from a company that I found on EBay, called ECollegePC. My computer has been great for the last 6 months, and it was pretty inexpensive. Check it out.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Ditto the vote for eMachines available at Circuit City, Best Buy, CompUSA, WalMart, Frys, Costco, Office Depot, and elsewhere. Good, reliable machines at low prices. The machine I have now is (or was) the highest end eMachine with a better PCIe video card swapped in for gaming. We now have SIX eMachines throughout the house on the network with the kids getting the hand-me-downs as the adults buy the go-faster stripes. The ones that fell off the bottom rung of the ladder got a few parts swapped and we recently GAVE AWAY 3 complete bottom-end systems dating back perhaps 3 years or so. Your 1999-era system is well and truly a dinosaur.

I recommend eMachines to everyone constantly. They nearly make desktop computers disposable items but are readily upgradeable otherwise. For the usage you indicate these are definitely what you're looking for - completely new system (including new flat CRT monitor, but not LCD) for $450. System without monitor for $400? Drop in your wireless card, plug your old HD on the chain as slave long enough to transfer data and Bobs your uncle.

 

[Pbartender]

I recently picked up a refurbished eMachine off of www.tiger-direct.com

AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 160 GB HD, 512 MB Ram, DVD RW, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers... Everything but the monitor.

It was less than $400 even with shipping.

They've got refurbished desktop computers for as little as $200, depending on what you need it for, and all of them will be far better than what you've currently got.

 

[DethStryke]

I recently picked up a refurbished eMachine off of www.tiger-direct.com

AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 160 GB HD, 512 MB Ram, DVD RW, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers... Everything but the monitor.

It was less than $400 even with shipping.

They've got refurbished desktop computers for as little as $200, depending on what you need it for, and all of them will be far better than what you've currently got.

I'll ditto Tiger Direct. I've ordered from them for the past 5+ years for everything from multiple network machines to every component type and desk toys. They generally take care of you, have decent CS and you get your stuff quick. I don't worry when I order from them, for what it's worth.