I want to buy someone a PC; how cheap could I make it?

[Chimera]

This is for a birthday present, and my budget is not unlimited ($200.00 at the absolute most). I have no idea what to expect in a low-end PC nowadays. The Staples in my town seems awfully expensive, considering it doesn't need any real processing power or prepackaged software.

[BCVM22]

I haven't kept up with the latest price drops in some time, but I think to find a functioning PC, no matter how bereft of horsepower or software, for $200 or under would be near-impossible. I can't find a listing for such in any retailer's inventory, much less Staples. Just a cursory glance at said inventories yields only one low-end HP tower for about $240, and even that was only after a pair of $60 rebates. Keep in mind that even if you did find a computer for $200, you'd still have to include a monitor in the cost.

[Lazerboy5000]

You know, I'm glad you asked this question. I'm hoping to get my own coumputer soon before I go to college next year.

But here is my stradegy, save up on Best Buy gift cards.

I always get them for my birthday, so I'm going to ask for more on Christmas, and graduation.

I've got like $50 right now, and hopefully I should have $200 by next summer.

[Mynd Hed]

I'll tell you what. You give me your $200, and I'll give you a large rock. It will work nearly as well as any computer you could buy or build for two benjies, and I will have $200. Everybody wins.

Oh, you wanted a computer that WORKS? That does things, such as word processing and web browsing? Well, that's different then. Expect to pay at least twice that.

[The Falcon]

get them a wii. $250 for a gaming system and with a handy update you can do all the webrowsing you want, including sending email

if you want something more substantial for cheap, your best bet would be to find a friend who builds computers. my friend built his for around $500, but he has a lot of high end gadgets in it. strip it down to the bare essentials and downgrades, i think you could maybe manage $300

[Kury Wagner]

Hey guys, how about being just a little nicer, hm? This thread feels far too unfriendly.

I'd have to agree with Falcon- if you know someone that knows enough about technology that could put one together for you, you could possibly get something for $300 or so, yeah. If you're expecting to find one at a store like Staples, though, sorry no.

The other option is eBay. Obviously, be careful with any purchases you make, like with anything else. However, you can find a nice system on there, if you look hard enough. My father found a system, complete with keyboard, mouse, and speakers for two-something a couple years ago.

[SonGoku V3]

If you didn't have the time constraint of giving it as a birthday present, I would suggest waiting til Black Friday and buying a PC (or laptop) as a Christmas gift. Last year, Walmart stores all across America had a tremendous Black Friday sale on laptops for about 200 to 300 bucks, and I think they had some PCs going for same price or lower.

...and no, they weren't large rocks. As far as word processing, browsing the internet, and downloading went - they got the job done. Only people who need computers/laptops that cost over, say, $500, are people who plan on doing heavy downloading, running multiple programs at once, and gaming. If anyone wants to do the latter, might as well take the advice of the poster above and just buy a wii!:D:p

[Lazerboy5000]

I'll tell you what. You give me your $200, and I'll give you a large rock. It will work nearly as well as any computer you could buy or build for two benjies, and I will have $200. Everybody wins.

Oh, you wanted a computer that WORKS? That does things, such as word processing and web browsing? Well, that's different then. Expect to pay at least twice that.
That's true. I'm expecting the coumputers I'm going to be looking at to be around $600, give or take $100.

[jeff_iz_XLent]

Dude,you need a Dell.:D

[En Sabah Nur]

Dude,you need a Dell.:Dactually yes. The cheapest crap (aka Dell) on the market would be Dell Inspiron 530 for $360. Thats way over $200 and its a piece of garbage that I would not use as a chair even if it was given to me fro free. But those are your options.

Hey guys, how about being just a little nicer, hm? This thread feels far too unfriendly.

I'd have to agree with Falcon- if you know someone that knows enough about technology that could put one together for you, you could possibly get something for $300 or so, yeah. If you're expecting to find one at a store like Staples, though, sorry no.

The other option is eBay. Obviously, be careful with any purchases you make, like with anything else. However, you can find a nice system on there, if you look hard enough. My father found a system, complete with keyboard, mouse, and speakers for two-something a couple years ago.Take it from someone who builds PCs for a living, a cusom made PC will always be more expensive than an assembled brand name. Because there are almost no OEM parts you can buy that will guarantee to work without problems. I build PCs, everything from $400 Barebones to $8000 gaming wonders (I get those the most) where they spend $1000 on CPU alone. Dell is the way to go when it comes to cheap piece of crap.

[Romanesque]

Take it from someone who builds PCs for a living, a cusom made PC will always be more expensive than an assembled brand name.Having just finished a system that was cheaper and better equipped than its nearest Dell or Gateway neighbor, even including the cost of the OS, I can testify that that's not always so. In fact, I don't believe it's the first time I've done that. Granted, the margins are slimmer than they once were years ago, but the point stands.

Because there are almost no OEM parts you can buy that will guarantee to work without problems.Sort of a non sequitur there.

What you've said is true, there's no guarantee, but in practice, it's not a big deal. A little research beforehand goes a long way.

What I don't see is how that directly relates to expense, unless you're factoring in the value of your time as someone who builds PCs for a living, but that's not so much an issue for the average hobbyist or someone wanting to save a buck.

I build PCs, everything from $400 Barebones to $8000 gaming wonders (I get those the most) where they spend $1000 on CPU alone.Yes, we've all heard about how you spare no expense on hardware. Repeatedly so. :gir:

Dell is the way to go when it comes to cheap piece of crap.Can't argue with that. There's only one thing worse than Dell's products... their customer service. If we can count time spent as a hidden expense for system assembly, then we can count time lost with crappy customer service as a hidden expense for buying a Dell...

--Romey

[Kury Wagner]

Take it from someone who builds PCs for a living, a cusom made PC will always be more expensive than an assembled brand name. Because there are almost no OEM parts you can buy that will guarantee to work without problems. I build PCs, everything from $400 Barebones to $8000 gaming wonders (I get those the most) where they spend $1000 on CPU alone. Dell is the way to go when it comes to cheap piece of crap.Take it from someone who has built computers before, as well- that's not always the case. If you're smart about what you're doing and take your time researching, you can still, in this day and age, save money by doing it yourself.

Don't be arrogant; it really isn't flattering.

[SirLemming]

I'd gladly sell you one of my old PCs for $200, but you may have trouble finding one in a store for that little, even though it's technologically quite possible to have a $200 PC that can do word processing and web browsing.

eBay could be your friend here, although it could also be your foe if you don't shop wisely and if you don't know exactly what you're doing. I wouldn't be at all shocked if you could find the motherboard, processor, disc drive, case, hard drive, power supply, and RAM you need for a bare-bones computer on eBay for under $200. (Assuming you used Linux -- Ubuntu, for example -- instead of an expensive operating system, which I normally wouldn't recommend as a newbie gift thing but should be fine for basic functionality.) The trick is that you have to make sure that not only are they all working, but that they work together, and that could take some doing. Or you might get lucky and find an old-but-not-too-old PC in working condition from a reliable seller for under $200. Crazier things have happened.

But I wouldn't bet on getting or assembling a PC for $200 via store-bought items, simply because most stores don't sell stuff that old anymore -- not because it's impossible.

[Chimera]

Thanks for the advice so far! I may have to make this a combined birthday/Christmas present; possibly covering two years if it comes to it. I just really want them to have a computer again, since they can't afford a new one and they really liked doing things with their old PC. That thing was a steaming turd (400mhz, 64mb RAM, 4.6gb hard-drive) which lasted them about eight years, so they would settle for pretty much anything on the market.

[En Sabah Nur]

Thanks for the advice so far! I may have to make this a combined birthday/Christmas present; possibly covering two years if it comes to it. I just really want them to have a computer again, since they can't afford a new one and they really liked doing things with their old PC. That thing was a steaming turd (400mhz, 64mb RAM, 4.6gb hard-drive) which lasted them about eight years, so they would settle for pretty much anything on the market.I did some number crunching on Newegg.com And my best estimate without a monitor would be about $250~$270. Definitely over $200 but not by much. If you need specifics, let me know I will post links to the products. The motherboards would have onboard video and sound, thats the cheapest way possible. RAM would be 512Mb, CPU would be a Celeron something (the most expensive product on the list). The case comes with 450W PSU. No Floppy, 80Gb HDD and a simple LiteOn DVD burner. Those are the cheapest prices on products Newegg.com has to offer.
Cheapest monitor will run you up as much as $169.99 So no monitor in this setup. Have someone else buy it as a gift for them.

[Boy Wonder]

I did some number crunching on Newegg.com And my best estimate without a monitor would be about $250~$270. Definitely over $200 but not by much. If you need specifics, let me know I will post links to the products. The motherboards would have onboard video and sound, thats the cheapest way possible. RAM would be 512Mb, CPU would be a Celeron something (the most expensive product on the list). The case comes with 450W PSU. No Floppy, 80Gb HDD and a simple LiteOn DVD burner. Those are the cheapest prices on products Newegg.com has to offer.
Cheapest monitor will run you up as much as $169.99 So no monitor in this setup. Have someone else buy it as a gift for them.

You need an operating system in that order too. With only 512 MB, get XP Home. Do not, and I mean DO NOT, buy Vista unless you either have more than 1 GB of RAM, or you need the up-to-date technology.

EDIT: I just saw this off of Tiger Direct, http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/wem1469.asp?CMP=ILC-FPM03. Get the 1GB RAM upgrade, and for under 300 bucks, you got a solid machine.

[En Sabah Nur]

You need an operating system in that order too. With only 512 MB, get XP Home. Do not, and I mean DO NOT, buy Vista unless you either have more than 1 GB of RAM, or you need the up-to-date technology.

EDIT: I just saw this off of Tiger Direct, http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/wem1469.asp?CMP=ILC-FPM03. Get the 1GB RAM upgrade, and for under 300 bucks, you got a solid machine.emachines is even worse than Dell. Windows Vista Home Basic is crap, and its refurbished. No wonder its $249, and thats without a monitor.

[SirLemming]

I'm not the type to go around recommending Linux, since I myself use Windows due to how many more programs actually run on it... but if it really only needs to do internet and word processing-type stuff, Ubuntu may be an option. It really is easy to use. Just different. And of course, it's free. It also runs better on lower-end PCs than Windows would. I have it running pretty well on a 500 MHz PC.

Again, you can't use most mainstream software with it, but if that's not necessary, it's an option. Your call.

[Rook]

This is for a birthday present, and my budget is not unlimited ($200.00 at the absolute most). I have no idea what to expect in a low-end PC nowadays. The Staples in my town seems awfully expensive, considering it doesn't need any real processing power or prepackaged software.

Heh...

1. Save your money.
2. Build your own comp. In the long run, it will be cheaper.
3. Scavenge parts from the computer your using to make this thread, if it's yours that is.

www.newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com)

this is all assuming you know how to match up the proper parts.

Buy yourself a nintendo DS, there is very little chance of you getting a pc for 200 dollars, especially with tax. Unless you bought it off someone not a brand.

[EinBebop]

You might find this site helpful. It's not about building a super-cheap pc, but rather, a one that gives you the most bang for you buck:

http://www.mysuperpc.com/