Forum Home
Press F1
Thread ID: 20368	2002-06-04 01:11:00	Buying second hand computer.	Guest (0)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
52321	2002-06-04 01:11:00	I am looking at getting a 'Cheap' computer, to learn about hardware on, I have a really limited budget of $200, I want to be able to build the system up, and learn from it, I saw this on the net for $100, is it a good deal? Intel 166Mhz CPU and Fan, Motherboard is a AB-PR5 with adobe manual. 2MB PCI Video Card, 32MB EDO Memory, in a Stylish :P AT desktop case with AT P/S. Motherboard has 4x72pin EDO slots, 2x168Pin Sdram slots, 3 PCI and 4ISA. Or is there somewhere else I should be looking, have tried a few auction sites,but not quite sure what i am looking for.	Guest (0)
52322	2002-06-04 03:31:00	screen included>? bear in mind each new components will cost way more .. RC	Guest (0)
52323	2002-06-04 04:35:00	No monitor is included, but it seems a lot cheaper than any other systems i have seen, most shops around here (Invercargill) want $600 upwards for a P166 which is a bit of a rip off.	Guest (0)
52324	2002-06-21 00:01:00	that is a fair price for the model stated	kiwibeat (304)
52325	2002-06-21 00:13:00	look if it goes, (and do make sure) you have a computer you will learn from. Later on you will want to replace it, but hey, by then you will have learnt alot, particualy if you put a modem in it, and hang out at pressf1! 33k modems are worth almost nothing, and would make that machine into the internet and email toy you need.	Chris Wilson (431)
52326	2002-06-21 00:19:00	> 33k modems are worth almost nothing really! ! :O gimmee gimmee isa 33k and externall 33k modems are worth their weight in gold to use rural folk. sure beats buying a 56k to go and string it down to 33k ;-)	tweak'e (174)
52327	2002-06-21 00:50:00	Tweak'e, try cash converters and those sort of shops, you might find external dynalinks, atleast they seemed to be plentiful last time i looked. If you are really lucky, you might find a rural modem they work. After i went on cable, i gave my old one to a friend of mine on the wild wet coast heres the difference it made: "from 7200 ~9600 bps to 16800 bps" She's extatic about that increase... Any way, Nigel i firmly recommend you do not try running internet exploder, run opera, it is much lighter on the system that IE will ever be, i installed opera 6.01 on a 486 i fixed for someone, and it worked, struggled with flash animations, but none the less, it worked!	Chris Wilson (431)
52328	2002-06-21 10:17:00	I'm not sure what you want to learn--if you want to learn how to rebuild and generally get some basic knowledge-- then one way is to just ask around amongst friends, or even at garage sales. Find some old 486 machines that don't go and make them go. Lots of fun and great learning. An old 486 that is not running is probably worth around $0 to $10. The 166 that you mentioned should go for around $150 on Trademe (box only). It would be a good little starter for someone who wants to do wordproccesing and to send a few emails--but I'm not sure what you would learn from it. have fun.	dum dugie (432)
52329	2002-06-21 10:39:00	Sheez tweak'e I went and tossed a couple of 'oldish' modems in the big green bin!! I'll learn I'll learn... Babe.	Babe Ruth (416)
52330	2002-06-22 03:41:00	That box would make a very good Linux machine . I don't think it would be as good at running the latest Microsoft stuff (after W98, say) . At $100 it is a good buy, though it's probably not worth spending much money on . Which is good, as you haven't got much money . More memory is probably the first thing -- look for 168 pin stuff on special (the 72 pin EDO ram is available reasonably priced at trademe, but it can't be moved to the next machine) . A biggish disk is probably the next item . In some ways, I would now prefer to buy disks new . But again, trademe will probably get you a good one . But always watch and compare with new prices . Something secondhand is never worth more than half new price . Video -- you probably don't want (or need) a video card with more (and faster) memory and processor than the main board . But buy with an eye towards what you can use on the next one . But you wil never be able to make the computer fast enough heat your pies and reheat your coffee because the 2450 MHz CPUs won't fit . (2450 MHz happens to be the frequency of your microwave oven's magnetron) .	Graham L (2)
1 2