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You can get an i7 920 for $200, so not only is it faster and lower power, it's also cheeper.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727

From their front page:

** Micro Center's "Web Pricing, Get It Now!" program applies to all in-stock Intel® and AMD® processors. Twice per week, on Monday and Thursday evenings, we verify CPU pricing from newegg.com and tigerdirect.com, and verify our price is set to the lowest non-rebated price including shipping. This price is effective when the store opens the next day and remains firm until the next price change is effective on a Tuesday or Friday morning. Comparisons will be for like product only; boxed product to boxed product and OEM (also known as tray product) to OEM product. Limited time offer. Micro Center reserves the right to limit quantities. Matched prices are exclusive of sales tax. Prior sales excluded.

They seem to be making improvements on this front to me...

Microcenter also carries OEM copies in-store if one lives close to them.

When you hand over the equipment to be repaired, also hand them a contract to sign saying they will be liable for any costs associated with loss of data or recovery of said data. This contract should specify that it overrides any conflicting "We're not responsible for loss of data" clauses in their standard terms and conditions. PS: Make sure you put **AA inflated values on your data and time. BTW: IANAL but would be interested in one's view on this approach.

I have two problems with this. The first is that the computer was still under warranty. Not only did I not know what was wrong but I would have had to pay for any repairs, and I couldn't afford to. Secondly I didn't then and still don't know of anybody who could repair it. When I bought the PC I also bought a second HDD, the original one was only 40 GB and the one I bought was 750 GB. The store has a repair shop right there and I asked them if they could install the HDD as a second drive and make it the home directory. Not one person there had any experience with Linux and didn't know how to do it. So I tried to install it myself. I got it installed but Linux did not recognize it. I went online and found out Linux had problems with Maxtor drives, which is what it was. So I removed it and returned the drive. I then found another 750 GB drive at Best Buy, the store I bought the PC from was Microcenter. I figured that since the Geek Squad did the computer work at, and was owned by, Best Buy they could install the drive and set it up so it was the home directory for users. Like Microcenter Best Buy didn't have anyone who worked on Linux. So I asked someone that could and was given an address for a Geek Squad. There I was told they would not touch a Linux PC. Back at the Best Buy a tech said he could research it and try to do the install but that I would have to sign a release from damages. An hour later I was headed home with my PC working how I wanted.

While I had to run around to have a second drive installed in a Linux PC, I now know enough to be able to do the research myself. I know it's the fstab file that needs to be edited to tell the OS where to look for the home directory.

Falcon

Actually, they do have a monopoly. If you buy an Mac you have to buy parts from Apple;

No they don't, I don't have to buy parts from Apple. The HDD in the Mac I'm using now is a Seagate I bought from Micro Center. I can buy more RAM from them, Best Buy, or whoever and install it myself.

Falcon

Single-layer (25GB) Non-rewriteable Blu-Ray discs are $8-$10/each.

Single-layer (25GB) rewriteable Blu-Ray disks are ~$16-18. (look for BD-RE)

HOWEVER:
A Blu-Ray burner will set you back > $200

16 GB USB flash drives can be had for ~$40

32 GB USB flash drives are twice the price at ~$80

So yes, *RIGHT NOW*, if you buy a BD burner and a spindle of 10 BD-RE disks, you'll spend less money than you would if you bought an equivalent amount of USB flash storage.

This isn't the fairest comparison, because with the flash example I'm providing, the reader is encapsulated with the storage, so you're paying for it every time. (as well as packaging) That being said, almost every computer these days has a USB port, as do many set-top boxes. Not every computer or home has a BD player.

The price of flash continues to drop. The price of BD media and burners will come down. The question will be, which falls the fastest?

I get ads from MicroCenter occasionally, and they resell some of the more popular brands... prominently displayed in the latest one (I got two days ago), they are selling two systems with the exact same hardware specs from Dell; one has XP and one has Vista, and they are the same price.

In fact, it seems like many of the computers they are selling are XP (although many of those are refurbs).

I don't usually buy from them, but it's http://microcenter.com/ if you care to look. This isn't an endorsement.

am I missing something?

About $60
Can't vouch for the speed on that one though. As far as the difference between that and SSD there is probably a difference in speed, number of writes per life of drive, and the type of controller.

cheaper than the slashvertised 4 gb one, too.

...and only twice the price of a generic one from Microcenter.

I found this one at Microcenter with 16GB for $60. They even have one with 32GB, but it's like $150. This is not news. Slashvertisement to say the least.

And for $10 more you can get an e8400 which is better than the e6750 in every way, shape, and form.

Doing a quick search it seems to me that the format war is on fractured ground. HD-DVD seems to have a stronger hold on actual movies (sorta).
BUT when i go to some of the major computer manufacturers websites i see Blu-Ray with an advantage. Obiviously the major producers Dell, Sony and Apple, but also individual custom pc studios like Aeoncraft, Ibuypower, FalconNW, Alienware(which is under dell so...) I see all blu-ray burners and the occasional hybrid reader.
Then when i look at my local prices for the individual discs again blu-ray seems to have the upper hand. 1 25GB blu-ray for the same price as a 15GB HD-DVD. I seem to remember media price being rather important in the Videotape Format war sooo...
Many people say bluray drives are too expensive, well at my local computer store (http://microcenter.com/ ) i can pick up a blu-ray burner, a actual burner not just reader for $300 and there was a mail in rebate as well, so compare that to uhhh well i couldn't find an hd dvd burner to compare prices with. I even used Google shopping and still couldn't find one.

Now how that will affect the total outcome of the format war but that doesn't seem like a stale mate just like each side has won different battles

Here is the hardware:
I used to hook up the IDE->CF. But the next time, I do this, I will use this instead (cheaper and does not take up a slot). In addition, absolutely do not use the cheap CF garbage. There is lots coming out of China and the quality is horrible. If you do use one of the cheap one and it goes bad, you will at least understand why quality costs. I used Sandisk. I bought it at micro center since it was close,but I would go with newegg if ordering off the web (lots cheaper).

As to the software, it is pretty much a standard install.
Install / to the CF. Keep it SMALL. I am using kubuntu these days, so they automatically do it small. During the install, I added /home from the disks, as well as /opt. Copy /etc to a disk. (for me, I back it up to /opt/backup/etc). After all this, I installed, apache, postfix, postgres, Mythtv (requiring Mysql), and squid. I elected to leave the postfix data on the CF (home server; small amounts of email; on the net, I use a gmail accounts, as well as nospamxxx accounts arriving at my system to avoid spam ).
I actually decided to leave the logs on the CF. They are the one thing that keep causing a disk to spin up.

I moved the data areas of apache, postgres, mysql, and parts of mythtv to the hard disk. They were located in /var. (back up /etc again)

Squid is in a tmpfs on the system. I figure that since I reboot infrequently, it may actually help to clear it.

BTW, I have a couple of gigs of ram in the server. I turned off swap. All in all, my disks now spend the vast majority of their time sleeping, powered down, with the server drawing very little power. Several have commented about the seasonal change, but I started measuring about 1 week after the re-build. The fact that the temp dropped so much will tell you that less power is being used.

Here is the hardware:
I used to hook up the IDE->CF. But the next time, I do this, I will use this instead (cheaper and does not take up a slot). In addition, absolutely do not use the cheap CF garbage. There is lots coming out of China and the quality is horrible. If you do use one of the cheap one and it goes bad, you will at least understand why quality costs. I used Sandisk. I bought it at micro center since it was close,but I would go with newegg if ordering off the web (lots cheaper).

As to the software, it is pretty much a standard install.
Install / to the CF. Keep it SMALL. I am using kubuntu these days, so they automatically do it small. During the install, I added /home from the disks, as well as /opt. Copy /etc to a disk. (for me, I back it up to /opt/backup/etc). After all this, I installed, apache, postfix, postgres, Mythtv (requiring Mysql), and squid. I elected to leave the postfix data on the CF (home server; small amounts of email; on the net, I use a gmail accounts, as well as nospamxxx accounts arriving at my system to avoid spam ).
I actually decided to leave the logs on the CF. They are the one thing that keep causing a disk to spin up.

I moved the data areas of apache, postgres, mysql, and parts of mythtv to the hard disk. They were located in /var. (back up /etc again)

Squid is in a tmpfs on the system. I figure that since I reboot infrequently, it may actually help to clear it.

BTW, I have a couple of gigs of ram in the server. I turned off swap. All in all, my disks now spend the vast majority of their time sleeping, powered down, with the server drawing very little power. Several have commented about the seasonal change, but I started measuring about 1 week after the re-build. The fact that the temp dropped so much will tell you that less power is being used.

Here is the hardware:
I used to hook up the IDE->CF. But the next time, I do this, I will use this instead (cheaper and does not take up a slot). In addition, absolutely do not use the cheap CF garbage. There is lots coming out of China and the quality is horrible. If you do use one of the cheap one and it goes bad, you will at least understand why quality costs. I used Sandisk. I bought it at micro center since it was close,but I would go with newegg if ordering off the web (lots cheaper).

As to the software, it is pretty much a standard install.
Install / to the CF. Keep it SMALL. I am using kubuntu these days, so they automatically do it small. During the install, I added /home from the disks, as well as /opt. Copy /etc to a disk. (for me, I back it up to /opt/backup/etc). After all this, I installed, apache, postfix, postgres, Mythtv (requiring Mysql), and squid. I elected to leave the postfix data on the CF (home server; small amounts of email; on the net, I use a gmail accounts, as well as nospamxxx accounts arriving at my system to avoid spam ).
I actually decided to leave the logs on the CF. They are the one thing that keep causing a disk to spin up.

I moved the data areas of apache, postgres, mysql, and parts of mythtv to the hard disk. They were located in /var. (back up /etc again)

Squid is in a tmpfs on the system. I figure that since I reboot infrequently, it may actually help to clear it.

BTW, I have a couple of gigs of ram in the server. I turned off swap. All in all, my disks now spend the vast majority of their time sleeping, powered down, with the server drawing very little power. Several have commented about the seasonal change, but I started measuring about 1 week after the re-build. The fact that the temp dropped so much will tell you that less power is being used.

I just bought an EVGA 8800GTS 320MB PCI-E last week. Despite what the OP says, it only cost me $263.99, not $400... and that was at a store. If I had patience and ordered it online, I'm sure I could have spent even less.

The REASON I got it? (1) I haven't bought a new desktop in almost 8 years and I needed a new machine that I wouldn't have to worry about breaking down for another 8 - 10 years to come. (2) I've never actually had a graphics card in any of the machines I've built before and, from my research (and other places), this one seemed the best bang for my buck. (3) I have no intention of getting a Wii or 360 or whatever; plus the fact that the current games I want to play and apps I want to use can't be used on a gaming console anyways.

You say my "cutting edge premium card is going to look overpriced and behind the curve tomorrow"; I say the same about your gaming console.

Keep in mind, that CF is actually IDE specs. I used this to hook the IDE cable to a CF card. This is what I will use next time. Combine that with a GOOD card (i.e. skip the cheap chinese crap). I used this card, but will switch to a different san disk next time as well.

I assume that you are using Linux. You have several choices. Format with JFFS and use that at /. I chose to use ext2, and put the bulk of / on it. Be sure to move the dirs that are changing on disk (as mount points). I put /home, /opt (due to size), parts of /var on disk. It works great.

Keep in mind, that CF is actually IDE specs. I used this to hook the IDE cable to a CF card. This is what I will use next time. Combine that with a GOOD card (i.e. skip the cheap chinese crap). I used this card, but will switch to a different san disk next time as well.

I assume that you are using Linux. You have several choices. Format with JFFS and use that at /. I chose to use ext2, and put the bulk of / on it. Be sure to move the dirs that are changing on disk (as mount points). I put /home, /opt (due to size), parts of /var on disk. It works great.

Keep in mind, that CF is actually IDE specs. I used this to hook the IDE cable to a CF card. This is what I will use next time. Combine that with a GOOD card (i.e. skip the cheap chinese crap). I used this card, but will switch to a different san disk next time as well.

I assume that you are using Linux. You have several choices. Format with JFFS and use that at /. I chose to use ext2, and put the bulk of / on it. Be sure to move the dirs that are changing on disk (as mount points). I put /home, /opt (due to size), parts of /var on disk. It works great.

The Wal-Mart PR machine likes to give the illusion that they have the cheapest prices but yet again, they don't. For the past year the Microcenter by me has been selling refurbished 2.4G P4 machines loaded with XP Professional for $249. I have no interests in Microcenter other than they have a store a few blocks from me that I shop at and I like reading their monthly sale ads while sitting on the toilet. Here's a link to that PC because it's on sale again this month. http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtm l?product_id=0259605 They also have a refurbished Compaq for $199 (P4 1.7G) that would be good for college students too.

1. 1Gb USB stick - from around $20 (maybe even cheaper)

No self-destruct, but hard enough enryption for all but the most sensitive secret data.

I just mentioned in another thread a few minute ago that Micro Center is offering a $100 rebate on Xbox 360s, both the core and pro systems. For the core system, that would end up being $200.

Now, that being said, beware the nickel-and-diming:

• You have to pay $300 up-front and wait for the rebate to get to you, and make sure you take the check and deposit it in the bank. It's a bit of a hassle, but hopefully for $100, you won't forget.
• If you pick up a few accessories and a game or two, that could easily push you $200 or more higher.
• You have to put up with their pushy salespeople trying to sell you an extended warranty contract. Don't buy it. Aside from the fact that all of these contracts are totally bogus, Microsoft just extended the manufacturer's warranty from 90 days to a year.
• If you want to play online, you'll also have to subscribe to Xbox Live, which is an additional fee.

So if you're just looking for something that will play the fancy new Xbox 360 and classic old Xbox games, you can get it now for $200. If you're looking to build it out to any degree, you should indeed probably wait.

/really wants a Wii also

Thank goodness. 90 days just isn't long enough to find all design flaws in a product, especially if you consider that there are probably a bunch of Xbox 360s sitting around in closets or under trees for a month or so before they actually get used. I wonder how many people didn't buy an Xbox 360 because of the really short warranty. I also wonder how many people are going to kick themselves now for buying one of those ripoff extended warranties.

I got mine at Micro Center a couple of weeks ago, which is currently offering a $100 rebate on both the core nad pro systems. If I were Microsoft, though, I'd be really pissed off at Micro Center. I had one sales person on the floor ask several times if I wanted to upgrade the 90-day warranty. "Are you sure? It's a great deal! And look at what you get!..." Of course being intelligent, I turned it down, over and over, ad nauseum.

When I got to the cash register, the checkout person asked yet again. When I declined, she actually said, "You really should get it. A lot of people have been bringing them back."

If I were even the least bit paranoid, I would have simply left my $600 or so of merchandise (the system, plus a couple of games, a controller, and a battery charger) sitting right there on the counter and walked out. Why the hell would I buy a product that the store clerks keep telling me, and seem convinced to the core, is defective? If I were Microsoft, I'd be tempted to stop selling any Xbox 360s to Micro Center at all. Stores telling customers repeatedly that your product is broken is most heinously not cool.

Fortunately, I'm not as gullible as a lot of people, and I'm not so willing to part with my sixty-something dollars for something that is statistically highly unlikely to happen.

Maybe this will help to take some of the wind out of their "sales" and get them to stop trying to scare the hell out of their customers.

Still, a hundred bucks back sure does take a little bit of the sting out of having to listen to their stupidity. If I were just a tiny bit more spiteful, I would drive up there today and tell them, "Hah hah!"

Oh, and P.S., a couple of weeks later, everything's working fine. ;-) My gamertag is Skippus. Look me up and maybe we'll throw down with some Texas Hold'em.

For what it's worth, if you want an Xbox 360, you can now get a $100 rebate on either system (core or pro) if you buy it in a Micro Center store, and at least my Micro Center (and I suspect most Micro Centers) had plenty in stock, like 50 or so of each. No stupid lines, no 300-400% markup on Ebay, no fuss, no muss.

That brings the cost of the core system down to just $200 (cheaper than a Wii!) and the cost of a pro system down to $300.

In my book, people's best bet is to buy an Xbox 360 pro and a Wii for $650, collect the $100 rebate from Micro Center, come out paying $50 less than a PS3 (hey, Xbox Live Gold membership fee!), and not feel like a total idiot when everyone finally realizes how irrelevant Sony is in the console gaming world now. ;-)

WalMart does [walmart.com] this [walmart.com]. They were, at one time, pushing a line of $199 PCs with Linspire on them.

They didn't sell that well and now the lowest priced Linux PC is the same price as the lowest priced Windows machine. They're generally similarly equipped, but the Linux machine has an AMD Sempron at 2.0 GHz while the Windows box has a 3.2 GHz Celeron D.

I don't know if Walmart stopped selling PCs with Linspire but Microcenter sales PCs with Linspire. The second one is $250, I got one a few weeks ago, but they also had a $50 mailin rebate.

WalMart does [walmart.com] this [walmart.com]. They were, at one time, pushing a line of $199 PCs with Linspire on them.

They didn't sell that well and now the lowest priced Linux PC is the same price as the lowest priced Windows machine. They're generally similarly equipped, but the Linux machine has an AMD Sempron at 2.0 GHz while the Windows box has a 3.2 GHz Celeron D.

I don't know if Walmart stopped selling PCs with Linspire but Microcenter sales PCs with Linspire. The second one is $250, I got one a few weeks ago, but they also had a $50 mailin rebate.

WalMart does [walmart.com] this [walmart.com]. They were, at one time, pushing a line of $199 PCs with Linspire on them.

They didn't sell that well and now the lowest priced Linux PC is the same price as the lowest priced Windows machine. They're generally similarly equipped, but the Linux machine has an AMD Sempron at 2.0 GHz while the Windows box has a 3.2 GHz Celeron D.

I don't know if Walmart stopped selling PCs with Linspire but Microcenter sales PCs with Linspire. The second one is $250, I got one a few weeks ago, but they also had a $50 mailin rebate.

To start with, there are even less expensive methods than the one you mention, the first of which that comes to mind being the $10 1gig usb flash drives at microcenter.

On to the bit about recovery. You say system recovery, but use those words to link to a usb flash drive. Did you mean recovering data from said flash drive? If so, the data on those works the same way it does on a hard drive. The system deletes a file from the tree, but leaves the data intact until written over. Any standard undelete program will recover files you've simply deleted.

As for backing up your system to a flash drive, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're running a small enough footprint to fit on one. The 8gig flash drive are getting to be reasonably priced, but that's still not enough for most full system backups.

That and where the fuck is a MicroCenter?

You say that your Linux PC cost less than half of a comparable Windows PC. This intrigues me. How much and where did you get it? I'm looking for a good cheap hardware solution to a current problem I'm working on.

The computer I got was a Powerspec 1406 from Microcenter. As it says here, I paid $250 for it but there's also a $50 mail in rebate, I haven't mailed in mine yet. Now when I can I want to get a firewire 400/800 card to install. From what I learned the company that builds them is owned by the same company that owns Microcenter.

But I guess I cheap PC lappie won't be as "cool" as an Apple. Seems like the majority of the folks I see at the local cyber-cafe have Macs, though they are a small fraction of the market. I guess that's what you want when you want to be seen.

Let me start by saying I'm typing this on an HP running Windows and I've used Windows exclusively since 2001, and mostly since '98. The only reason I didn't say exclusively since '98 was because of a class I took where we used Macs as well as having an old Mac. My point in saying this is to say I'm not a Mac fanboy, though I do like Macs. I have bought four brand new PCs for myself, two Gateways, the HP I'm using now, and another one from Microway. Of the four the only one I have not had hardware or software problems with is the one from Microway which runs NT4. Well in a way I did, do, have a hardware problem with the Microway. The cpu is a DEC Alpha I haven't been able to install most of the software I bought.

The first Gateway I got and the HP I'm using now have both had tha harddisk and the motherboard fail within the first year of buying new. The second Gateway, a laptop, the lcd display cracked within a couple of months and Gateway wouldn't cover it. Now I have also bought two used Macs, an SE 30 I bought in 1992 which was about 2 years old and a Power Mac 7300/200 I got in 2000 which was about three years old. The Power Mac I only used a few months without problems but the SE 30 I used until 2000 when the floppy drive finally failed. I was able to use it for 8 years without problems. The PCs I've had I haven't been able to use one year without problem.

Because of this, my personal experiences with both Macs and PCs, my next computer will be a Mac. I don't want to have trouble using a computer, I just want it to work! I've gotten that from Macs whereas PCs have bedeviled me. If it doesn't work it doesn't matter how cheap it is.

Think about that again. When you tell someone to go and buy a new hard drive for their computer, where do they go? West coasters have Fry's (sorry don't know about all that hoopla). On the east, we have CompUsa and Best Buy. Best Buy only comes into mind because of their viral advertising campaign. Other than that, your average joe schmoe isn't going to research Pricewatch for the best price.. they will head to the brick-and-mortar store named CompUSA.

Where I live, Minneapolis/St Paul, we have another place to go, Micro Center. It has locations from California to NY and Mnneasota to Florida and is expanding. I don't know about their reputation but I've found their employees generally know computers. There's also Circuit City as well as the office supply chains.

Many companies that hire computer technicians merely require an A+ Certification in order for an applicant to be considered competent and eligible for the job. The problems with that is A+ Certification by itself isn't enough because

1) It doesn't take much to pass. The A+ test consists of two sections (Core hardware and OS technologies), and you really only need a score of 500 to pass for each section to become A+ Certified (which really amounts to getting roughly 50-60 percent of the whole exam correct, a pitiful score). Whether or not you score the bare minimum or got above an 800 on each section, companies only see your certificate, so really you don't know whether the A+ monkey you've hired actually knows much. Hell, I even got A+ certified when I was 15 (I'm 17 now) and managed to get a job as a salesman at Micro Center, and I didn't even get any hands-on practice (bought a 60-dollar Sybex book and crammed). The concepts are way too basic, and the objectives are messed up. A+ requires you to have knowledge of rarely-implemented concepts such as old motherbboard sockets and the features of really old CPU's (I'm talking 386 here). What the test should concentrate more on is detail on newer material instead of trying to create a catch-all for everything that has happened in IT in the past 20 years.

2) The test is only updated about every 3 years. Since newer computer hardware comes out about every 2 months, people usually have to resort to extra homework-research in order to catch up. Stores like Frys and Best Buy don't really give much training to new material. Only this year did COMPTIA update the certification objectives to cover new topics such as dual-core processors, which were released 2 years ago.

3) The test has no hands-on material whatsoever. I didn't even know how to use brass standoffs in order to mount a motherboard into a case when I passed this test. When I really got into computers and started doing hands-on stuff by myself (i.e repairing PC's for friends and building PC's), I realized how much I missed out even with the certification. Many certifications today (especially the ones by COMPTIA such as Network+, Linux+, and Security+) don't have much, if any, hands-on objectives during testing. I don't care if you have memorized how many transistors each processor that has been developed in the past two decades have, but if you don't know how to correctly mount a motherboard/ground yourself/RAID multiple hard drives by hand, then you don't know jack shit.

Even with other certifications that broaden their knowledge like Network+ and maybe CCNA, the most important thing is hands-on experience, something that takes a lot more background than cramming a couple of books.

i've had good luck with these

I've been very happy at Micro Center (http://www.microcenter.com/). I've recommended their PowerSpec PCs to several people who have all been satisfied. They are also *very* knowledgeable and actually *ask* you if you want help. One guy even looked up the type of mobo in a certain PowerSpec PC for me(!). I can't even begin to imagine the looks on the faces of BB staff if I asked that. It would probaby produce a "let me ask" and never to be seen again response (as in the article).
Granted, I've only been to their Minnesota store, so I'm assuming this is company-wide. You mileage may vary.
And, no, I do not work with/for them or own their stock or haul their trash.

The local "MicroCenter" store here in Denver does sell Linux right next to Windows and even sells desktops with Linux pre-installed. Granted not a huge chain like Staples, but a decent one (see MicroCenter's web site for locations

I don't know where you can try Linux in a retail outlet

Microcenter has PC's running Linspire (or is it Xandros?) in their prebuilt PC section, at least in the Columbus, OH store. I'm not seeing them online though.

It also has PCI-Express when many of the cheapest Dell and HPs I've seen don't have any way to upgrade the graphics.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results. phtml?product_id=0210744

Equipped with 16 x PCI express...$350 w/$50 mail in rebate.

Actually, MicroCenter happens to be having a sale on that right now. Mac Mini, 14" LCD, keyboard, optical mouse, and Epson all-in-one printer - still $499. I still wouldn't want to buy one personally, but...

Microcenter's cheapest computer is sold at $250 ($200 after rebate, http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results. phtml?product_id=0184679)

The cheapest box you can build for yourself at zipzoomfly with equivalent specs except that you can't get 128mb of ddr333 ram so it has to come with 256mb, totals for $215.78.

Product Description Quantity UnitPrice ExtPrice
101284
Western Digital Protege WD400EB 40GB ATA/100 5400RPM Hard Drive *** Free 2nd Day ***
Remove $51.00 $51.00
120002
Asus CD-S520B 52X IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM Drive (Black) Retail ***Free 2nd Day***
Remove $17.99 $17.99
80139-R Quantity Limit: 20
AMD Sempron 2200+ 1.5GHz Socket A Processor Retail ***Free 2nd Day***
Remove $59.00 $59.00
373002
Ultra ULT31580 Wizard Mini Tower Case (Black) Retail
Remove $24.95 $24.95
80037-K Quantity Limit: 20
Kingston KVR333X64C25/256 256MB DDR333 PC2700 Memory Retail *** Free 2nd Day ***
Remove $24.90 $24.90
270500
Sparkle Power ATX-250GUS 250 Watts ATX12V Switching Power Supply *** Free 2nd Day ***
Remove $22.95 $22.95
211123
Logitech Deluxe Desktop Keyboard & Mouse Combo (Light Gray) ***Free 2nd Day***
Remove $14.99 $14.99

Subtotal: $215.78

microcenter's house brand, powerspec, does not have a linux option. and as for them being midwest based, see if you still belive that after looking at this.
http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/index.htm l
but i do respect them, and have great service and is a great place to get obsure hardware.

"...Turns out that Micro Center not only is out-selling Wal-Mart in Linux...
Look where Micro Center locates its stores. In Mass, we have one Micro Center AFAIK and its not out with the big box retailers in the malls. Its in Cambridge, a walk from B.U., MIT and Harvard. If they have located their other stores as intelligently as this one, they are a mining a niche in the market [relatively sophisticated college students who need to stretch their computing dollar and got the brains to RTFM] but may have little success out in the burbs.

Anybody know where I can find a map of their world locations?

Store locations

Big retailers suck... they're slow-moving, and easily suckered into spending all their time on marketing and none on educating their staff or customers. (Micro Center is an exception--I've never found someone stupid there, and only once was someone a little pushy. Still not nearly as bad as Circuit City and Best Buy can be if you get a sales-droid.)

The way Linux will become popular is places like PC's For Everyone--friendly, local computer stores, where you talk to people who know their stuff and aren't just programmed to sell you the most expensive system. I bought my notebook from them and purchased it OS-free, saving $110 over buying it with XP Home. If you combine a friendly store like that with a distro like Ubuntu that is very familiar and usable to Windows users, you could easily start converting users.

(Coincidentally, they're also very nice about supporting Linux: I installed Gentoo--not the world's stablest distro by a long shot--and when I started getting segfaults and such, they easily could have blamed me, the compiler, or my choice of distro. Instead, they fixed it in a weekend, and I had it back with working RAM. Right now it's in for a new hard drive, since it suddenly stopped working unless I rock the laptop to keep it from stalling.)

They also have a much prettier and less cluttered website than Micro Center, and a much easier (and less slimy--it shows real-time price instead of waiting for you to customize your "dream box" and then telling you it costs $4500) customization then Dell. And did I mention they support Linux?

(Some of this praise is due to the fact that, after dropping off my laptop, one of their employees caught me on the way out and sent me home with an Intel hat, polo shirt, and travel mug as thanks for all the feedback I gave them on their website. ;-)

Big retailers suck... they're slow-moving, and easily suckered into spending all their time on marketing and none on educating their staff or customers. (Micro Center is an exception--I've never found someone stupid there, and only once was someone a little pushy. Still not nearly as bad as Circuit City and Best Buy can be if you get a sales-droid.)

The way Linux will become popular is places like PC's For Everyone--friendly, local computer stores, where you talk to people who know their stuff and aren't just programmed to sell you the most expensive system. I bought my notebook from them and purchased it OS-free, saving $110 over buying it with XP Home. If you combine a friendly store like that with a distro like Ubuntu that is very familiar and usable to Windows users, you could easily start converting users.

(Coincidentally, they're also very nice about supporting Linux: I installed Gentoo--not the world's stablest distro by a long shot--and when I started getting segfaults and such, they easily could have blamed me, the compiler, or my choice of distro. Instead, they fixed it in a weekend, and I had it back with working RAM. Right now it's in for a new hard drive, since it suddenly stopped working unless I rock the laptop to keep it from stalling.)

They also have a much prettier and less cluttered website than Micro Center, and a much easier (and less slimy--it shows real-time price instead of waiting for you to customize your "dream box" and then telling you it costs $4500) customization then Dell. And did I mention they support Linux?

(Some of this praise is due to the fact that, after dropping off my laptop, one of their employees caught me on the way out and sent me home with an Intel hat, polo shirt, and travel mug as thanks for all the feedback I gave them on their website. ;-)

I just checked out the MicroCenter Linspire offering. It is truly CRAPen boxen. Might run DSL well, but Linspire? Way to give the Linux n00b a bad first impression.

Micro Center isn't just in the west. We have one right here Cambridge. It's a great store, and not for nothing: beside their excellent support, they have a section of the store dedicated to building your own with knowledgable staff, and they have great sales and rebates (with a search function and printers available all over the salesfloor). I've never paid anywhere near full price for a hard drive there, and I never had to settle for a sketchy brand, either.

http://microcenter.com/images/specials/0605a_page0 1_full.jpg Look at the lower left corner. Not a great machine, but I've been debating getting one for my mom to replace the 486. $99 if you apply for the credit card.

http://www.microcenter.com/