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They brought Linux out from the dusty closets of computer hackers and to the front lines -- of the American economy, that is.

Mandrake is now sold pre-loaded on millions of inexpensive, high-quality computers at Wal-Mart stores country-wide.

Before you diss this newbie-tailored distro, remember that it really was Mandrake, and not Red Hat, Solaris, or Slackware that brought Linux to the masses.

Business Week, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal all write about Linux based largely in part on the inclusion of Mandrake on many popular-selling computers.

I found a good alternative you might enjoy..

It comes with a 19 inch screen, a magnetic flying head audio/video recorder that has no DRM restrictions, the recordable media is extremely cheap and available everywhere, it is compatible with thousands of other already existing units, a remote control, plugs into standard cable jacks and accepts input from external sources, has a 125 channel cable ready tuner, plays DVD's, MP3's and media from CDRW's, it is self contained and can be used anywhere a 120/240 outlet is..
Sounds like a good but for only $297

I'd look into this one instead. Looks like the same machine, but it has a 16:9 screen. The other one looks like it has a 4:3 screen, which means widescreen DVDs would display letterboxes (and thus even smaller on the already tiny screen).

Check out this one at Wal-Mart. The screen's a little on the small side, but you can't beat the sub-$200 price.

So what's Commodore, anyway? What do they make?

The Commodores were a funk band.

FUD Alert! FUD Alert. I smell a lie.

I've been to walmart many times and have found M rated games right on the shelf. I think you meant to say the fact that they only carry music with censored lyrics is hypocritical when they sell firearms in the same store.

If you don't believe me, take a look at this and this . Oh yes, they carry M rated games. Its just odd that they carry M rated games and R rated movies, but no explicit music.

FUD Alert! FUD Alert. I smell a lie.

I've been to walmart many times and have found M rated games right on the shelf. I think you meant to say the fact that they only carry music with censored lyrics is hypocritical when they sell firearms in the same store.

If you don't believe me, take a look at this and this . Oh yes, they carry M rated games. Its just odd that they carry M rated games and R rated movies, but no explicit music.

When they first moved in, property taxes were low.. OS X (the new park) came out for $120, and they paid. .Mac (the tennis courts) started to charge an annual fee and they grumbled but still paid. OS X.2 (the fancy new school) came out for another $120 and then they wined (but paid). And now the iApps (the new municipal building) will require an additional $50 a year.. So while the homes and related services are beautiful, perhaps the town is going into debt fast. The next 'town meeting' at MacWorld will be interesting....

It seems to me that owning a Mac is an expensive proposition.. So much for the new 'Open Source' mentality at our favorite computer company.

The 'iApps' are selling Apple computers. People who want a word processor, emailer, and web browser are buying cheap $299 PCs at Wal-Mart . People who want a complete multimedia development machine for the kids are buying Macs.. All it will take now is for the Dell's of the world to come out with some killer software as part of the purchase price and we can kiss Apple's days goodbye.

Apple's been seriously nickel and diming their bread and butter.. I think they take loyalty for their product for granted.

Done. Here's what the hardware looks like. The Wal-Mart site seems to have sold out of these PCs with a preload of Linux-Mandrake or a preload of Lycoris Linux. They still have Lindows-loaded PCs of this type available, but I really am not inclined to call Lindows Linux because there's so much wrong with it.

Why aren't they making money?

People like me who download it for free and install it on the half-dozen machines within their reach are a loss of market share, but there are millions of new PCs sold each year. You would think a small company could make a few bucks on a tiny part of that market.

I recommend the R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid. It's a great little gift for under $80.

While it doesn't exhibit advanced robotics, it does have some pretty advanced features for a "toy" including infared motion detection, actual sonar navigation, limited voice recognition, and a beer holder!

For more details and pictures, check out the mini-review.

I recommend the R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid. It's a great little gift for under $80.

While it doesn't exhibit advanced robotics, it does have some pretty advanced features for a "toy" including infared motion detection, actual sonar navigation, limited voice recognition, and a beer holder!

For more details and pictures, check out the mini-review.

I'm buying two of those Microtel PCs from Walmart.com for my two children (10 and 7). My oldest has been bugging me for her own PC for awhile now, and she has even asked that if she does get one, she wants that "guy with a red hat" installed on it. Maybe I'm working on two future /.'ers! Scary. I'll warn them now ...

Exactly what the more rational and less rabid of us have said all along. Linux has its place, which for most people is not the desktop.

Are you better off buying a $49 DVD player on the expectation that it will only last a year or so?

I wouldn't knock the cheap equitpment. Personally, I think that $69 is a really good deal for
this, especially when combined with this feature.

Lets see a $500 dollar Sony player do that!

Assuming Windows OEM costs $75, that $399 could be $324 without MS Windows. For your $399 example that is roughly 19% of the total purchase price.

Compare equivelent Walmart Microtels
With Windows
Without Windows

$100 difference which is a 33% markup.

Assuming Windows OEM costs $75, that $399 could be $324 without MS Windows. For your $399 example that is roughly 19% of the total purchase price.

Compare equivelent Walmart Microtels
With Windows
Without Windows

$100 difference which is a 33% markup.

Walmart I'm not sure if they are that cheap on their website but they are that cheap here, but regardless he's right anytime you spend any type of money you in essence say go ahead do it some more we don't mind. Now I realize that most people arn't gonna go all out and boycot the movie/music industry but would it really hurt you to cut back till they hurt bad enough to realize we don't like what they are doing? It's time we do something to say hey enough is enough we won't restrict us anymore, there is a reason they call this a free country

It just means that no one else can sell an Land/Sea RC Camouflage toy for $58.88.

this

# VIA C3 800 MHz processor offers comparable performance to the 800 MHz Celeron processor
# 133 MHz frontside bus
# 256 MB SDRAM, expandable to 1 GB
# 133 MHz memory speed
# 40 GB Ultra-ATA 100 hard drive, 5400 rpm (total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment)
# 52x CD-ROM drive
# 3.5-inch floppy disk drive
# Integrated AGP 4x graphics
# Up to 8 MB shared video memory
# Integrated AC '97 sound
# 56 Kbps modem
# Integrated 10/100 Ethernet connection
# Micro ATX tower case (14"D x 7"W x 14"H)
# Available drive bays: one 5.25-inch external, one 3.5-inch external
# Total Slots: 1 PCI
# Available PCI Slots: None
# High-speed serial port
# Parallel port
# 2 front and 2 rear USB ports
# Game port
# 104-key keyboard
# 2-button mouse with wheel
# Audio port (line-in, line-out, mic-in)
# Stereo speakers
# LindowsOS operating system (pre-installed)
# Software includes mail, word processor, Web browser/file manager, address book, calculator, CD player, MP3 Player, PowerPoint viewer, Word viewer, Excel viewer and image viewer
# Games include Tron, Battleship, Poker, Minesweeper, Potato Guy
# Special Offer - Select up to 10+ software applications at no charge from theLindows.com Click-N-Run Warehouse "Starter Aisle"
# 1-year warranty, return to Microtel

Okay, so $50, but close enough, eh?

Model with modem

Wal-Mart certainly does sell un-weenied M-rated games. I got GTA3 there a couple months ago and is still definitley M (blood, hookers, swearing, etc.).

LindowsOS operating system (pre-installed)

Software includes mail, word processor, Web browser/file manager, address book, calculator, CD player, MP3 Player, PowerPoint viewer, Word viewer, Excel viewer and Image viewer Games include Tron, Battleship, Poker, Minesweeper, Potato Guy

Special Offer - Select up to 10+ software applications at no charge from the Lindows.com Click-N-Run Warehouse "Starter Aisle"If I were to get one of these, I think I would keep my 89 cents, keep the 3.5 inch internal bay, loose the Lindows and use one of the ISO's I've got at home to install my preferred OS. I don't need no stinking Click-N-Run Starter Aisle to get the software I need!

LindowsOS operating system (pre-installed)

Software includes mail, word processor, Web browser/file manager, address book, calculator, CD player, MP3 Player, PowerPoint viewer, Word viewer, Excel viewer and Image viewer Games include Tron, Battleship, Poker, Minesweeper, Potato Guy

Special Offer - Select up to 10+ software applications at no charge from the Lindows.com Click-N-Run Warehouse "Starter Aisle"If I were to get one of these, I think I would keep my 89 cents, keep the 3.5 inch internal bay, loose the Lindows and use one of the ISO's I've got at home to install my preferred OS. I don't need no stinking Click-N-Run Starter Aisle to get the software I need!

"I think a brand spanking new SunBlade can be had for like 999 dollars."


After double-checking Sun, I managed to find a Sun Blade 100 for $995 USD. The system "boasts a 64-bit high-performance UltraSPARC® IIe processor, provides plenty of internal disk and memory, and features a fast PCI bus for enhanced I/O. It provides both USB and IEEE1394 interfaces for connectivity to a wide variety of third-party peripherals. And with graphics options that include the on-board Sun PGX64[tm] graphics accelerator". The $995 model has a 500Mhz CPU, 20GB 7200rpm hard disk, and 128mb of PC100 memory (max of 2gigs).

After sitting and thinking about... I'd prob'ly save myself $600 and just buy a Walmart branded Desktop/LX system. Seriously, there are only two possible reason to purchase a Blade 100: A) the coolness factor of having a Blade sitting there, or B) you need to run very specific software which absolutely requires using Sun boxen.

Sun earns its bread 'n butter off of the incredible stability and (to an extent) security Solaris boxen have. The redundancy features of their larger servers is legendary. But as a desktop, there is none of the redundancy features found in their server lines. So, that leaves performance: While the UltraSPARC II is no slouch, and UltraSPARCs have certain nifty features that x86's lack... that does not change the fact that Sun's processors have never been speed demons. The fact that this processor is a 64-bit design does little, if anything at all, to make this a more appealing system for any form of desktop work... I'll explain: this system still maxes out with 2 gigs of RAM(not even the 4gigs that a good x86 board can do). That fact alone negates 90% of the reason anyone would ever need a 64-bit machine. So the extra 32-bits the processor has is basically wasted real-estate. What's more, pushing 64-bit data to and from memory will obviously take more time than it would to push 32-bit data.

All in all, I can't see any reason to waste so much money just to have a Sun box. Comparing a Blade 100 against a $350 Walmart box, I see that I can get easily twice the performance for nearly a third of the price. And I would expect this little Linux box to be nearly as stable as Solaris 8 is.

At any rate, that's just my 2 worth. Hope I didn't step on anyone's toes. If you can find an actual, logical reason to spend the money for this Blade 100 that I haven't listed, please feel free to let me know.

"I think a brand spanking new SunBlade can be had for like 999 dollars."


After double-checking Sun, I managed to find a Sun Blade 100 for $995 USD. The system "boasts a 64-bit high-performance UltraSPARC® IIe processor, provides plenty of internal disk and memory, and features a fast PCI bus for enhanced I/O. It provides both USB and IEEE1394 interfaces for connectivity to a wide variety of third-party peripherals. And with graphics options that include the on-board Sun PGX64[tm] graphics accelerator". The $995 model has a 500Mhz CPU, 20GB 7200rpm hard disk, and 128mb of PC100 memory (max of 2gigs).

After sitting and thinking about... I'd prob'ly save myself $600 and just buy a Walmart branded Desktop/LX system. Seriously, there are only two possible reason to purchase a Blade 100: A) the coolness factor of having a Blade sitting there, or B) you need to run very specific software which absolutely requires using Sun boxen.

Sun earns its bread 'n butter off of the incredible stability and (to an extent) security Solaris boxen have. The redundancy features of their larger servers is legendary. But as a desktop, there is none of the redundancy features found in their server lines. So, that leaves performance: While the UltraSPARC II is no slouch, and UltraSPARCs have certain nifty features that x86's lack... that does not change the fact that Sun's processors have never been speed demons. The fact that this processor is a 64-bit design does little, if anything at all, to make this a more appealing system for any form of desktop work... I'll explain: this system still maxes out with 2 gigs of RAM(not even the 4gigs that a good x86 board can do). That fact alone negates 90% of the reason anyone would ever need a 64-bit machine. So the extra 32-bits the processor has is basically wasted real-estate. What's more, pushing 64-bit data to and from memory will obviously take more time than it would to push 32-bit data.

All in all, I can't see any reason to waste so much money just to have a Sun box. Comparing a Blade 100 against a $350 Walmart box, I see that I can get easily twice the performance for nearly a third of the price. And I would expect this little Linux box to be nearly as stable as Solaris 8 is.

At any rate, that's just my 2 worth. Hope I didn't step on anyone's toes. If you can find an actual, logical reason to spend the money for this Blade 100 that I haven't listed, please feel free to let me know.

Corrections and additions to my post above:

"...file serving Microsoft OS clients using Linux ..." should have been "BSD or Linux", of course.

I'd like a book to show me exactly how to set up a $200 Microtel PC to be a web server. The total cost of the PC, book, and shipping would be under $300. I'd plug it into a switch connected to DSL and use it with a fast-switch DNS service as a backup when my web host is having problems. I'd use it as a test machine for CGI programs. I'd host low-traffic web sites. It would be great knowing that I was using an extremely secure OS set up by an expert. I would read the book to make adjustments.

What is the true cost of a $50 book that requires 80 hours of work finding additional information? Answer: Thousands of dollars. All the books I find at Powell's technical bookstore drag me over the coals. That's no way to treat a customer.

Okay, now I need a file server for workstations running Microsoft operating systems. In any real-world application, I won't mind paying $300 again for another machine and another book. I certainly don't want to take chances messing with the web server. I would just plug the 2nd computer into another port on the network switch. I'd want true plug and play, so that the biggest problem would be convincing a customer that I was serious when I quoted the cost.

So now I'm really impressed. I've run into situations recently where two ISPs have had problems at different times with their mail servers. I want a backup mail server, with web mail, so that corporate communication is not completely disrupted when the main, commercial mail server is down. Another $300 for another computer and another book is a trivial, trivial expense compared to employees having trouble communicating. I'd issue everyone an emergency mail account and tell them to use it when there was trouble.

Total cost for hardware and books? Less than $1,000, and each computer is a backup for the others.

Once I've got three systems running OpenBSD, I would be in the market for more advanced books. If the three books I'd already bought had served me well, I would want a book from the same publisher.

"because most of us couldn't go without movies/music forever"

Well from time to time, I become an idealist. I think that the "couldn't" above really should be "choose not to". There are several notable (but false) exceptions:

1. "I have kids that I can't keep from watching teletubbies/power rangers/etc as well as buy them associated toys" I can imagine that childrens' influence (whining) can be quite prolific, if they whined "Come ON pops... I WANT to take crack", I can't imagine you would succumb very easily.
2. "I have to as part of my job because I am in the entertainment industry" I guess this is somewhat legitimate, though it seems to me that your choice of careers is indeed a "choice" and if you are characterizing this career with "Cartel" maybe you have chosen the wrong career.
3. "Every time I drive to work, I see billboards pitching the latest and greatest stuff to me. I can't avoid seeing these" But you can avoid buying them.
4. "Every time I turn on the TV, I see ads pitching the latest and greatest stuff to me. I can't avoid seeing these" But you can avoid buying them. And I guess it should be somewhat obvious, but you can avoid watching TV
5. "But what about the MS-tax?" While somewhat difficult to avoid, it is possible through Dell and Walmart to name some major ones.

If I use software to block ads, it's my choice. If the webmasters want to put up a pathetic attempt to keep me out, then I don't have to browse their site.

And by the way, I'm going to put out a shameess plug for the shareware author that makes the most awesome ad blocking software on the 'Net in my opinion, Ad Muncher. Thanks, Murray! Ad Muncher (It's *tiny* -Less than 100k- Blocks almost every kind of ad on the 'Net, as well as preventing webmaster from disabling your right mouse button, obscuring the status bar, or moving/resizing the browser window) And it's non-expiring, non-nag shareware. I beta test new versions, so I got a free registration.

If I want to spend my money online, I'll do it when I'm good and ready to. For instance, I'm moving into a new home in January, so I went over to Wal-Mart to browse for, and maybe purchase some items. Why, if I run ad-blocking software, do I shop there and spend money? Because that website relates directly to a purchase (or purchases) that I need or want to make at the moment.

I specifically allow a few sites to send me unobtrusive advertising, and these sites pay me in points that I can accumulate for free items, in cash, or with free DVD's, for example.(MyPoints comes to mind..)

At Walmart.com, the $200 Microtel PC. 800 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 10 gig HD. Add linux. Add TV-out card or large monitor. Do lots more stuff than you could hope to do with the X-Box.

Sorry, but the days of the X-Box being a cheap PC are over. MS still loses money but the companies whom it buys the parts for surely are not. And I'd rather have a PC whose insides are not backwards (in order to prevent me from making it a PC).

Maybe a GNU/Linux mod on the X-Box is cool, but it is not functional.

Ok, I'll bite.

Wal-Mart.com has two different computers for $200.

$300 (as quoted in the story) - $100 (as in this guys post) = $200 (Wal-mart.com computer)

For comparison I did a quick price check and for 3000 miles of shelf space on 5x26.25" bookcases (best price/size ratio I could find), that's about $29M worth of bookcases. Using harddisk drives was a smart decision.

Write to them to complain instead of writing on Shashdot. Are you unhappy about this misuse of an already existing law? Sale prices are facts, not copyrighted material. Courts have already ruled that facts devoid of any creativity (such as telephone books) can be copied.


Wal-Mart

From main web site, click Help (at top). Click Company Information (bottom). Click Contact Stores and Home Office Customer Service (bottom left).

Contact


Target

From main web site, click Help (way bottom). Click either Contact Us About Online Services (left middle), or Contact Us About Target (left further down).

Target

Target


Best Buy

From main web site, click Contact Us (left bar, bottom). Click General Questions about BestBuy.com.

Best Buy


Staples

From main web site, click Help (top right). Click Contact Us. Click Something Else.

Staples


These pages have a SUBMIT button for a reason. (because they want you to submit to them.)

If you don't write, then I'll assume you are perhaps happy about this.

What the hell "technical measure protect content" did these guys "circumvent" in order to run afoul of the DMCA ... opening Wal-Mart.com with a web browser is legally the equivalent of opening a newspaper to page 6A ... and republishing prices is legally the same as gossip!

Sounds to me like somebody needs to tell these retailers to piss uphill and then, if they get sued, move for sanctions against the retailers' lawyers.

Damn-fool insurance lackies wail and moan about "frivolous personal injury lawsuits" ... THIS (if it wound up in court) is the definition of a frivolous lawsuit.

Now, the dumbass post called the article: "This exciting new $199 Desktop/LX Certified MicroTel PC will be available for purchase exclusively from the WalMart Online Lycoris Catalog."

So Joe Blow thinks : "I want to be able to access the internet. I will buy a computer. I will buy the $200 computer from Wal-Mart. This computer is only sold on the internet. I want to be able to access the internet. I will buy a computer."....

Maybe the dumbass poster assumed that you would have read the article. I guess he didn't think you would be a dumbass.

• 200 MHz CPU
• 32 MB RAM
• 24 MB storage
• 240x320 color display
• Price: $300

Specs for Microtel PC with 15-inch monitor:

• 800 MHz CPU
• 128 MB RAM
• 10 GB storage
• 1024x768 color display
• Price: $320

The specs of the Microtel PC are so much better, and the price so similar, that I wonder whether a desktop form factor would have been a better design choice. Obviously, the Microtel PC is not portable, but according to the article the computer would be used to "access the Internet, perform transactions, keep track of agricultural prices, and educate children". I don't think portability is a must for those functions.

The only real advantage that the Simputer provides is a built-in text-to-speech feature, but this could be added to the Microtel for free.

I'm not saying that aid agencies should be buying PCs from Wal-Mart and shipping them off to developing countries, but I do think the developers of the Simputer should have put their efforts into producing a similar desktop computer for the villages of, for example, sub-Saharan Africa. The smallest of these villages have no electricity, but many often do, as I learned from my recent experience in the Peace Corps. Thus the benefit of the Simputer's rechargeable batteries isn't really a huge advantage. And if, as the article claims, these villagers want to access the Internet, they're going to need a source of electricity for that anyway.

Even if the Simputer had hardware just as powerful as a desktop PC, there is still the problem of software. Most software today simply cannot run on a 240x320 display. All of these educational and business-transaction programs that the article talked about would have to be redesigned especially for the Simputer. On the other hand, a desktop computer with a full-size monitor opens up the entire world of existing applications. Also, by learning how to use standard desktop computers (and standard software like word processors and spreadsheets), the user is doing more than just calculating the price of his crop. He's picking up an additional skill - computer literacy - that can be applied elsewhere. That's something I tried to accomplish during my Peace Corps service.

But then, that's the real problem, isn't it? Not computer literacy but basic literacy. Providing a Simputer to developing countries is treating the symptoms of the disease, not the cause. These folks need jobs, skills, and education, not processing power. In the village where I worked as a Peace Corps volunteer, the average teacher's salary was around $75 per month. For the price of one Simputer, a village could hire someone to teach reading skills to an entire class for four months.

The Simputer may be a good idea for a few select cases, but overall I think it's a misguided effort.

Trevor

Here's how to see the list of the Walmart
Mandrake PC's.

Think about it. This is WalMart telling Joe Sixpack that Linux is the way to go. In their words "Desktop/LX is an exciting new Linux-based operating system (OS) that offers a user-friendly, powerful and open alternative to Microsoft Windows." Hundreds of thousands of kids are going to be doing their homework on those boxes.

Wal-Mart also ships both low-end and mid-range Intel and AMD systems, with Linux or no operating system installed

Wal-Mart also ships both low-end and mid-range Intel and AMD systems, with Linux or no operating system installed

Even though the price of Windows is the same, or has risen is something that the consumer mostly doesn't see directly.

Give it a little more time. They'll see how much Windows costs. The price of Windows has gotten so high relative to the cost of hardware that manufacturers are starting to see a competitive opportunity. Plus, the anti-trust effort *has* made it harder for Microsoft to retaliate against vendors who offer alternative OSes, dual boot machines, etc.

All of this means that consumers will begin to understand that Windows is expensive.

Actually, Wal-Mart sells the "Duck Brand" ducT tape. Which means that 90% of consumers now believe it's actually supposed to be called "DucK Tape", just like all tissue is Kleenex and all carbonated tooth rot serum is Coke.

Just another of the many reasons to protest Wal-Mart, if you're so inclined.

What does this have to do with Harry Potter? Oops. Better not use my +1 this time around.

Wal-Mart sells Linux boxes (and Lindows boxes) starting at $199.99. That is less than the cost of Windows XP Home. Given, for 200$ you don't get too much computer, but it would be more than enough for wordprocessing/webbrowsing/AIM/e-mail.

First off I think OEM's pay something like $15 per liscense for windows. That means if there were any discount it would only be $15 at most.
Then why am I charged closer to 100 for it?

Second you need to look at the fact it costs far more to make a computer to different specs. That means a computer with no OS costs MORE to make, that means that you actually get a discount for ordering your computer the same way that a billion other users ordered it.

Not my concern if your manufacturing methods are not optimal. Seems to me the last step in manufacturing a computer is to copy the software on. If it costs you more to not put software on a computer, there is something wrong with your company!

Last you should examine the price, how many $999 or $1199 or $1399 computers have you see on the market? You think that is a direct refelection of the cost of goods? No not really, computer companies pick numbers that look good from a marketing stanpoint when they set retail prices. So if computers all came OS free then you would see computers for the same price as when you buy windows.

Apparently not!

Just $0.02 (plus two hundred bucks, give or take).

The other contender is Walmart.com. The price is the same, and you have to pay $3 shipping, but if you preorder, you get a free t-shirt.

I'm not affiliated with either, just sharing my findings (and hoping if someone else knows of better deals, they'll post back!)

The other contender is Walmart.com. The price is the same, and you have to pay $3 shipping, but if you preorder, you get a free t-shirt.

I'm not affiliated with either, just sharing my findings (and hoping if someone else knows of better deals, they'll post back!)

http://www.viavpsd.com/product/Download.jsp?mother boardId=21

Note also the upcoming EPIA-M motherboard, which features USB2, FireWire, and 933MHz clock speed.

As for serial consoles, it appears that the Linux Bios has been ported to it:

http://www.trustytech.com/TMBM-MINI-ITX.htm

That would not only give you serial console management, but also very fast Linux boots.

How much would a similar 3-iface Mini-ITX system cost?

Pretty much the same amount: motherboard, CPU, case, PCI riser, screws, cables, and brick power supply from CaseOutlet.com costs a little under $200. Add to that a $20 CF-to-IDE adapter and the DWL-520. If you want to use lower-cost 5 1/4" drives, you can get a slightly larger case for slightly more money.

Another choice is the WalMart Linux PC, which appears to be using same motherboard, but for $228 also gives you a minitower, a CD-ROM drive, and a 10G disk, and perhaps more fans than you like.

walmart - pc's without os

thor

...some prodigal math genius at Wal-Mart the other day, because he appeared to be no more than 6 years old, yet he was playing the EXACT same song on a Kawasaki synthesizer.