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PC Prices Reach $300 Milestone
Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "Prices for fully loaded, name-brand PCs have slipped below $300 in the last few weeks, a major milestone. 'Ten or so years ago, when PCs cost five or even 10 times what they do now, it was common for analysts to say that they would never become a staple in homes until they were priced the way consumer electronics were, usually defined as costing less than $300,' Lee Gomes writes in the Wall Street Journal. 'In the days when PCs were $2,000 and even more, that target seemed to be something of a fantasy. Now, PCs cost less than some telephones--and less than a lot of TV sets--and can be found in roughly three-quarters of U.S. homes. But while they are priced like consumer electronics, the machines still aren't even remotely as easy to use, and the trend lines there aren't particularly encouraging.'"
Interesting article...but it seemed to fail to mention one important dynamic.
As time passes, operating systems and applications become progressively larger and more complex, requiring correspondingly more robust hardware to run on. I doubt that the 'entry level PC' (whatever that means) of a year ago is equal to the 'entry level PC' of today.
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
'Ten or so years ago, when PCs cost five or even 10 times what they do now,
I got a fully loaded (ie Windows and such) for ~$300 about eight years ago. It was (and still is..runs like a champ) an Emachines which I would call a major brand. These prices have been around for a while.
You have to remember that, although low, we have also had some inflation over the last 20-30 years. So, that $300 PC is more like a $150 machine of a couple of decades ago. Compare that with the VIC-20, which cost about $400 in 1981 (with 64k of memory).
Some OEM's TRIED to do this, until MS threatened to never let them sell Windows again... then they stopped.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
No, you pretty much missed his point, which is actually typical. 90% of the home media devices out there are a pain in the ass to use (if it is even possible) if you use anything other than Windows. Of the ten percent that remain, you are better off getting a Mac than a using a Linux box, because at the very least you can haul the rig into an Apple Store and the folks at the Genius Bar will help you get it up and running.
If I were to set my parents up with Linux, I would end up being their sole source for tech support. I spend enough of my life supporting computers as it stands now. At least if my friends or family choose either Windows or OS X, I can point them to affordable alternative sources of support. Neither Red Hat or Novell handles home user support very well (although I have been pleased with their corporate offerings), much less the groups of holier than though geeks who make up the online Linux community, particularly when the response of said geeks is to call someone full of shit and then present no solution to the problem other than to spout some buzzwords. Incidentally, I know plenty of people burning DVDs and capturing VCR home movie quality video over USB2 just fine using Windows XP -- perhaps the poster wasn't as clueless as you assume?
You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are.
-- Colonel Adolphus Busch
My wife recently switched from moz to ff and imported everything. She had some problems with several sites until she redid her profile. In the end, iirc, it turned out that she had some problems with an old version of flashblock. Make sure you have 1.3.1 and dont autoupdate it.
GQ-7000 (Fry's cheapy brand)
:)
Pentium 3.0.
motherboard video
Generic motherboard, case.
Speakers, mouse, keyboard.
DVD burner. 4.7 gig dual standard.
256mb ram.
--- I plugged in my home network cable and turned it on.
It started up and immediately worked.
I could see all other computers on my network.
I put in DVD's and they played.
I could burn DVD's.
The neighbors 3 blocks over called to complain about the noise.
--- Since then, I've made the following upgrades.
1) replaced the ram with a stick of 512mb mushkin ($29).
2) Installed two silent fans ($9 and $12). One replaced the noisy fan that was screwed to the heatsink- I kept the original heat sink.
3) New video card (but the 9250 is NOT dx9 like it says on the box so it's going back).
---
Out of the box, the GQ-7000 is a noisy good computer for playing, burning dvds, browsing the internet, and playing games that do not need heavy video performance. It is NOT suitable for modern games.
---
With MINOR upgrades ($29+$21+~$169), you have a very quiet, 3.0ghz computer with a 1 generation old (geo6600 or similar ati) graphics. Furthermore, you don't have to install the OS and you have a restore CD to quickly reinstall the OS later.
---
$300 computers are usually celeron/semprons in my experience and too far back. But at $400, you can get last year's state of the art performance without overclockiing.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.