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Another Ars Ultimate Budget Box
Some nice Friday afternoon reading for you; Ars Technica has another go at the Ultimate Budget Box, a cheap no-frills PC for minimum cash output. From the article: "Look around inside most corporate offices, where most computers need to handle a few Office documents and light Internet use. They don't need to be able to burn CDs or handle 3D-intensive games, but they do need to be reliable and affordable. Lots of consumers out there probably want a similar box--an appliance that lets them get onto the Internet, take care of e-mail, and create a few documents. For them, being able to burn a CD-RW would probably be nice, but anything beyond that is an extra. Low-cost, reliability, and quality are key. That is what the Ultimate Budget Box is about: not skimping on components, but not loading it up with features either." The final price? US$525.46
I AM A FISH!
I don't see how a $500 computer is the 'ultimate budget box' -- seeing as how dell, hp, and your neighborhood shop all sell boxes that "surf the internet" and run office apps for $300-$400.
Maybe I should have read the article, because I feel like I missed something here....
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Here's a quick glance at the final specs:
80 gig SATA HD
DVD+-RW
520 megs DDR
Sempron 2800
Onboard GeForce 6100
15" LCD
+case+speakers+keyboard+mouse
If all I want is CD burning capability, internet surfing, and word processing, for myself or, more likely, for a family member... Dude, they're getting a Dell.
They keep listing these at ~150 for the board and processor. Fry's regularly sells (in their mid-week ad) a $69 board AND processor with video. This weekend's "better" Sempron + Processor + Video (x200) is $119.
The Deskstar 80 is nice, but 250 Deskstars have been as low as $49 after rebate, and there are currently 200 gig drives that are free after some rebate-price-matching -- See places like Fatwallet.com.
2.53Ghz Celeron, 533 FSB
512MB RAM
XP Home
80 GB Drive
CD-RW drive
15" Flat Panel LCD
The price? $399. Why, again, would I pay $525 for this "ultimate" budget box?
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx ?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DB110RF1&s=dhs
/512MB DDR / 80GB HD/ 15in flat panel /XP home
... I usually steer clients towards OEM boxes ... because It is impossible for me to make it worth my time to build a budget box for them.
celeron D 325 / intel extreme graphics 2
however one huge and lame problem would be only 3x PCI slots (no agp or PCI express slot for video upgrades)
but if you didn't need a gaming pc.. this thing is like $437.94 shipped (free shipping right now) when it comes to low end pc's
that said if the computer was for my personal use... i would build it rather than get the dell.
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
10 years ago, I would've said to build, rather than buy, a new box. Today ... I cannot with good faith say the same thing to anyone asking from an 'end-user' point of view. Generally speaking nearly every black box PC on the market is quite usuable and is well within 'appliance' price ranges. I noticed the other day at BestBuy that 'cleaning' a PC costs $250, whereas you could purchase the 'coupon computer of the week' for about $50 more.
Simply put, for end users, just about any black box PC is going to be able to compete with a system like this, and probably come with more than you need for the same price. Just my 2 cents.
harryk
think before you write, it'll save me moderator points.
Most of the big vendors (HP, Dell) offer system "bundles" that offer similar specs for $100-200 cheaper.
I recently purchased an HP CTO bundle through CompUSA. After rebates (yeah, I know, rebates suck) it was $300 + $89 (shipping/handling) + tax. The specs are very close to the Ars system (faster CPU, no DVD burner, 40G drive). It would have cost an extra $30-40 to upgrade the optical drive and hard drive, but the ones I got are all I needed for the "appliance" tasks I an using the machine for.
Plus, I didn't have assemble anything (not like that's difficult, though).
Reading Slashdot is ruining my spelling and grammar.
Not to nitpick, but XP Home actually isn't included in Ars' price. It's only mentioned after the $525 total. So with XP Home, the total comes to $606. You're right though, it does include the LCD.
Certainly, you'll rock at games like Tetris and Minesweeper!
Nevermind the fact that they don't include tax and shipping on those parts.
I can get a Dell Dimension 3100 through Dell Small Business for $500 (+ $24 shipping) with the following:
Processor: P4 Processor 521 w/HT Technology (2.8GHz,800FSB)
OS: Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory: 512MB DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz -1 DIMM
Dell Service & Support Plans: 90 Day On-site Economy Plan
Keyboard: Dell USB Keyboard
Mouse: Dell® 2-button USB mouse
Hard Drive: 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Monitor: 17 inch E176FP Analog Flat Panel
Video Card: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Sound: Integrated 2.0 Channel High Definition Audio
Network Interface: Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
-Nick
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
They...suck...
Seriously, $500 is RIDICULOUS for a PC of that calibur (unless your talking laptops). I can build a moderate gaming computer for that. A no-frills-just-types-prints-and-surfs PC should be possible at around $300.
Why do you need 80GB for internet and word processing again? These people are idiots, and I feel sorry for people that really do just want the basics and go out and build this thing...waste of money...
Gawd, no kidding. I'm typing this on a 19" panasonic monitor, 2 years old, at 1800 x whatever I got for $5 at goodwill. I bought a $4 really nice server with a P4-75 and put in modern guts I got for $100 at a used computer store, some $1 fans, some $2 video card with a fan on it and an ultra2-scsi3 raid array that set me back a whopping $70 off ebay.
$300 gets you a new computer all decked out in these parts, but the cases are so cheap and thin and razor sharo (ouch) I'd rather mod old stuff, where old is a relative thing.
$500. Make me laugh. I've bought running cosmetically near-perfect BMW's for that much.
Need Mercedes parts ?
You know, I don't understand what people mean by budget box anymore. One of my computers at home is an 800Mhz Duron with 256MB and it does everything they "require" from their budget box, it's the computer my wife uses to email, surf, etc. when one of the kids is playing on the "good" box. She hasn't complained. I use it when I crawl out of my office.
Eliminating games and high end applications (like video editing), you could do with a lot less of a machine than that one, even.
I mean, come on... maybe they are used to XP or something, because I remember upgrading my Win2K box a couple of years ago to 512MB specifically to do video editing, and now they are saying you can't do with less than 512? With prices so cheap, it's definately worthwhile, but to claim that you need more than 256MB... to do what? Surf? Email? You've got to be kidding me. That's like saying you need an SUV to do grocery shopping... on the other hand, it seems a lot of people really do believe that, too.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
The grandparent post said they could build a gaming PC for this much (with some scrounging), while the parent post disputed this. I've been playing BF1942 and even Battlefield 2 on a PC I built from scratch 2 years ago for ~ $700. The only components I scrounged were the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I'll bet I could build the same system today for $550.
A JETR9250R
The low-end graphics cards at my local store, Central Computer, have 256MB of video RAM and very capable cores, and now cost well under $80. Here's an OEM Radeon 9250 for $70
http://centralcomputer.com/itemdetail.asp?item=VG
Games need decent video cards, but do not need much else. I'm running an old AMD Athlon XP 2500 and it doesn't break a sweat on BF2. The closest I can find to this dinosaur, the Sempron 2600, is $72 retail from NewEgg.
--Pat
I actually sold my Mac Mini because I did not like the OS, to build a new Linux/x86 computer out of almost precisely the same components as in the article, except for a few things: What I liked the most about the Mini was that it was 1) small, 2) stylish and 3) quiet.
..
1) is almost impossible with PC components, if you want any reasonable performance. I will be choosing a MATX board, but I am trying to find one that is smaller than 24.4×22 cm and which still has Firewire and DVI/TV out like the Mac Mini.
The PSU will be external like for the Mini. (btw. Mac Mini's PSU gets very hot.. and it does not have any sink drain either)
2) I am solving by building the case myself. I am no stranger to working with aluminum.
3) I am trying to solve by replacing the internal heat sinks and chassi fan(s) with one large heat sink that will become one side of the case. Heat transfer from each component to the heatsink will be through copper blocks, but some heatpipe-like features in these blocks would be better.
Of course, this decision requires that all i/o is integrated.
But there are still drawbacks compared to the Mini, while costing as much:
- still twice as big as the Mac Mini,
- the Mac Mini has dedicated graphics memory while the integrated PC boards share memory between CPU and GPU with reduced performance.
- the Mac has a slot-in DVD. I can not find any reasonably-priced slot-in DVD burner anywhere close... (I live in Sweden, btw)
"We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
......Apple's already got that covered. The basic Mac mini is $499....
MacMall sells this for $474, but gives an extra $20 rebate, a free printer and a 4x5 graphics tablet.
Instead of a crappy MS XP home you get a real OS, better than XP-professional and you also get the iLife programs.
Add the same keyboard, monitor, speakers and mouse as listed and you get a media capable computer that'll also work great for browsing the web and simple office jobs. The mini is silent, but how much noise does that 300 watt power supply make? The mini is run by a small 85 watt power supply.
Sometime this year the new Intel powered mini will make this so called "Ultimate Budget Box" totally obsolete and expensive.
All theory is gray
Honestly, the component prices listed in this article are very, very conservative, but actually RTFA and you get a good idea of what to go for when putting together a SOLID (not CHEAP/CRAP) PC.
I put together a PC with similar components for my mom, and the final price (not including a monitor because it doesn't make sense to pay to ship a monitor) was $180. In the Silicon Valley I have access to a lot of surplus computer parts places, but anywhere else you could find prices just as good or better through websites or mail-order.
This article is more of a guideline to building the ultimate budget box, not a frickin' blueprint or Bill Of Materials (for you manufacturing types out there). It basically points you in the right direction so you can avoid a lot of the research I had to go through to find the same components, but you do still have to use your BRAIN.
Nothing in life is free, after all...
I do 90% of my internet surfing on a 500mhz celeron. That has a street value of what? $5?