Budget PC Shopping, how low can you go?

[SiliconJon]

I've been shopping for a good place to buy several (4-8) very low-priced PC's. Seems many people are paying $1000 for PC's that they only use for typing & surfing. So of course I know many who want a computer for such, but even $500 is a bit much for such needs. I didn't find much of interest on PriceWatch, as the folks who did have killer deals on such barebones had no rep, or a rep I would not consider good.

So how about a thread on who can get the parts for a system for the cheapest? And rebates don't count as I want to buy several, which few rebates would allow. Here are the new parts guidelines:

All parts are to be new
All parts should be available from the same vendor
Parts needed:

Case
Power Supply
CD-R/RW drive
Hard Drive (10gig minimum)
Motherboard
Grafx w/TV out
Audio
CPU (1Ghz+)
RAM (128MB+)
Wheel Mouse (PS/2 or USB)
Keyboard (PS/2 or USB)

My aim is $175 for the hardware...can it be done?

[StayingOccupied]

i dont think it can be done for brand new... maybe for 275$, but who knows, maybe somebody can put together a list for ya

[teengeek88]

i shipping and handing included?

[Atomic Rooster]

ComputerGeeks has quite a few selections for between $299 and $399 with all that you're looking for.

[bombledmonk]

All from Mwave.com

MB-BA19875-BA03057-BA13301-- 1 ($50.00 Mail-In Manufacturer Rebate Available till 4/22/04)
SOYO K7VME BUNDLE W/ COOLING FAN & (AMD XP 2000+(266Mhz); NO MEMORY; NO TESTING) $108.00 $108.00



AA25780 1 HP INTERNET KEYBOARD PS/2 #5069-3553 SILVER/BLACK $7.90 $7.90



BA19896-BA01080 1 AHANIX X125 INTEGRA (BLACK) MID TOWER W/ 350W POWER SUPPLY 4x5.25" 1x3.5" 6x3.5"(hidden) (EXTRA 80mm FAN(BLACK)) $25.50 $25.50



1753171 1 KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/128 128MB PC2100 266MHZ CL2.5 DDR DIMM $24.00 $24.00



AA22410--- 1 SAMSUNG 52X/24X/52X IDE INTERNAL CDRW DRIVE W/SW (White box) (NO AUDIO CABLE; NO DATA CABLE; NO MEDIA) $29.90 $29.90



AA18530- 1 MAXTOR 30.0GB DX6E030L0 EIDE ULTRA-ATA 133 8.5MS 7200RPM 2MB BUFFER (Bare drive) (*Limit 5pcs/customer) (NO DATA CABLE) $52.00 $52.00



1151235 1 KENSINGTON VALUMOUSE SCROLL 3-BTTN PS2/SERIAL $7.75 $7.75



Sub-Total $255.05
Shipping & Handling or Will Call Fee $32.47
Order Total $287.52
-$50 rebate
=237.52

That is the best I could do off of one site. The only thing that it doesn't have is TV out.

You could cut out maybe $30 between the Hard drive and CDRW and you could get 256MB of ram for the price if you go elsewhere.

Plus you didn't specify if that $175 included shipping for the hardware, I did anyways. I'm guessing you could get it down to $200 shipped.

[SiliconJon]

I can't seem to get it under $250 myself...I'll keep looking. (and the place I got it to that cheap has a rep that would not allow me to order from them anyway...)

Make's me wonder how much work it would be to turn an Xbox into a desktop machine...hmmmm (can't ponder that in these forums, though!)

Forget the getting it in one place then...