OT: Ballpark Price For Used PC @2 ghz w/2 Gigs RAM?

[(PeteCresswell)]

I'm in the home stretch on my first (and, hopefully only) remote
IP cam installation.

It's a couple of cameras for a Windsurfing shop so people can see
how things are on the bay instead of calling the owner every five
minutes on a windy day.

http: //ExtremeSurfCam.DynDNS.org:8080 - works with IE, but IE
will want to install an ActiveX control. Other browsers, it
works... sort of...

Anyhow... this is strictly for love and the owner is paying for
the hardware/software and not for my time.

Only piece missing is a PC to host the camera server - which my
muy expensivo VAIO laptop is doing right now.

No keyboard, monitor, or mouse needed bc it can run headless.

We've got $350 to work with.

The Question:

What're the chances of my finding a box running XP or later at 2
ghz minimum with at least 2 gigs of RAM for that price?

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I'm in the home stretch on my first (and, hopefully only) remote
IP cam installation.

It's a couple of cameras for a Windsurfing shop so people can see
how things are on the bay instead of calling the owner every five
minutes on a windy day.

http: //ExtremeSurfCam.DynDNS.org:8080 - works with IE, but IE
will want to install an ActiveX control. Other browsers, it
works... sort of...

Anyhow... this is strictly for love and the owner is paying for
the hardware/software and not for my time.

Only piece missing is a PC to host the camera server - which my
muy expensivo VAIO laptop is doing right now.

No keyboard, monitor, or mouse needed bc it can run headless.

We've got $350 to work with.

The Question:

What're the chances of my finding a box running XP or later at 2
ghz minimum with at least 2 gigs of RAM for that price?

I'd say pretty good - in fact, I'd be surprised if you couldn't come up
with something for considerably less assuming you don't need a huge
hard drive and aren't picky about the display, keyboard and mouse.

 

[glee]

I'm in the home stretch on my first (and, hopefully only) remote
IP cam installation.

It's a couple of cameras for a Windsurfing shop so people can see
how things are on the bay instead of calling the owner every five
minutes on a windy day.

http: //ExtremeSurfCam.DynDNS.org:8080 - works with IE, but IE
will want to install an ActiveX control. Other browsers, it
works... sort of...

Anyhow... this is strictly for love and the owner is paying for
the hardware/software and not for my time.

Only piece missing is a PC to host the camera server - which my
muy expensivo VAIO laptop is doing right now.

No keyboard, monitor, or mouse needed bc it can run headless.

We've got $350 to work with.

The Question:

What're the chances of my finding a box running XP or later at 2
ghz minimum with at least 2 gigs of RAM for that price?

I've seen brand new Windows 7 desktop computers with keyboard and mouse
for that price. You should be able to get a used XP system with a
dual-core processor and 2GB RAM for less. A friend recently got an IBM
workstation with XP that was retired from his workplace with the specs
you mention, for practically nothing.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

No keyboard, monitor, or mouse needed bc it can run headless.

We've got $350 to work with.

The Question:

What're the chances of my finding a box running XP or later at 2
ghz minimum with at least 2 gigs of RAM for that price?

You can buy a brand-new Dell Inspiron 660s, with Windows 7, for
$329.99 (look on the Dell web site. So you can certainly buy a used
computer for considerably less.

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP

 

[Don Phillipson]

We've got $350 to work with.

The Question:

What're the chances of my finding a box running XP or later at 2
ghz minimum with at least 2 gigs of RAM for that price?

This page
http://www.factorydirect.ca/Categories/4/Computers___Laptops/Desktops/Intel
lists 17 refurbished XP PCs faster than 2 GHz for $70 or less,
which leaves you $130 to spend on RAM.

 

[BeeJ]

Skip the Dell.

Go to Microcenter.com.
Look at their brand PCs PowerSpec and others.
I have had two PowerSpecs for years and are still running fine.
Best value!

Also consider a laptop.
Check out Notebookshop.com
They have very good laptops, some still available with XP.

I bought two Fujitsus from them and they are running fine.
They run specials so the mfr changes from time to time.
You can get disks for both Win7 and XP with the buy.

Both have brick and mortar stores as wll as on-line.

 

[Paul in Houston TX]

I'm in the home stretch on my first (and, hopefully only) remote
IP cam installation.

It's a couple of cameras for a Windsurfing shop so people can see
how things are on the bay instead of calling the owner every five
minutes on a windy day.

http: //ExtremeSurfCam.DynDNS.org:8080 - works with IE, but IE
will want to install an ActiveX control. Other browsers, it
works... sort of...

Anyhow... this is strictly for love and the owner is paying for
the hardware/software and not for my time.

Only piece missing is a PC to host the camera server - which my
muy expensivo VAIO laptop is doing right now.

No keyboard, monitor, or mouse needed bc it can run headless.

We've got $350 to work with.

The Question:

What're the chances of my finding a box running XP or later at 2
ghz minimum with at least 2 gigs of RAM for that price?

Check here:
http://microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294967292&NTX=&NTT=&NTK=all&sortby=pricelow

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Skip the Dell.

I wasn't recommending the Dell in particular--merely pointing out that
a *new* computer can be bought for less than he wanted to spend on a
used one. So if he wants a used one, it will cost less than he has
budgeted.

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP