How much for a system with these specs?

[Trevor Smithson]

A neighbor of mine is selling his system for cash, I'm thinking of
buying it and since I'm not up on current prices would like to know
what you guys think this system might be worth.

The specs:

2.6 gigahertz pentium
not sure about the motherboard make/model
not sure about the case brand/model, looks well-built though
20GB hard drive
512 MB DBR memory
DVD burner , 4x speed I think (Benq brand)
Some kind of Hauppage TV tuner/recorder w/ coax out and remote
High-end sound card, not sure of the make/model
128MB video card, not sure of the make/model
17-inch Gateway CRT monitor
XP Pro (I doubt it's a legit copy)


That's about it I think. The guy put this together himself, he wants
$500 but I know he will take less (he needs cash ASAP).

Thanks!

 

[RBM]

IMHO I think you would do better buying a brand new budget PC from someone
like Dell. The parts you don't have specs on are real important. The
motherboard can be yesterdays technology, being stretched to its limit. If
you need to reinstall the operating system and don't have a proper COA for
it, it's gonna cost you

 

[Matt]

A neighbor of mine is selling his system for cash, I'm thinking of
buying it and since I'm not up on current prices would like to know
what you guys think this system might be worth.

The specs:

2.6 gigahertz pentium
not sure about the motherboard make/model
not sure about the case brand/model, looks well-built though
20GB hard drive
512 MB DBR memory
DVD burner , 4x speed I think (Benq brand)
Some kind of Hauppage TV tuner/recorder w/ coax out and remote
High-end sound card, not sure of the make/model
128MB video card, not sure of the make/model
17-inch Gateway CRT monitor
XP Pro (I doubt it's a legit copy)


That's about it I think. The guy put this together himself, he wants
$500 but I know he will take less (he needs cash ASAP).

Thanks!

Dell was offering about a week ago for $479 shipped something like:

2.8 MHz P4 HT, 256MB, 40GB, onboard graphics, XP Home, CD-ROM, no
floppy, no speakers, 19" Analog Flat Panel.

After $100 in upgrades, that could be a very nice system if you don't
mind the onboard graphics. I suspect the AFP monitor is not too fancy,
buy I saw them selling on ebay for about $290 shipped.

 

[Trevor Smithson]

Thanks for your reply...got some more details:

2.6 gigahertz pentium, has a largish heatsink
motherboard is a Foxconn Socket 478--don't know the model
case is made by Apex, 350W power supply
20GB hard drive (brand is Western Digital)
512 MB DDR memory
DVD burner , 4x speed I think (Benq brand)
High-end sound card, not sure of the make/model, but it has 5.1 sound
128MB video card, a Geforce FX5200 (brand is eVGA)
17-inch Gateway CRT monitor
XP Pro (turn out it is a legit copy)
one of those all-in-one card reader things

 

[Trevor Smithson]

That Dell sounds like a good deal. I will look into them.

Thanks

 

[RBM]

I agree with Matt!!! Its all new with a warranty

That Dell sounds like a good deal. I will look into them.

Thanks

 

[johns]

The specs:

2.6 gigahertz pentium

not bad

not sure about the motherboard make/model
??

not sure about the case brand/model, looks well-built though

In other words .. big!

20GB hard drive

Waaay out of date, and probably has screaming loud bearings.
You would need a new hard drive .. say 40 gig at about $60

512 MB DBR memory

probably ddr 2100

DVD burner , 4x speed I think (Benq brand)
Some kind of Hauppage TV tuner/recorder w/ coax out and remote

So he is using the system as a PVR or TV show recorder. That is
not a bad combo of stuff. He probably has the PVR-150 or better.
Along with the burner, that is worth about $60 for PVR, and maybe
$60 for the DVD burner. So I revise that hard drive up to 80 gig,
or about $80.

High-end sound card, not sure of the make/model

That says his mobo is a bit old. Most have integrated sound
now. Still the mobo is probably OK.

128MB video card, not sure of the make/model

Get sure. I would want at least an ATI 9200 for PVR.

17-inch Gateway CRT monitor

Piece of crap. Nearly all of them has failed in the field, and
the warranty is long gone out. You will need a monitor. I
would recommend an AOC 19 inch at about $180 from
Mwave.com ( plus about $30 S&H ).

XP Pro (I doubt it's a legit copy)

If it is legit, that is a good deal. Make sure you do not
have to call Microsoft to re-activate it. If it is the version
that you just type in the code during install, that is a
good deal. If he swiped it from his company, that might
not be such a good deal ... someday ???

So, you are looking right away at .. monitor $210,
hard drive $80, possibly an OS $80 ( home ) or
a heck of a lot more than that for XP Pro .. roughly
about $300 to $400 to bring a klunker up to reliable
operation. It is worth about $200, but then you
will get hooked, and toss it in about a year.

johns