How much is used P-3 500 computer worth?

[Ablang]

A co-worker wants to sell me their used P-3 500 Mhz computer. Here is it's
stats (to the best of his memory):

P3-500
Soyo MB
~ 400MB RAM
No monitor
8 GB Maxtor
2 GB Maxtor
24x CDROM
4X CD-RW (IDE)
4MB Graphic Card
Sound Card
56k Modem
Floppy Drive
Keyboard
Mouse

What should I offer him?

I forgot to say please compare the used computer I am considering buying
(above) with the one I currently own (below) and see if the used one is
even worth considering:

Case: Mid Tower AT w/ 250W P.S. (3 5.25", 4 3.5" bays)
Motherboard: Asus P55T2P4 512 KB cache Baby AT 430 HX Socket 7
(3 PCI, 3 ISA)
CPU: Intel Pentium 133MHz, 3.3V Standard
Memory: 64 MB EDO RAM Simms
Monitor: 14" Hyundai HCM-423E Super VGA or
Sony Trinitron Multiscan 15sf (1280 x 1024;
free from neighborhood cleanup,
but doesn't display the color red)
Hard Drive: 8.4 GB Caviar Western Digital (IDE)
2.1 GB Caviar Western Digital (IDE)
850 MB Caviar Western Digital (IDE)
CD-ROM: 12X Pioneer DR-444 Internal (IDE)
Video Card: ATI All-in-Wonder 4MB EDO Dram 64-bit (PCI)
SCSI Card (Primary): Tekram DC-390F UW SCSI (PCI)
40 MB/sec, flash bios, 15 devices max
50-pin SCSI-2 internal
68-pin Wide SCSI internal
68-pin Wide SCSI external
CD-R Drive: Plextor Plexwriter 4/12 PX-R412Ci 50-pin Internal (SCSI)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 PnP Value Edition (ISA)
USB Adapter: OpTi 82C861 PCI to USB (PCI)
Modem: Newcom 33.6k (NCI1001) Internal (ISA)
SCSI Card (Secondary, for scanner): DTC-3181L 25-pin PnP (ISA)
Scanner: Mustek ScanMagic 1200LS 600 x 1200 36-bit (SCSI)
Portable Storage: Iomega Zip Drive 100MB (Parallel Port)
Printer: Lexmark 1100 (Parallel Port)
Floppy Drive: 1.44MB Mitsumi
Keyboard: PC Concepts Enhanced 101 Style.
Mouse: Mouse Systems PC Point Pro 3-button
Surge Protector: Memorex Power Center
UPS: Back-UPS 200 by APC

 

[ravenx2c]

FITTY CENT$! if you like this person I'd say $65 if you don't I'd still say
$65! it would make a nice little Linux Box but not much else.

 

[MCheu]

A co-worker wants to sell me their used P-3 500 Mhz computer. Here is it's
stats (to the best of his memory):

P3-500
Soyo MB
~ 400MB RAM
No monitor
8 GB Maxtor
2 GB Maxtor
24x CDROM
4X CD-RW (IDE)
4MB Graphic Card
Sound Card
56k Modem
Floppy Drive
Keyboard
Mouse

What should I offer him?

I'd hazard a guess of $200 Canadian ($140-$150 US depending on
exchange) is what it's worth. Perhaps $50 more, perhaps not. Your
call. The 4Meg video card and 10GB of total hard drive storage means
that it's actually worth a bit less than that. Buying an old
computer from a friend is a tricky business. He likely paid 10 times
that much when it was new, and some people get rather upset when you
offer them fair market for their older stuff. Everybody thinks their
hardware is worth much more than that because of what they paid back
in the day.

How much should you offer him? You'll have to decide that on your
own. As I said, buying used computer stuff from friends is tricky.
If your friend knows has a realistic view of what his stuff is worth,
that's great, if not, it's going to be tough to make an offer that
isn't taken as an insult.

I forgot to say please compare the used computer I am considering buying
(above) with the one I currently own (below) and see if the used one is
even worth considering:

It's not a fair comparison, given that you're throwing in all your
accessories into the mix (and even some stuff that's not even relevant
like that ?power bar?). That P3 system is quite a step up from what
you've got though in terms of performance. In terms of monetary
value? Your system is worth $50 at a garage sale, $25 as a
charitable donation, or -$25 where you pay a computer recycler to take
it away. I know that's kind of harsh, but your hardware really isn't
worth much anymore, and computer hardware in general depreciates
faster than anything else I can think of.

 

[Roger M]

A co-worker wants to sell me their used P-3 500 Mhz computer. Here is it's
stats (to the best of his memory):

P3-500
Soyo MB
~ 400MB RAM
No monitor
8 GB Maxtor
2 GB Maxtor
24x CDROM
4X CD-RW (IDE)
4MB Graphic Card
Sound Card
56k Modem
Floppy Drive
Keyboard
Mouse

What should I offer him?

I'd offer him six dollars for it but only if he will deliver it *and* buy
your lunch. I'm getting ready to throw away a Compaq P2 550 with a 18 gig hdd
and 384mb of memory. I paid $2K for it when it was new and it was the fastest
thing going then. I recently built four AMD XP 2500+ machines all with 512mb
memory and 40 gig hdds and WinXP for less than it than that. The Compaq works
perfect and I'm going to set it in my parking lot, fill it and cover it with
gas and burn it up. It should be fun.



Roger

 

[dg]

Interesting you should ask that right now. I just built a new PC. My old
PC (after stripping all the really good stuff) was a P3 500, 512MB of ram,
32MB diamond viper vid card, 13GB drive, 56K, kingston nic, dvd decoder card
and sound card.. No CD or DVD drive, I threw in an internal 100 MB zip in
the hole in front. No monitor or keyboard. I gave it to one of the guys at
work for $60. I only asked for $50 because I had no idea if the thing was
going to crap out tomrrow. I could feel good knowing I didn't screw the guy
and no matter what if he comes griping at me because it quit working a week
later I can feel good telling him its not my problem. He is happy, Im
really happy, and the old machine doesn't have to age unused until it is
worth only $5.

--Dan

 

[Roy Coorne]

......... I'm getting ready to throw away a Compaq P2 550 with a 18 gig hdd
and 384mb of memory. I paid $2K for it when it was new and it was the fastest
thing going then. .......................................... The Compaq works
perfect and I'm going to set it in my parking lot, fill it and cover it with
gas and burn it up. It should be fun.

What a pity! If I were living close to your place (Philadelphia?) I
would try to talk you out of that, offering a good lunch or bottle of
a French chateau claret in exchange for your vintage Compaq;-)
(BTW - Is it legal in your country to burn living computers, and in a
quasi public place?)

Roy

 

[Jim]

Worth keeping.

I've been getting into Linux recently. When the Mandrake 10.0 first
became available you needed to use BitTorrent to get it. A slow
method of distribution requiring a full time connection.

I used my old K6-2 450 system. If someone hacked their way into it
all they would have found is a basic Linux distribution downloading
another.

Families with kids running Kazaa like applications might wish to
consider the same idea. Keep those virus/trojan/worm conduits
physically separated from everything else.

 

[Patrick]

A co-worker wants to sell me their used P-3 500 Mhz computer. Here is it's
stats (to the best of his memory):

P3-500
Soyo MB
~ 400MB RAM
No monitor
8 GB Maxtor
2 GB Maxtor
24x CDROM
4X CD-RW (IDE)
4MB Graphic Card
Sound Card
56k Modem
Floppy Drive
Keyboard
Mouse

What should I offer him?

I forgot to say please compare the used computer I am considering buying
(above) with the one I currently own (below) and see if the used one is
even worth considering:

Case: Mid Tower AT w/ 250W P.S. (3 5.25", 4 3.5" bays)
Motherboard: Asus P55T2P4 512 KB cache Baby AT 430 HX Socket 7
(3 PCI, 3 ISA)
CPU: Intel Pentium 133MHz, 3.3V Standard
Memory: 64 MB EDO RAM Simms
Monitor: 14" Hyundai HCM-423E Super VGA or
Sony Trinitron Multiscan 15sf (1280 x 1024;
free from neighborhood cleanup,
but doesn't display the color red)
Hard Drive: 8.4 GB Caviar Western Digital (IDE)
2.1 GB Caviar Western Digital (IDE)
850 MB Caviar Western Digital (IDE)
CD-ROM: 12X Pioneer DR-444 Internal (IDE)
Video Card: ATI All-in-Wonder 4MB EDO Dram 64-bit (PCI)
SCSI Card (Primary): Tekram DC-390F UW SCSI (PCI)
40 MB/sec, flash bios, 15 devices max
50-pin SCSI-2 internal
68-pin Wide SCSI internal
68-pin Wide SCSI external
CD-R Drive: Plextor Plexwriter 4/12 PX-R412Ci 50-pin Internal (SCSI)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 PnP Value Edition (ISA)
USB Adapter: OpTi 82C861 PCI to USB (PCI)
Modem: Newcom 33.6k (NCI1001) Internal (ISA)
SCSI Card (Secondary, for scanner): DTC-3181L 25-pin PnP (ISA)
Scanner: Mustek ScanMagic 1200LS 600 x 1200 36-bit (SCSI)
Portable Storage: Iomega Zip Drive 100MB (Parallel Port)
Printer: Lexmark 1100 (Parallel Port)
Floppy Drive: 1.44MB Mitsumi
Keyboard: PC Concepts Enhanced 101 Style.
Mouse: Mouse Systems PC Point Pro 3-button
Surge Protector: Memorex Power Center
UPS: Back-UPS 200 by APC

BOTH are great systems for Linux! http://knopper.net/knoppix for 85
versions! My six PIII 550's each run about equal in processing
through-put to a 1.3 Mhz Duron running XP Pro, due to the bloat of the
Microsoft kernel, (Linux Kernel is ~28Mb, Microsoft is ~124Mb!) and all
the security programs necessary for any Microsoft products. If you want
FAST internet, run Mozilla FireFox included in the Knoppix!

SCSI is DEFINETLY an added bonus in the hard drives, and worth an added
price, and will SCREAM! In Linux, if you swapped some of the parts over
to the PIII 500Mhz system from the 133 Mhz system! AND/OR, you should
ALSO, switch the 133Mhz system over to Linux to get some genuine speed
out of it!

I run several 24/7/365 Systems of 400Mhz to 550 Mhz, alongside my three
AMD 1.3Mhz Durons, 1.4 Mhz Athlon, one of each on Microsoft products,
and the Linux is virus free, stable, FASTER, and friendlier! The
Microsoft environments have trouble doing two things at a time (blue
screens, slowdowns in program openings)! Most have 256 to 384 Mb of
RAM, AGP video, all have sound, CD burners.

I do also run some 486 to 266 Mhz systems, as IPCOP firewall routers,
and web servers, in Linux, they can't be cracked without some MAJOR work
involved... and there are no virus, w0rms, few vulnerablities (usually
patched within a few HOURS of discovery!), so the script kiddies move on
down to easier pickings...like anything un-protected, in the Microsloth
line...

I attend the computer shows, and see these 400 Mhz to 733Mhz systems,
all the time, for $29 to $79, depending upon whether it is a name brand,
or a generic built box, and the RAM, Hard Drive size and brand, and if
it has a CD burner. http://marketproshows.com

We get APC UPS 350VA, new, with full warranty for $15 to $29, and really
can't recommend anything smaller...

You can compare prices, at http://pricewatch.com though many vendors
will have to charge for shipping, which is an unfortunate added cost
typically ~$20 for a tower, in the USA.

 

[Patrick]

I'd offer him six dollars for it but only if he will deliver it *and* buy
your lunch. I'm getting ready to throw away a Compaq P2 550 with a 18 gig hdd
and 384mb of memory. I paid $2K for it when it was new and it was the fastest
thing going then. I recently built four AMD XP 2500+ machines all with 512mb
memory and 40 gig hdds and WinXP for less than it than that. The Compaq works
perfect and I'm going to set it in my parking lot, fill it and cover it with
gas and burn it up. It should be fun.



Roger

If/when you burn up a PC, you really NEED to wear goggles, quilted
fire/explosion suit, and a RESPIRATOR, because the caps can blow out,
and it releases UP to 8 pounds of cadmium, 8 pounds of LEAD, and some
other rather vile and poisonous toxins that have LONG TERM fatal effects
upon YOUR body, if you are within 50 to 100 feet of the thing!!!

1 cup of gas is about a quarter stick of dynamite in the initial
explosive force, MORE so if enclosed in any casing!

Filling up a computer case with gas makes a really lethal BOMB!!! and
the shrapnel will be very fine, and, very painful! If you get ANY
injury, you WILL need a tetanus shot, and possibly, some very expensive
and painful reconstructive surgery!

Also, Here in Orange County, Florida, any fire is quickly reported, and
the LOCAL EPA is out very quickly to write a hefty fine!!! They have
lots of inspectors, a reward system...

I run that class of system at speeds equal to my 1.3 Duron systems,
simply by getting Knoppix http://distrowatch.com installed, in about 25
minutes!!! Then, I use them to serve, to burn, and for network
intrusion testing and detection! I also like the games adn apps. there
are over 900 on the CDrom, and 114,680 MORE, for a free, 15 minute
download (on cable broadband).

Local charities, like the MakeA Wish Foundation runs their own internal
LINUX COMPUTER install and network to manage all their resources, saving
them MILLION$ in licensing, hardware, down-time... AND, your DONATION is
TAX DEDUCTABLE!!!


So, choose wisely, grasshopper! I will be watching Yahoo News, in the
'Oddly Enough' column, for the news of your trauma!!!

 

[Roger M]

If/when you burn up a PC, you really NEED to wear goggles, quilted
fire/explosion suit, and a RESPIRATOR, because the caps can blow out,
and it releases UP to 8 pounds of cadmium, 8 pounds of LEAD, and some
other rather vile and poisonous toxins that have LONG TERM fatal effects
upon YOUR body, if you are within 50 to 100 feet of the thing!!!

1 cup of gas is about a quarter stick of dynamite in the initial
explosive force, MORE so if enclosed in any casing!

Filling up a computer case with gas makes a really lethal BOMB!!! and
the shrapnel will be very fine, and, very painful! If you get ANY
injury, you WILL need a tetanus shot, and possibly, some very expensive
and painful reconstructive surgery!

Also, Here in Orange County, Florida, any fire is quickly reported, and
the LOCAL EPA is out very quickly to write a hefty fine!!! They have
lots of inspectors, a reward system...

I run that class of system at speeds equal to my 1.3 Duron systems,
simply by getting Knoppix http://distrowatch.com installed, in about 25
minutes!!! Then, I use them to serve, to burn, and for network
intrusion testing and detection! I also like the games adn apps. there
are over 900 on the CDrom, and 114,680 MORE, for a free, 15 minute
download (on cable broadband).

Local charities, like the MakeA Wish Foundation runs their own internal
LINUX COMPUTER install and network to manage all their resources, saving
them MILLION$ in licensing, hardware, down-time... AND, your DONATION is
TAX DEDUCTABLE!!!

So, choose wisely, grasshopper! I will be watching Yahoo News, in the
'Oddly Enough' column, for the news of your trauma!!!

Well I guess the toxicity of the unit will keep me from burning it. I've been
destroying stuff my whole life and have no fear of it exploding. It's all a matter
of managing the rate of the burn through air management and venting of the
explosive gasses. I'd like to show you my Dixie cup trick. An explosive mixture of
oxygen and acetylene in a Dixie cup sounds about like a stick of Dynamite.

I have a 100 ton press so I guess I'll see exactly how small a complete Compaq
computer can be made.




Roger

 

[Larry]

Well I guess the toxicity of the unit will keep me from burning it. I've been
destroying stuff my whole life and have no fear of it exploding. It's all a matter
of managing the rate of the burn through air management and venting of the
explosive gasses. I'd like to show you my Dixie cup trick. An explosive mixture of
oxygen and acetylene in a Dixie cup sounds about like a stick of Dynamite.

I have a 100 ton press so I guess I'll see exactly how small a complete Compaq
computer can be made.




Roger

If anything like a nickel size under 300 ton comes out as round as a quarter
but you can shave with it.

Larry

 

[Bob Adkins]

A co-worker wants to sell me their used P-3 500 Mhz computer. Here is it's
stats (to the best of his memory):

P3-500
Soyo MB
~ 400MB RAM
No monitor
8 GB Maxtor
2 GB Maxtor
24x CDROM
4X CD-RW (IDE)
4MB Graphic Card
Sound Card
56k Modem
Floppy Drive
Keyboard
Mouse

What should I offer him?

Here are some rough prices on some "good" brand new stuff.

P4 CPU as little as $65 for a 2Ghz Celeron
P4 MB --$60-$80 (A Gigabyte with onboard sound, video, and LAN costs ~$65!)
256 RAM $40
300w P4 Power supply $15
GeForce 4 FX 64mb video $50
HDD's cost about $1 per gigabyte.
Case $30-50
Modem $12
FDD $9

Build you a new system on paper, and pay 1/4 the cost of the new one for the
used one. Or, just get the new one.

I just built a nice little system on paper for $334 plus shipping. It
includes everything "in the box", and is easy to upgrade. Performance is not
trivial unless you are a gamer.

Celeron 2Ghz $65
Enlight Case, 300W PS $49
Gigabyte 845G chipset $68
Stick of Micron 333Mhz RAM-256 $40
LiteOn 52x32x52 burner $40
WD 40GB 7200 HDD $63
FDD $9

Bob

Remove "kins" from address to reply.

 

[BarryNL]

A co-worker wants to sell me their used P-3 500 Mhz computer. Here is it's
stats (to the best of his memory):

P3-500
Soyo MB
~ 400MB RAM
No monitor
8 GB Maxtor
2 GB Maxtor
24x CDROM
4X CD-RW (IDE)
4MB Graphic Card
Sound Card
56k Modem
Floppy Drive
Keyboard
Mouse

What should I offer him?

I wouldn't go more than about $50. Though I'd be tempted to look around
for a cheap Duron system instead which will be much faster and can
probably be had for under $200. In fact, an ISP here was giving away
free XP2000+ systems to new ADSL customers recently.

 

[kony]

A co-worker wants to sell me their used P-3 500 Mhz computer. Here is it's
stats (to the best of his memory):

P3-500
Soyo MB
~ 400MB RAM
No monitor
8 GB Maxtor
2 GB Maxtor
24x CDROM
4X CD-RW (IDE)
4MB Graphic Card
Sound Card
56k Modem
Floppy Drive
Keyboard
Mouse

What should I offer him?

I've snipped out the specs on your current system because your current
system has no bearing on the value of the above system.

A number of posters have mentioned that for a little more $ you'd get a
much faster system. As always the question is how much the additional
performance is worth to you. We can't make that call. A good quality,
properly configured 500MHz system can be worth as much as a POS,
problematic faster system, particularly if you're not good at resolving
problems, don't get the documentation, or if the newer system has a
shorter lifespan... Around the time of the earlier Athlons the CPU had
started to consume a lot more power but it took motherboard manufacturers
a few years to build boards that were correspondingly as adequate as the
older, slower systems. In other words the P3-500 system might still be
running fine by the time many Athlon 900MHz systems have died, if that
Soyo motherboard is any good.

If the above system was low-end to begin with, that reduces it's value
today too. Although the P3 suggests it wasn't low-end, the 4MB video card
does. Typically a P3-500 would've came with either onboard video or (at
least) 8MB video card, usually 16-32MB. Perhaps the system is a mish-mosh
of different parts.

Regardless, this is a transitional system. It's not THAT much faster than
what you already have so you might be wanting to upgrade it again, yet it
does have minimum specs necessary to do a lot more than your current
system will. Some parts will be viable in the future given the right
specs, which makes them more valuable. For example the 56K modem, if PCI,
would likely be reusable in a newer system. If the power supply is
halfway decent 300W or a good 250W, it too would support a reasonable
amount of upgrade to motherboard, CPU. Depending on the exact motherboard
model, it's possible to spend around $70 to upgrade it to a Tualatin
Celeron ~ 1.4GHz. The CPU itself is less than $70 but that factors in a
~$20 slotket adapter.

The case is another variable. An old cheap case is even less desirable
than a new cheap case, but a good old case can be better constructed than
it's more modern counterpart, could easily cost $70 to replace with new
case with same metal thickness. On the other hand "sometimes" those old
cases had quite restrictive airflow, so to upgrade it you'd need to cut a
hole or two. This isn't so bad as it seems though, on an old sturdy case
with thick metal it's often possible to have better airflow after modded
than a newer case will allow, because the increasd structural integrity of
the old cases allowed cutting out more metal for a larger fan or 2nd fan.
Then again if the case was an OEM like Gateway then it might not even
accept a standard power supply.

The specifics of the system more than the P3 CPU MHz will determine the
value. The optical and hard drives are old enough to have practically no
value, not because of their speed but age, remainder of lifespan. Even
so, IF you have no need for modern performance levels I'll break down what
each part might be worth based on your needs.

P3-500 $15
Soyo MB $10, $15 if it supports coppermines
~ 400MB RAM $25
No monitor
8 GB Maxtor $10
2 GB Maxtor $2
24x CDROM $3
4X CD-RW (IDE) $5 if clean
4MB Graphic Card $5 for basic use, $0 if you need better
Sound Card $10, old name-brand PCI cards were better than modern $10 cards
56k Modem $15 if PCI, $4 if ISA
Floppy Drive $5 if it works after cleaning the heads
Keyboard $? Depends on whether you like it more than your current Kbd.
Mouse $? Same as keyboard, but either are worth $0 if very dirty.
Case & Power, $10 if junk, $40 if clean, nice, not proprietary, - $10 if
dirty

Now considering the price offset for it being a bundled, volume purchase
of all above parts, it'll be worth between $60-120 minus value of any
parts that don't work.

 

[Isaac Kuo]

A co-worker wants to sell me their used P-3 500 Mhz computer.
Here is it's stats (to the best of his memory):

I don't have any special advice on how much money this computer
is worth, but I do have a good idea of some good things that
could be done with it.

P3-500
Soyo MB
~ 400MB RAM

Assuming the Soyo has an AGP slot, this is good place to
start. Along with an economical AGP video card, you've
got plenty of power for an HTPC capable of smoothly
playing DVDs, DivX, and WMV9 video files. I use a PIII 550
with a Radeon 7000 (64MB) as an HTPC. I also recently put
together a PII Celeron-333 with a Radeon 7200 (64MB) as a
file server--to my shock it plays 640x480x30fps files
smoothly also!

The 400MB of RAM is a very comfortable amount--very suitable
for editing large digital images.

If the motherboard has no chipset fan, then you have a
good candidate for conversion into a quiet workstation.
A Zalman passive VGA cooler can actually be used to cool
a PII or PIII processor. Due to the gravitational heat
pipe, this more or less requires the motherboard to be
horizontal (rather than vertical as in a tower case).

No monitor
8 GB Maxtor
2 GB Maxtor

These drives are too small to hold much in the way of
video files, but may be sufficient for a small collection
of MP3s and image files. One concern I have is whether
or not the motherboard's IDE controller supports discs
larger than 32GB. If not, this will have a big effect on
the value of this system because hard drives smaller
than 40GB aren't common and are overpriced. Either way,
the motherboard certainly won't have 48 bit addressing
so forget about upgrading to a drive bigger than 137GB.
An upgrade to a drive from 40GB to 100GB would be good.

Now, IMO these smaller drives are still useful as backup
OS drives, if nothing else. For noise/heat/power reasons,
I prefer using just one drive per computer. I partition
the drive into a small partition for Windows along with
a large partition for data, and a sizeable unallocated
partition for if I want to dual boot with Linux. My
reason for this partitioning is so that it's easy to backup
just the OS to a small drive using a utility like Norton
Ghost. If something fubars the OS partition, then I can
at least still operate the computer by plopping in one
of the small backup drives.

24x CDROM
4X CD-RW (IDE)

These are obvious candidates for upgrade, but should be
perfectly useful so long as you don't need DVD capabilities.

4MB Graphic Card

Replace this. With a PIII 500 and 400MB of memory, this
system is set to really fly--but this graphics card is
dragging the system down. An economical 32MB Radeon 7000
can make this system zippy for just about everything
except gaming (nothing will turn this machine into a
semi-modern gaming system).

I forgot to say please compare the used computer I am
considering buying (above) with the one I currently own
(below) and see if the used one is even worth considering:

IMHO, it's definitely worth considering. I'd buy another
PIII500 system in a heartbeat, at a reasonable price.

Case: Mid Tower AT w/ 250W P.S. (3 5.25", 4 3.5" bays)
Motherboard: Asus P55T2P4 512 KB cache Baby AT 430 HX Socket 7
(3 PCI, 3 ISA)
CPU: Intel Pentium 133MHz, 3.3V Standard
Memory: 64 MB EDO RAM Simms

If this is what you're used to, you're in for a major
treat with the PIII500!

Isaac Kuo

 

[-= Ratz O. Fratzo =-]

Now considering the price offset for it being a bundled, volume purchase
of all above parts, it'll be worth between $60-120 minus value of any
parts that don't work.

I wouldn't offer more than $50 (US funds), and I'd try to get it for
$40. This particular system is weak and with a little searching you
could find something a little better and only pay $20 or $30 more.

Either get it dirt cheap or pass on it. I've given systems like this
away to people who needed one and felt no sense of loss. You could go
to a swap meet and pick up most of the parts listed out of junk boxes
at $10 for the lot.






*´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·-> Ratz O. Fratzo

 

[kony]

I wouldn't offer more than $50 (US funds), and I'd try to get it for
$40. This particular system is weak and with a little searching you
could find something a little better and only pay $20 or $30 more.

Either get it dirt cheap or pass on it. I've given systems like this
away to people who needed one and felt no sense of loss. You could go
to a swap meet and pick up most of the parts listed out of junk boxes
at $10 for the lot.

Maybe you could better or maybe not. It depends on the whole of the
system. Picking up parts at a swap meet is fine but if someone doesn't
WANT to hunt down drivers and set the whole thing up, $20 or more is a
small price to pay to have a system "plug-n-play".

Also consider what I wrote about the case. Some of the older cases were a
lot better than what you'd get these days unless paying > $75.

Then again there's market value. I know such a system can sell for $100
because I've sold similar systems (or incrementally older in the past,
relatively the same "age"). A gamer or other power user would turn their
nose up, but someone wanting to use it for only the basics, ie - office,
email, internet, etc, might be better off paying a few $ more to buy from
someone they know and have the chance to see the whole system, together,
working.

 

[-= Ratz O. Fratzo =-]

Maybe you could better or maybe not. It depends on the whole of the
system. Picking up parts at a swap meet is fine but if someone doesn't
WANT to hunt down drivers and set the whole thing up, $20 or more is a
small price to pay to have a system "plug-n-play".

I only used that to illustrate their worth. And what makes you think
the person is going to hand over the drivers when you buy the machine?
It may be in bad need of an OS re-install for all we know. In that
case, you are a searchin'.

Also consider what I wrote about the case. Some of the older cases were a
lot better than what you'd get these days unless paying > $75.

Also consider that a case generally costs the same as the separate
power supply. If the power supply goes, that case is scrap metal
because you could buy a new case and supply for that board/cpu combo
for $35-$40 at any local computer outlet.

Then again there's market value. I know such a system can sell for $100
because I've sold similar systems (or incrementally older in the past,
relatively the same "age"). A gamer or other power user would turn their
nose up, but someone wanting to use it for only the basics, ie - office,
email, internet, etc, might be better off paying a few $ more to buy from
someone they know and have the chance to see the whole system, together,
working.

Only person that would pay $100 for such a system is totally
uninformed--read sucker. That's who generally buys them and keeps the
junk computer peddlers in cigarette money. Here's his chance to be
well informed and either buy it for what it's worth, or pass on it.






*´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·-> Ratz O. Fratzo

 

[Isaac Kuo]

Also consider that a case generally costs the same as the
separate power supply. If the power supply goes, that
case is scrap metal because you could buy a new case and
supply for that board/cpu combo for $35-$40 at any local
computer outlet.

I disagree. You can get a better, quiet PSU for $35-$40
than you can a PSU with case. Also, cheap PSUs are a
false economy, often providing poor quality voltage
levels and failing to live up to their advertised power
rating.

Only person that would pay $100 for such a system is totally
uninformed--read sucker. That's who generally buys them
and keeps the junk computer peddlers in cigarette money.

For most people, $100 is a bargain if it means a guarantee
that the system and its components will actually work.

Personally, I'd almost pay $100 for this system just for
the processor, motherboard, and RAM (400Mb!). I'd distribute
some of that RAM to my various other PII/III systems, and
use what's left as the core of a quiet HTPC/workstation.
At 500Mhz, it's too powerful for me to waste on just a server.

Here's his chance to be well informed and either buy it
for what it's worth, or pass on it.

Isaac Kuo

 

[TC]

>On Tue, 23 Mar



I disagree. You can get a better, quiet PSU for $35-$40
than you can a PSU with case. Also, cheap PSUs are a
false economy, often providing poor quality voltage
levels and failing to live up to their advertised power
rating.



For most people, $100 is a bargain if it means a guarantee
that the system and its components will actually work.

I agree. Most people want something that works, not something they
have to work on. It makes little sense to save a few bucks and spend
countless hours (a hidden cost) trying to get something to work.

Where I'm at I see this system sell regularly for $50-150.

Personally, I'd almost pay $100 for this system just for
the processor, motherboard, and RAM (400Mb!). I'd distribute
some of that RAM to my various other PII/III systems, and
use what's left as the core of a quiet HTPC/workstation.
At 500Mhz, it's too powerful for me to waste on just a server.

My son would love it! He gets my old stuff. He has a PII with about
192MB RAM and it plays most of his games. He has Playstation II for
his hi-tech games. He's going to be upgrading to a P4 1.3Ghz system
when I finish my new VE box. Then that machine moves to my daughter
who only uses the internet for research.

If it works, is in good condition and does what he needs, I can't see
how he can lose.