Mashed Articles

Writen by Dave Stewart

The key to finding a cheap PC is where you look. Large department stores often offer ‘bargains’ with claimed huge discounts, but the actual computers are very basic models. Although it can go without saying, when you’re buying a computer, go to a computer store. Specialist stores will provide lower prices and higher quality PC’s than department stores or home office outlets. There are a number of paths you can go down in search of a cheap pc, the three we recommend are; refurbished desktop computers, dell packaged desktops or specialist computer package deals.

Refurbished desktop computers are a great way for people on a budget to buy a computer. Refurbished computers provide adequate machines at bargain prices. As long as you only really want the computer for basic tasks such as word processing, sending and receiving email, using the internet etc then a refurbished pc is perfect for you. Do to the large volume of second hand desktop computers, there is a huge supply market with relatively low demand. Making them great for people looking to pick up a bargain. When buying a refurbished or second hand pc, make sure you check all the details such as warranty, specifications and terms of service, to avoid any nasty surprises later on.

When shopping in the ‘budget computer’ market, you should really consider some of the big companies such as Dell, HP, IBM etc… These big corporations, because they trade with such high volume, can often offer computer packaged systems cheaper than other computer stores. In particular, Dell is a good choice to look at because of their product line specificly aimed at the low-end computer market. Additionally, buying through Dell has the ability to customize your system, so you can pick and choose the features you want.

Specialist computer stores often offer package systems, which they have assembled themselves onsite. These computers can often be real bargains. Take a trip down your local computer shop and have a look around, talk to someone about it. I personally find that these guys give the best advice you can get when looking for a new computer. Being able to talk to someone face to face about your purchase, being able to explain to them exactly what you want in your pc and the limits of your budget often results in a more comfortable, less stressful purchase and a better final product.

Before buying a computer look around a bit first, do the research now. Check and compare prices online, read reviews and talk to someone at you local computer store before committing to a big purchase. This way you’ll ensure you get the most for your money and hopefully you can find that cheap pc.

Before you look at a Dell PC, you may find reading http://www.discountdesktopreviews.com/articles/considering-a-dell-desktop-pc.html helpful in explaining the product range.

About The Author
Dave Stewart

Writen by Rob Pirozzi

Personal computers have become relatively inexpensive, at least as compared to what they used to cost. There are now many sources for inexpensive PCs. This article will provide you with information on sources for low-cost personal computers, computer peripherals, and accessories.

The average home computer user does not necessarily need the latest and greatest technology. Most simply need a PC with a relatively new Intel processor, or equivalent; a reasonable amount of memory – 256MB or more; a reasonable amount of disk space – 20GB or more; a CD, DVD or CDRW; and a modem and networking capability. It is only individuals with demanding needs such as intensive gaming, or video or image manipulation that really need more. Individuals who store large libraries of picture or graphics files, music files, or video files will require substantially more disk space.

Before shopping, you need to get a clear idea of what your PC needs are and in what timeframe you are going to need a new PC. If your need for a PC is immediate, then you must try to find the best deal from a local electronics retailer. In addition, if you need or must have the latest, most “cutting-edge” technology, you can expect to pay handsomely. While in either case you may be able to find a relatively good deal, you will have probably paid more than if you can wait five plus business days for shipping and give up a little on the technology curve.

For individuals who do not need a PC immediately, and who are not looking for the “latest and greatest” technology, there are many excellent sources for inexpensive PCs, peripherals, and computer accessories. In many cases, PCs can be found for under $400, and even under $300. Sources for low-cost PCs include:

• On-Line Retailers
• On-Line Refurbished Equipment and Outlet Stores
• On-Line Auctions

On-Line Retailers

There are many excellent on-line retailers such as TigerDirect (www.TigerDirect.com) and TechDepot (www.TechDepot.com) who can provide substantial savings on PCs, peripherals, and accessories. On-line retailers also typically have huge inventories including components, and consumer electronic items such as digital cameras, PDAs, and MP3 players. The lowest cost PCs may be factory close-outs (PCs being replaced by more current technology) or reconditioned/refurbished (good as new, but not new). They will work fine and be more than adequate for most average home-computing needs.

On-Line Refurbished Equipment and Outlet Stores

Many computer vendors and retailers also have factory outlet stores and/or refurbished equipment outlets. Again, although not the latest technology, or even brand new, these PCs will meet most computing needs and will be much less expensive. Refurbished equipment/outlet retailers include:

• Amazon.com – Amazon.com has an “Outlet, Used & Refurbished” store that can be found under the “Computers” category. Here they offer both clearance items and refurbished items at substantial savings.
• Dell Outlet – Dell has an outlet store that offers savings on Dell desktop and laptop computers, as well as other Dell accessories and electronics, including monitors, printers, handhelds, and TVs. Select “Home & Office” on the main page of the Dell Site (www.Dell.com) and then scroll down to find “Dell Outlet”.
• Gateway Remanufactured Products – Gateway offers outlet prices on remanufactured Gateway desktops and laptops. Select “Remanufactured” on the Gateway site (www.gateway.com).
• HP Outlet Store – Hewlett-Packard offers outlet pricing on HP desktops, laptops/notebooks, monitors, printers, cameras, and televisions. Select “Outlet” on the main page of the HPShopping site (www.shopping.hp.com) to find their offering of products.
• IBM – IBM offers IBM Certified Used Equipment that has been refurbished and tested to IBM specifications. Offered items include desktop PCs, notebooks, printers, monitors, and parts and accessories. Enter “refurbished PC” into the search bar of the IBM site (www.IBM.com) to find what they have to offer.
• Iomega – The Iomega factory outlet offers excellent prices on Iomega removable disk drives, portable disk drives, internal and external disk drives, flash drives, DVD, and CDRW drives. Select “Outlet” off of the main page on the Iomega site (www.iomega.com).
• TechDepot – TechDepot offers both clearance items and refurbished items off of their site (www.TechDepot.com). Select either the “Clearance” or the “Refurbished” tabs on their home page to find what they have to offer.

On-Line Auctions

Perhaps requiring the most patience and persistence are the on-line auction sites. For those with the right temperament, good deals on PCs and related products can be found at eBay and at CompUSA Auctions.

Conclusion

With a little research, time, and persistence, you should be able to save a substantial amount of money on PCs and PC related items from any of the above named sources. While what you get may not be the latest technology, or new, it should meet the demands of all but the most advanced PC users.

Rob Pirozzi is a freelance writer who provides timely, quality professional writing of all types. He is also the publisher of the web site Low-Cost-Computing.com which provides information on low-cost computers and low-cost or free software for the average home or small business computer user.

It’s encouraging that many of the conversations we are having at the moment in relation to IT and sustainability are moving beyond power management in the data centre. It is not that optimising the use of central IT isn’t important, but it really is only one way to drive an organisation’s environmental agenda. And even before we get to main question of how technology can enable more eco-friendly working practices, there is another place we can look to for operational IT power savings – the desktop.

When looking in this direction, though, I have noticed that there is a tendency to apply the same kind of thinking that is used on the server side of the equation. Fair enough, accelerating hardware refresh to introduce more power efficient kit into the equation reflects a similar game to that being played in the data centre, but with the carbon cost of manufacture/disposal taken into account, the net gains are hard to establish. In the data centre of course, hardware modernisation is augmented by consolidation and virtualisation to drive up average server utilisation and thus improve energy efficiency.

Virtualisation is a different game on the desktop, however. Sure, some will go down the route of running virtual PCs on the server and accessing them through thin client configurations, but it will be a long time before this is the norm. The reality is that most organisations will remain wed to their fat clients for the foreseeable future, so we need to think of the energy question a bit differently. Essentially, the challenge boils down to optimising the power consumption of desktop machines that typically idle for the majority of time they are switched on.

In order to deal with this problem, we need to think less about utilisation and inherent power efficiency of hardware and software, and more about controlling the state of machines in terms of their sleep/wake cycle. In practice, a configuration exhibiting a high degree of runtime energy efficiency, but has no active policy to transition to a low power state when idle will consume considerably more power than a less efficient machine whose state is properly managed.

This something that Microsoft makes a big point of when talking about Vista in the green context, and indeed early adopters with large Vista estates corroborate Microsoft’s claims that Vista’s enhanced manageability translates directly to power savings. The problem is, however, that Windows XP isn’t going away in a hurry, so what about all of those organisations who are interested in desktop power management but will be maintaining older versions of the operating system for some time to come?

Well the one approach that is generally acknowledged not to work that well is to educate, encourage or threaten users in an attempt to get them to keep their power configuration set in accordance with environmental policy, and/or to manually shut down their PCs or put them to sleep when they are not in use. IT managers relying on this kind of user discipline are probably not going to see the results they were hoping for unless they’re working for a totally green-tinted organisation.

Fortunately, third party solutions exist that can help to enable/enforce centralised power management – a couple of examples being Verdiem and 1E. Using such technology, you can not only cure PC insomnia from a policy enforcement perspective, but also allow real-time remote control of power state so machines can be woken up for backup or software distribution purposes then put to sleep again afterwards. So, if you are serious about saving energy across a large XP estate, the options are there.

Something I haven’t had time to look into is whether similar solutions exist for alternative desktops – namely Mac OS X and Linux. Apple kit is certainly not renowned for its enterprise management friendliness, but perhaps ‘right on’ Mac users aren’t so much of a problem as they are of course more environmentally aware. As for Linux, I would be interested in any views, recommendations or experiences.

Meanwhile, it would be great to see a bit more awareness raising from Microsoft on the availability of solutions to centrally manage power consumption by Windows XP, rather than automatically seguéing from this discussion into a Vista upgrade pitch.