$300 Computer
I have been thinking about something lately. Why has the price of technology risen so much over the last few years? It seems that even the older stuff still costs a lot of money. Because of these high prices, it’s almost impossible to build a computer for the same price as purchasing one from Dell or HP anymore. But do not fear. I have decided to put a guide together to build a $300 computer. All components will be purchased from New Egg, and it will be a computer designed to complete basic office tasks (email, internet, word processing… in short, it’s not a high powered gaming monster).
MSI Barebone Computer – Includes case, motherboard (onboard graphics, sound, and LAN) – $69.99
Celeron 1.6 Ghz Processor – $43.99
512 Mb Memory – $10.99
80g Hard Drive – $36.99
ASUS CD Rom – $11.99
15″ CRT Monitor – $89.99
Keyboard – $3.99
Mouse – 3.99
Now this doesn’t build a very pretty computer, but it does build a functional computer. The total before shipping comes to $271.92. There’s bound to be some shipping costs depending on where you live (Shipping to me was $49.24). Also, you can save some money if you can cannibalize a cd-rom or a keyboard and mouse from an older computer.
As far as software is concerned, I’d recommend that you go to www.ubuntu.com and get the Ubuntu operating system. It’s not difficult to use, and it already has everything installed that the standard user would need. It uses Open Office.org as the office suite. Firefox is the web browser, and best of all, you can have them send you a cd for free.
So there you have it, it’s the $300 computer. You would obviously need someone to build it for you if you don’t know how to, but it does exist!
Disclaimer: These components were priced on February 27, 2008 and are subject to change at any moment. Because I have used a third party for component pricing, I cannot guarantee any of these prices.