Now this isnt your usual request.. im NOT building a gaming rig.

I simply want to be able to run XP, use MS office and browse the net for sub £200

Nice looking and compact would be a bonus

whats the cheapest way of doing this?



This is all due to me breaking my laptop, being totally broke.. and not really needing a computer to do anything else for the foreseeable future :)

I guess get one of the cheapest dell packages you can find and it should cost about 300 dollars or less.

I dont know really, i am a computer wiz but im used to building really good machines. :D

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/14120/basic_computer.gif

this is a link to a computer i put together on newegg.com just now. However i dont know that best way to let you see so i saved it as a html page then renamed to .gif so i could upload it. just change the extension to .html and it should be viewable lol.
the complete system cost $446 + tax it should have everything you need and possible a bit more lol

the cheapest system from dell including a crt monitor is $419
if you got with a crt monitor instead of the lcd that i included in the newegg quote you the price would reduce by $50 to $396

Looks great.. im in the UK though so i'll have to find another retailer... www.ebuyer.co.uk seems good

im in the uk to but i put lots of extra effort using a site i didnt know to help thinking you were in the states. lol. Nevermind though it was a good way to pass the time lol.

what peripherals do you need?
cd drive, mouse/keyboard, monitor?
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/14120/dabs_pc.GIF

here is another all inclusive system from dabs in the UK this time. in total it comes to £396 including postage and tax

Cheap? Go to a local school, university, business, gov't building and ask if they have any surplus office computers they'd be willing to sell. You might even score a free copy of Windows if they don't wipe the drive. If you're really concerned about cost, there are various distros of Linux that will do everything you need and are very easy to set up. XP + Microsoft Office is probably just as expensive as your hardware, where Linux and Open Office are free.

Yeah, second had seems the way to go :)

Look around a bit on ebay too. You can probably find a decent laptop or desktop for under 400$, maybe even less. I got this laptop which is a 650MhZ, 512 mb RAM model with an onboard ATi Rage card for 120$ on ebay. It aint very good for gaming but its running XP and office and firefox all at the same time beautifully. As sugested, look through that, you might find something very cheap

Still under £200 but with some class:

COMPAQ EVO D510 ULTRA P4 2GHz 512 RAM & COMPAQ 15" TFT INC XP PRO LICENCE & DVD/ CD-RW COMBO DRIVE (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COMPAQ-EVO-D510-ULTRA-P4-2GHz-512-RAM-COMPAQ-15-TFT_W0QQitemZ170062939901QQihZ007QQcategoryZ179QQc mdZViewItem)

The really cheapy full system:

COMPAQ EVO SFF P4 1.7GHz & COMPAQ 15" TFT MONITOR BROADBAND READY++XP-PRO LICENCE++GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COMPAQ-EVO-SFF-P4-1-7GHz-COMPAQ-15-TFT-MONITOR_W0QQitemZ170063824296QQihZ007QQcategoryZ17 9QQcmdZViewItem)

This guy charges VAT.. can anyone find cheaper on ebay that doesn sting with VAT?

2nd one i would skip, it seems kinda crappy to even run XP. Unless you wanna go hunting for RAM later on, find something with 512megs min

Looks like I am going for the top one then £200 almost to the penny aint too bad.....can someone please tell me if it will run OLD games like Baldurs Gate an wotnot?

Cute little box. Abaddon, be aware that they don't specify Office as being bundled with it. However, OpenOffice is a really worthwhile alternative you ought to check out.

Sweet, i'll go for it.

The only problem is that thing will have absolutely no upgradeablity, for when you might want to upgrade it. Yes, you probably will not, but if something like the video card or processor gets screwed, you might be looking for another computer to buy.

do you not think replacement parts be easy to get? THB this rig only has to last me a year if that.

The computer has a weird formfactor. Usually for those kinds of computers you need to contact the actual retailer, which in your case is Compaq