Would u buy this computer?

[razorboy5]

http://stcatharines.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-computers-Computer-Tower-for-Sale-W0QQAdIdZ226518268

need a computer for school and really interested in buying this computer but "sometimes it starts sometimes it doesn't" could be for various reasons. Think this is a good investment since it is only 75 dollars and maybe I can talk him down a bit.

thx

[Brunellus]

possibly a bad power supply?

[razorboy5]

yea i noticed that the graphics card probably was upgraded... thus needed a new power supply but the owner may not have know that causing it to overheat... just a theory but new power supply should only cost $50 at most

[Calash]

Pentium 4 is an older chip. Should be fine with Ubuntu but if you are looking at Windows stick with XP.


Offer 50, go to 65 after that if he counter offers.

[Rahbee Kannuhn]

Pentium 4 is an older chip. Should be fine with Ubuntu but if you are looking at Windows stick with XP.


Offer 50, go to 65 after that if he counter offers.
This.

[razorboy5]

so general consensus is it's probably easy enough fix and that it's worth the money? (if i can get it for 50)

[Rahbee Kannuhn]

so general consensus is it's probably easy enough fix and that it's worth the money? (if i can get it for 50)
It's always a gamble on something like that, do you have $50 Canadian to gamble? If so have fun. If not, re-evaluate :)

[razorboy5]

spent $70 at sundowner today with a few of my buddies... probably shouldn't have done that... could've paid for a new comp rofl...

gonna ask him more questions about the problem see if i can pin point it better before making a decision

[ssulaco]

"sometimes it starts sometimes it doesn't" could be for various reasons.

Would I buy this computer....probably not,like Brunellus stated,it could be a bad psu,my luck would be the worst case scenerio....mobo

[clonne4crw]

$75 isn't bad for a Pentium 4 2.4GHz... But offer 60 at first. Worst case scenario is a bad motherboard, and if it's a Socket 478-type Pentium 4, it'll be hard to find a replacement. But I'm guessing that it would be a failing PSU, which should be pretty easy to replace.

[mr clark25]

$75 isn't bad for a Pentium 4 2.4GHz...


REALLY? i have 5 of these in my basement right now, just sitting around :)

[MasterNetra]

Pentium 4 is an older chip. Should be fine with Ubuntu but if you are looking at Windows stick with XP.


Offer 50, go to 65 after that if he counter offers.

Windows 7 (32bit) should have no trouble with that. you could even install ubuntu and VM win7 if needed.


REALLY? i have 5 of these in my basement right now, just sitting around :)

Really? Send me one. I could use a better storage machine. Atm I am using my nearly ancient Gateway 500se for that task but it only hold 40GB...

[mr clark25]

Really? Send me one. I could use a better storage machine. Atm I am using my nearly ancient Gateway 500se for that task but it only hold 40GB...


they arent quite complete machines, but if you want one, i could put it together. if its just a storage machine does it matter what it looks like? or, if you want it to look like a server, i have an old netserver (case) that doesnt work... ;) i could get all the specs if you wanted.

[MasterNetra]

they arent quite complete machines, but if you want one, i could put it together. if its just a storage machine does it matter what it looks like? or, if you want it to look like a server, i have an old netserver (case) that doesnt work... ;) i could get all the specs if you wanted.

sure.

[razorboy5]

I asked a bit more about the problem

"Sometimes it powers up but doesn't even start BIOS, it just hangs, sometimes it starts up fine. I'm not a computer guy so I have no idea what the issue would be.
Chris"

... is it still a psu failure?

also Mr Clark i'd definately buy one if the price is right and i'm sure there's people at ur city who would too, maybe turn em in for cash ^^

[Khakilang]

If you are technically sound in hardware than its a good buy since you can fix it yourself. Otherwise you have to spend to ask somebody to do it. The spec is not bad. I had Ubuntu 10.04 32 bit on Pentium 4 1.5GHz with 384MB RAM and the speed is reasonable. For that spec I think it will perform quite well. Ask for discount since you going to spend on repairing the computer.

[Oxwivi]

http://stcatharines.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-computers-Computer-Tower-for-Sale-W0QQAdIdZ226518268

need a computer for school and really interested in buying this computer but "sometimes it starts sometimes it doesn't" could be for various reasons. Think this is a good investment since it is only 75 dollars and maybe I can talk him down a bit.

thx
I'd buy it if I were you.

[murderslastcrow]

The truth is that, as smartphones are becoming increasingly more oftenly used than a desktop computer, the already low prices of computers are getting ridiculously low. However, we are the ones most aware as Linux users, while most retailers still sell things for the higher (yet still quite low today) price for good hardware.

Also, being Linux users, unless we play videogames, it's generally quite easy to find a system that runs Linux very well, even KDE 4. So really, even if something's wrong with it, you can still cannibalize it, depending on the age of its parts (this may determine if the parts will be compatible with other motherboard models and sockets).

But yeah, that's still pretty darn cheap for what's in it (1.5 GB of RAM will be quite nice to have if you wish to virtualize anything). If it serves you well, it would be a fairly small investment for something that will last you quite a long time.

[ronnielsen1]

Personally, I wouldn't buy it. It may be a bad power supply but it could be a bad mobo too. 75 Canadian dollars seems to be around 71 US dollars and seems high to me. I've ran across them alot cheaper than that. I looked on ebay and here's some cheaper ones that are equivalent. I bought a P4 laptop cheaper than that on ebay


http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX260-Desktop-Computer-PC-128-MB-2-0-GHz-/220660871002?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item336069af5a


http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX270-Desktop-Computer-PC-256-RAM-2-0-HGz-/220659987574?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item33605c3476


http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-SX260-Celeron-2-0Ghz-512Mb-No-HD-/290468937335?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item43a14c3e77

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX270-Desktop-Computer-PC-2-4-GHz-/220660474178?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item336063a142

[MooPi]

No I would not buy. If I already owned this device and new it's history I'd consider keeping it active. This device has to many unknowns to deal with. It could be power supply or a failing memory module or aging capacitors on the mobo. Heck it could even be a hard drive with multiple bad sectors screwing things up. You could end up spending way to much just to get an aging computer to run.

[mr clark25]

Personally, I wouldn't buy it. It may be a bad power supply but it could be a bad mobo too. 75 Canadian dollars seems to be around 71 US dollars and seems high to me. I've ran across them alot cheaper than that. I looked on ebay and here's some cheaper ones that are equivalent. I bought a P4 laptop cheaper than that on ebay


http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX260-Desktop-Computer-PC-128-MB-2-0-GHz-/220660871002?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item336069af5a


http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX270-Desktop-Computer-PC-256-RAM-2-0-HGz-/220659987574?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item33605c3476


http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-SX260-Celeron-2-0Ghz-512Mb-No-HD-/290468937335?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item43a14c3e77

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX270-Desktop-Computer-PC-2-4-GHz-/220660474178?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item336063a142




all of those computers would need a couple parts- all need more ram, and a hard drive. hard drive- $20+
1.0gb of RAM- $20
original computer- $40
total $80


and, those computers wont perform quite as good as the one your looking at. (clock speed isnt as high)

note:i used $US



@masternetra- i could put this together real fast-

512mb ddr ram
80gb IDE hard drive
onboard graphics
IDE cd drive

[MasterNetra]

all of those computers would need a couple parts- all need more ram, and a hard drive. hard drive- $20+
1.0gb of RAM- $20
original computer- $40
total $80


and, those computers wont perform quite as good as the one your looking at. (clock speed isnt as high)

note:i used $US



@masternetra- i could put this together real fast-

512mb ddr ram
80gb IDE hard drive
onboard graphics
IDE cd drive

Well it most certainly be a improvement in terms of space. And my desktop had originally 512mb ram though I upgraded that to 768, still can be raised to 1Gb. Haven't had the inclination to spend the money for it though...

Hmm... Of course could just improve the desktop, with the IDE Hard Drive. What's the largest IDE drive you got in your pile? Just that 80GB? Also you wouldn't happen to have 512mb 168-pin SDRAM piece in one of your piles would ya?

Gateway has a spec page for the desktop btw:
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/2800050/2800050su4.shtml

hmm for processor it claims a AMD but my system has a P4.

[mr clark25]

Well it most certainly be a improvement in terms of space. And my desktop had originally 512mb ram though I upgraded that to 768, still can be raised to 1Gb. Haven't had the inclination to spend the money for it though...

Hmm... Of course could just improve the desktop, with the IDE Hard Drive. What's the largest IDE drive you got in your pile? Just that 80GB? Also you wouldn't happen to have 512mb 168-pin SDRAM piece in one of your piles would ya?

Gateway has a spec page for the desktop btw:
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/2800050/2800050su4.shtml

hmm for processor it claims a AMD but my system has a P4.


sadly, that is the largest IDE drive i have on hand. i do have a couple 512mb sticks of SDRAM. are you shure those specs are on your computer? that says it will only run the ram at 100mhz, and will only take 256mb...

[murderslastcrow]

Go to Ebay. They have similar computers that will give you trustworthy performance for only a dozen dollars more.

[MasterNetra]

sadly, that is the largest IDE drive i have on hand. i do have a couple 512mb sticks of SDRAM. are you shure those specs are on your computer? that says it will only run the ram at 100mhz, and will only take 256mb...

Well I googled my model and thats what came up. Apparently not identical, but its relatively close. Like I said my system has a P4, and I know it accept 512, because it came with one 512 stick. I'll have to get PC Wizard installed on it and get a better spec list on whats on it.

But yea I guess the 80Gb could work I mean it can support a second drive, could continue using the 40GB to host the OS and the 80GB as pure storage.

[mr clark25]

so, you want the 80GB hard drive and 1 stick of 512mb of sdram. correct?

if you wanted to buy one of those p4 @2.4ghz, the mobo, and the ddr ram, you could just re-use your case... i could probly round up a little more ddr ram if you wanted. i will go check and see what i have for ddr ram.

EDIT: im out of large sticks of ddr ram. i only have 256mb modules left, and the motherboard only has 2 slots...

[MasterNetra]

so, you want the 80GB hard drive and 1 stick of 512mb of sdram. correct?

if you wanted to buy one of those p4 @2.4ghz, the mobo, and the ddr ram, you could just re-use your case... i could probly round up a little more ddr ram if you wanted. i will go check and see what i have for ddr ram.

pretty much. Would replace the 256 stick with the 512.

Also here is a readout on that desktop.

[mr clark25]

pretty much. Would replace the 256 stick with the 512.

Also here is a readout on that desktop.

dang, it looks like i dont have any ram for you-- ot looks like your system uses ddr ram. all i have left is 256mb sticks :(

i could still send you the hard drive. and, if you want a faster processor, i could send you a p4 that runs at 2.4ghz (if your motherboard supports it...)

[MasterNetra]

dang, it looks like i dont have any ram for you-- ot looks like your system uses ddr ram. all i have left is 256mb sticks :(

i could still send you the hard drive. and, if you want a faster processor, i could send you a p4 that runs at 2.4ghz (if your motherboard supports it...)

Sure, P4 and drive would be fine. I'll have to wait until I get enough spare cash and nab a 512 off of newegg then.
This maybe if its still there...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178236

[mr clark25]

Sure, P4 and drive would be fine. I'll have to wait until I get enough spare cash and nab a 512 off of newegg then.
This maybe if its still there...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178236


that is SDRAM. those report files that you posted claim that your computer uses DDR RAM. i believe you need something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145485

[MasterNetra]

that is SDRAM. those report files that you posted claim that your computer uses DDR RAM. i believe you need something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145485

Indeed, and this is a few dollars cheaper even. Shipping even cheaper nice, grand total would be $25 instead of $28, every little bit helps.

[ssulaco]

Go to Ebay. They have similar computers that will give you trustworthy performance for only a dozen dollars more.
I opt for my local Craigslist,..hate to pay money for shipping.