I’m selling one of the old computers I’ve got laying around here on Craig’sList as soon as I figure out how much it’s worth. I have an idea, but I don’t want to influence anyone’s estimates here.
Say you’re in the market for a decent stable machine that won’t break the bank and you happen across this add;
Computer for sale
P3, 450mhz processor,
393 Meg RAM, +
1- 10 Gig HD
1- 20 Gig HD +
Optical drive 1 - DVD Rom/cd burner (Ricoh) +
Optical drive 2 - CD Rom/cd burner (HP)
Floppy drive (3.5)
32 Meg ATI video card, +
Two USB rear ports, (I’ll throw in a four way extender/splitter)
10/100 network card for interneting +
Modem for slower interneting
Soundblaster audio card (entry level)
Win XP pro installed (fresh, and clean) +
Microsoft Office Pro (2003) installed +
Photoshop 6.0 +
Other misc. software like MusicMatch and Real Player, Firefox, etc.
This computer has not been on the internet since the re-install of XP so there is no chance of virus or spyware.
Does not come with the install discs for any of the software. As is.
Also comes with 17" Dell CRT monitor,
HP Multimedia Keyboard
Standard two button/wheel mouse.
It plays DVDs perfectly without any problems and you can even do simple multitasking like watch a movie in the background (with VLC media player, also installed) and edit documents or work on a spreadsheet or listen to music while you surf away. Photoshop runs very snappy along with the entire Office family.
Come give it a test drive, perfect for budget college students!
I put a plus + by the stuff a machine of this era would not have originally had or stuff this one didn’t come with when it was new.
Honestly, a computer in that class is virtually worthless from a spec and components standpoint. It is worth about $100 from a commodity computer standpoint because some people find uses for old computers like that. In this day when new computers start at about $400 - $500, it is difficult to get much of anything for one that is many years old.
The only use i would have for it is to set it up and install it for a relative or someone. I’d give you $25 maybe. As Shagnasty said, it’s pretty much worthless. The $25 is just a token amount so you feel you got something for it.
I agree with those who say it’s virtually worthless. I would also question why you’re not providing the installation disks for the OS and software, especially since you say you just re-installed (so you presumably have the disks).
Surely you don’t intend to re-use that same software on your new machine while leaving it installed on the old one do you?
I’ll have to agree with the above posts. It can’t compete with even a very low end, big company (dell, gateway) PC. And it’s even less upgradeable than one of those. $25 as token gesture is about right.
I’ve gotten similar machines for free (which I turn around and set up for other people, for free).
I would either take all the pieces out and sell them separately on eBay (older RAM goes for some good money these days) or just keep the parts and use them as a backup for yourself or relatives.
If you have the original copies of XP Pro and Office handy and they are transferable to another machine (i.e. not preinstalled as part of an OEM package), those would probably be worth more than the rest of the system combined.
I would buy something like that if I needed an extra computer for my mom (ie, keep her off mine), and yes, maybe $25 since it has office and is all set to go. I’d probably leave the CRT monitor with you.
I actually don’t think this is a good machine for college students, if you can afford a $100 textbook then you can probably justify a few hundred for something newer. College students depend on their machines, better for grandma to do email and such.
OK, here’s the deal. I sold a stripped down version of this very machine (I’ve got/had a few lying around along with a box of parts, ram, drives, processors, etc.) for $60 after about 15 minutes of it being posted on Craig’s.
The one I sold had a faster processor (800 mhz) but that was about it.
It had Win 98, two 13 gig hds, no separate video or audio card (subpar MB), no DVD rom. Only 256 M of Ram.
It came with the same monitor, keyboard and mouse deal.
With the speed that one went I was originally thinking this one would go for $100.
At least that’s what I’ll start at and see where things go from there.
Thanks for your replies so far and wish me luck. I like doing this sort of thing. It’s a challenge to see how much I can get for something I basically just threw together.
Who’s complaining? Honestly, I just gave an anecdote of a situation from a couple of weeks ago. No complaining here.
Hey, if someone’s in the market for a cheap computer for their kids or something you can’t get a new one for less than $350 or so. What’s wrong with them scooping up a $75 (probably what it will go for) machine that will play any kind of kids software plus will go on the internet, do a spreadsheet and play DVDs?
Shitty ride? I don’t get it, I’m not making anyone buy it. There’s 15,000 computers on Craig’s every day. Whoever gets it won’t be forced to do anything.
Sounds like you built this yourself, so this may not apply here.
But often you can do better by donating an older computer to a non-profit tax-deductible (501c3) organization.
The marketplace value of these is pretty low, basically whatever you can get someone to pay. But the IRS allows businesses & organizations to depreciate these over 5 years (or 3 if you’re being conservative). So if it’s a 3-year-old computer, you can value it at 2/5ths (40%) of the original purchase price, and deduct that amount from your taxes.
That’s where I was going to go – the tax deduction or stripping it for parts may be better values than selling the assembled system. It’s seriously outdated, but you’ve got to know that. The video card (32MB) is now under the minimum specs for any big-name games from the last three years or so; the processor is at least four years old but probably closer to seven. 512MB of RAM would be my minimum unless I was setting the box up as an e-mail or web terminal with a lightweight browser (BTW, where did you get 393MB of RAM? 256+128+8+1?).
You could probably sell the RAM for close to market price, so about $27.
A hobbyist might be able to use the video card but wouldn’t pay more than $10 for it.
The HDDs are too small to be useful, given their power consumption.
You can almost always get $5-$10 for a NIC.
The floppy drive is obsolete, but again, hobbyists: $5.
The CPU/Motherboard combination is another troubling piece of debris.
If you have the software install discs and they’re full versions (not OEM crapware) the WinXP CD is worth maybe $50.
Given that logic, I could see a speculator paying $75 and trying to make $20 or so on the parts. I can also see a college student in a liberal arts field (i.e. “needs e-mail, Google, and a word processor”) paying $50-$75 and hoping it lasts for two to four years.
Excellent Jurph, that’s the kind of analysis that can be helpful.
Another direction I could see something like this going is to a family that has a primary computer or two and would like to get the grade schooler into something that will handle children’s titles. That’s what this thing was used for by our family (we found a better one, used, for a steal) until last month.
Most of the titles we checked out from the library would play fine on this unit. Then I added the DVD rom, more Ram and cleaned it up and was surprised at how snappy it was again.
The 393 M of Ram is what is displayed on Post but what’s really in there are three 128’s (384).
I’m not going to strip it down and sell it for parts, I think it’s better that it might end up in some kids bedroom and be used for the occasional movie and stuff that younger kids might be into.