It wouldnt be difficult to get 3 desktop computer and a laptop for less than $1000. So you could have a server and 2 workstations and be able to work remotely. All This would have been more than $4000 3 years ago.
It is bang for the buck coupled with depreciation afterwards. I have been in computers since 1978. I am not a newbie. I have an idea what the coumpters can do and what I know how to do with them. The only thing a 3 Ghz machine can do that my 500 Mhz can’t is play some high rez descendents of DOOM. If I need a bigger hard disk I can install it.
Computers are somewhat like buying stereos but there is one big difference. I could buy a decent used stereo for $400 or I could buy a great new one for $3000. There is no way the used one will sound as good as the new one. But if I do that with computers there is almost nothing I can do, that I want to do with the $3000 computer that I can’t do with a $400 used one. Bragging rights are worth nothing $2600 is significant. The limiting factor on computers these days is between the users ears.
Certainly older computers have their place and CAN be used (ie, they aren’t completely useless when they become old). But it really depends on what you want to do with them.
That great deal on the P3 650? Only 128mb RAM? Try running any of the latest games on that. And that HD? 10gb? I download that much on a daily basis…
For $600 you can get a brand new 2.2GHz system with 30 GB HDD, CD-RW, 256 MB RAM and 17" monitor. (That’s traight off the Dell web page.) There are many things this system can do that your 3-year old $300 system would not: e.g. run Windows XP at a comfortable speed, run the latest games, and store 20GB of data.
Yeah, you are talking about a 100% increase in price for capacity he might not need. In fact, most computer users don’t need that sort of computing power.
For me, even though I am a fairly demanind power user, what is outside the box is the most important thing to get right. Good quality 17" LCD, $50 keyboard, $50 mouse and good set of speakers can do far more for your system that a $2000 upgrade of its internals.
If you know what your needs are I agree entirely!
I keep adding to my harem, I bought a 233mhz Dell laptop for ten bucks about a year ago, it is going to quite soon get de-cased and built into a new desktop for a friends child. It may not be good for Counterstrike, but for doing homework, playing Tetris, and surfing the net it will be fine.
“For $600 you can get a brand new 2.2GHz system with 30 GB HDD, CD-RW, 256 MB RAM and 17” monitor."
You can get an emachine at Circuit City sans monitor with about those specs for about $250 depending on the location. Dell has coupons you can use now & then to save another 15%.
I confess one of my problems with new computers is the CHEAP cases. The best computer case I have came out of the garbage. Someone threw away a 486 server with a defective hard disk.
The case has hinged sides that unhook, a dust filter on the fron fan. The case and power supply would probably cost $400.
I admit I am not a gamer. I got hooked on DOOM for about 8 months but once that addiction faded nothing else has had that effect. Playing DOOM at 3 in the morning and wondering where the time went was strange.
There is a benchmark series in the Jan '83 Byte magazine. It is the most extensive I have ever seen. The fastest machine was an IBM 3033 mainframe running assembly language. My 533 MHz Celeron running C under RH 7.2 beat it. That machine cost at least $1,000,000 and took a max of 32 Meg of ram.
