Desktop computer for only $25?

Question

My school is selling the following for $25.

Pentium III 1 GHZ processor
256MB of RAM
20 GB Hard Drive
Windows 2000 Professional

I also have a question on setting it up for a wireless internet connection. I have a wireless router set up on my desktop at home. Is it possible to set this computer up so it has wireless capability and if so, what needs to be done?

Answer 1

The computer could be a good deal depending on what you intend to use it for. If just using to browse the web, write reports, and play some older games (titles generally released pre-2002) the system should be capable of handling most of them. As others mentioned though, areas for improvement include the hard disk and memory. A 20 GB drive is often not enough space (OS takes about 2 GB, you'll lose about .75 GB to a pagefile for virtual memory, if it has MS Office that will be another 1-2 GB, plus any games or pictures you install). Don't worry too much about that though as you can pick up a standard IDE hard drive for less than $100, although I'd caution going with a capacity less than 137 GB (pretty sure that is the size) as systems didn't support larger disk as a single volume. Some disk manufacturers include utilities to help utilize the entire disk though so you may need to research this a bit.

Memory is the other area to consider improving. Since the time that system was built, the cost of memory has been declining so I'd recommend upgrading it to 512 MB if you have the money available. 256 MB isn't bad for that OS, but if you plan to use a modern digital camera, you'll find that having the extra memory will help with performance.

As or the wireless, you should be able to find a cheap PCI wireless card that will work in your system (~ $30 or so). Another option to consider is a USB wireless adapter but I don't know if your system has USB or not. You could always purchase a USB PCI card and go that route, especially if you plan to connect a digital camera or a mp3 player. Just make sure that whatever solution you buy has drivers for MS Windows 2000. Newer solutions may not have drivers for that as the OS is a bit old by todays standards.

Answer 2

That is a great deal for $25. W2k Pro alone is $150. I would amp the RAM to 512mb ($25 for a 256mb stick). Walmart has wifi PCI cards for $30. Windows 2000 is as secure as XP without the weight. It is very light on resources. I still have 12 computers on W2k.


http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2470288

Answer 3

The computer isn't that great, but for $25 go for it. As for the wireless connection, you won't be able to use the wireless connection unless you have a wireless card (there are only a few for desktops, which can cost you quite a bit. I suggest you buy an ethernet cable and connect it directly.

Answer 4

It's great if you can afford it that is. It's got a i7 processor (highest intel range you can get) a above decent graphics card and lots of Ram (I mean loads, expect fast speed with this desktop). Yeah your pretty much set if you want this desktop, very good system you have your eye on.

Answer 5

I hate to be a party pooper, but 20 GBs will soon fill up, especially if you put a lot of pics, movies, well, just about anything but text. My sister had the 20 GB & soon regretted it. I find that 80 Gbs is the minimum these days. Just a word to the wise. That PC has likely had a LOT of HARD usage, so, please be careful.

Answer 6

Good deal!!! I have an older one than this (Pentium III 700MHZ processor) and it works like a charm.

If it includes the W2K CD, it will do nicely. Just make sure you do all Windows updates.

Add a Wifi PCI card for about $40.







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Answer 7

OK, about right. For wifi, just add a $29.00 wifi card. Most office stores have them. OR, buy on the web, a bit cheaper. pricewatch.com has hundreds of vendors... Also, 3btech, newegg.com and computergate.com have the wifi cards, memory, and other parts

I would speed it up about 50X by running one of the LiveCDroms of Linux, such as Mepis. I would put in a 512MB memory card...

Answer 8

This is a fine computer to handle light word processing & spreadsheets, as well as email and basic web browsing.
While you won't be able to make your latest videos, download and upload videos to your space page as fast as other, faster computers, it should still suffice for basic work.

Answer 9

Just get a wireless card for it.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1030262&CatId=2697

Answer 10

It may be too slow to handle the net. There isn't much support out there for your software and the hard drive is not as big as it sounds.