Hi, I am thinking of buying a friend's spare PC, strictly as a basic, pinch-hit measure. To be used pretty much only for dialup web surfing, email and word processing.

He said he bought it new in 2003. He got it for a job that required him to have his own, then soon left the job and hasn't used it since. I'll most likely be buying it with no monitor. Not sure on software, but safe to assume he went with what came loaded, and I have most of what I'd need already.

Neither of us knows what a fair price would be. I got one estimate so far but it was so low it surprised us both, so I told him I'd ask another source. Following is his description. (At the suggested price I have gotten so far, I wouldn't even bother asking him many more questions about the thing.) Thanks very much for any opinions...
=================
E-MACHINE
T1221
cd-rom 48 x max
128 mb
1.3 ghz
20 gb hard drive
ultra dma
3-d graphics
4 usb pts (2 on front 2 on back)
windows xp (probably Home edition)
intel
------
(No monitor, don't need)
(Negligible software)

Sadly, the copy of Windows XP Home is likely worth more than the PC due to it's age. I can't say what a "fair" price is but I know I wouldn't pay more than ohhhh.....$100.00 for that unit as is (without monitor or the copy of XP)....and that's pushing it.

These days you can purchase a brand new system for anywhere from $500.00 to $1000.00 (in most cases with a monitor) so that gives you an idea on how little a used older PC is worth.

The estimate you got was probably about right.

You would be lucky to get is UKP100 for something like this. That is assuming it comes with a legitimate copy of Windows PX including installation disk as that is the most expensive item there.

Stuart

This is an ad in a UK FREE paper:

"PC, ATHLON 800mhz, usb, mouse, keyboard, 80gb hard drive, 256mb, Cd writer/Dvd reader, combo drive, £95."

Thanks guys! I figured if I heard around the same price estimate from another good technical source like this -- without having identified what the first estimate I got was -- it would be pretty conclusive. :-)

The XP was pre-installed, so no discs I'm guessing. The monitor I really didn't care about, it's a big one and I have one already that is probably not much worse, and not much storage room. I will probably get a decent new one, that I will use with a new laptop I'll get within maybe a year.

I suppose other advantages to buying his instead of looking for an even better price for a used one are that I know him, and also I won't have to pay shipping...

If he is a good friend and he isn't using it or need it anymore then why not take it off of his hands to get it out of his way.

If some time goes by and you appreciate that fact that he gave it to you then throw a fifty of a hundred but only after you actually enjoy having it.

Otherwise you are just doing him a favor and paying him for the privilege of taking it out of his way.

Otherwise $75 US tops with no CD and no guarentee.

My opinion,
Bryan

"These days you can purchase a brand new system for anywhere from $500.00"....Yup !!!!

A recent example from Dell, they just wrapped up a promotion a few days ago on the Dimension 2400 2.4GHz Celeron Desktop for $200. If you bought two you even get free shipping, the specs is below.

Specs:
XP Home
2.4 GHz Celeron 400 MHz FSB
256 MB DDR SDRAM @ 400 MHz
80 GB UATA 7200RPM HD
CD-RW
no monitor
Dell A215 speakers
90-day warranty, 90-day at-home service

You go figure.

List of Lists.

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

75 dollars is the most that i would pay

I saw a pc at compusa after rebates for 100
199, 299, and 399 dollars
with the 100 dollar being an low end intel 2.8 gig cpu
you might be better off getting somthing a little newer
go to a computer show to give you an idea on pricing used pc's
that is what i do

Holy $#@*%....! Wow, you're right, maybe I better rethink!!! Btw it's not in his way because it's stored at his parent's who have room, and actually he did offer to let me borrow it indefinitely but in most cases I prefer owning something and being done with it, especially for so little $$ (yes would feel free to test it out awhile first though). But in this case, none of that or anything else is making much sense anymore besides that I better rethink this!

Well, I may direct him to this thread if he still thinks he could have gotten more for it... Or as my way of announcing that it's back to the drawing board for me! Thanks again! >:-]