Need to get a used PC
 

I need to get a basic PC running XP for our MS Access order entry/invoicing system. It will do nothing else. I'm not sure if it's possible, but I'd like to get something for $250 that is reasonably current.

What specs should I be looking for?

Get a new one, something like this The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

A local store used to sell used boxes for $100, monitors for $50. This was about 4 years ago, and they came pre-loaded with windows 98. I'd imagine for the same price you could get one these days pre-loaded with xp. Or ask your friends - I've got 2 spare computers, I'd just give you one if you lived nearby.

Funny story. And true. My mom bought an HP at a church yard sale. Whole system with printer for $35 or so. It was running Windows 98.
My ex-girlfriend is a computer guru and offered to help mom set it up. She called me and asked if she should show mom all of the porn from the original owner - who happened to be a woman and was starring in many, many of the images!
I told her only if she wanted to kill my mom so she then wiped it clean.
The woman had also left All of her personal banking info, passwords, family members SS numbers, etc. on the thing.
Good for them my GF was honest.
Oh, and the "quality" of the porn from this good Baptist church family would have made a baboon blush blue!

PacificGeek.com - Surplus Computers and Wholesale Computer Parts

Or, buy a Netbook and pair with a monitor and external keyboard.

No archive?

Sadly, no. :confused: Don't know why my old g/f wouldn't let us keep that stuff? :rolleyes:

2 x-mas ago i bought a dell from Dell Outlet - Refurbished Computers - Refurbished Laptops - Refurbished PCs | Dell for $270

I just got a netbook that I traded for an old blackberry I had sitting on a shelf for 5 months. After I ran housecall (failed) AVG (failed) then finally Avast I was able to get the various nasty viruses off the machine. 540 infected files was a record for me. I also had to clean up my desktop because I stupidly used a usb drive to copy some files over which infected the desktop.

All told I spent quite a few hours on the 2 month old miserable little PC and learned an imprortant lesson. DONT buy a used PC!

I'd only buy used if I was going to wipe it and start over....

all good advice and links, thank you, and yes I'd just wipe any computer clean and reinstall XP and Access. the one I have now is a friend's and I want to give it back.

Christien, thanks for the thought, much appreciated.

Call a few of the smaller local computer stores... the ones that will build a computer for you... and ask if they have any used PCs for sale... or what they would charge to build a basic one for you that will meet your requirements. Many times, these shops have great buys and they almost always give great service.

Why not spend the $100 on VMWare?

I buy used Dell computers on eBay all the time... cheap and decent computers can easily be found. Watch the shipping charges!

please tell me more.

Not a bad idea, but it sounds like this needs to be a standalone/isolated PC.

Why trust a used PC for a business purpose that would appear to be vital to the business?

For one business my accounting software is PC only. So I run a VMWare client which lets me run XP and the accounting software.

For another, I have to use Outlook and IE. So I run another VMWare client instance with Win7 and then run those aps in "Unity" mode, which means they look like native Mac apps.

All of this on a basic unibody MacBook.

Unless I needed a dedicated machine, this is a very usable setup.

These are some of the <$250 deals on dell.com/outlet right now.

dell zino hd $209 250 GB hd 2Gb ram DVD Athlon 1600 cert refurb

dell zino hd $229 250 GB hd 2Gb ram DVD Athlon 1800 scratch and dent

dell zino hd $249 250 GB hd 2Gb ram DVD Athlon dual core 1500 scratch and dent

dell zino hd $249 250 GB hd 3Gb ram DVD Athlon 1600 scratch and dent

I need to buy a new MacBook anyway, so this option looks very attractive. My screen inverter went bad the other day (use a 24 Samsung for all design, but PS/Ill menus are great on the separate screen) and taking it into an Apple store realized that I got it in 2004. That's crazy. The 2.66 or 2.8 MB Pro looks very tempting.

What I like about your scenario is I can print invoice/packing slip/UPS label and PDF copies all in chair. There's a lot of jumping around with the separate PC and I find I need to email PDF orders a lot, which means creating on the PC and then emailing to my Mac and then forwarding on.

Do I have to restart? can I easily swap back and forth between OS?