Need help picking out a goog computer

[christine]

I need to know if this is a good computer?

- Compaq Pesario 5000 Series
- Intel Pentium 3 processor
- 866 MHz with 256Kb integrated full speed L2 cache
- 128 Mb total system memory
- up to 11mb allocated as video memory
- 40GB hard drive
- 10/100Mb PCI NIC
- Microsoft XP

Please help me out here - I need honest answers before I spend my money.

 

[Spike]

The question you'll need to answer, is what is your definition of good, what do you want to use this computer for, and how much is it?

At first glance, I would certainly say that it doesn't look top of the range, not by a long shot. I'n fact, I would say it's quite an old system.

Welcome to Techspot by the way

 

[olefarte]

As Spike said, that's a pretty old computer. You are looking at a 866 MHz Pentuim III there, and by todays standards, you can get a really cheap computer with around a 2000 MHz processor, and probably a hard drive with a 100 GB of storage, so that will give an idea of what you are looking at. That might be alright, if all you want to do is surf the internet.

What are you looking to pay for it, and again, as Spike said, what do you want to do with it.

 

[christine]

Reply ----

I am looking to get a computer for my small business. I presently have one that I share with my brother. We need to seperate because he is plays lots of games and I get in his way. The person wants to sell me the computer for $300.00, but I want something that will be with me for a while with minor upgrades.

Would the other computer only be good for internet and other minor task?

Thanks for responding.

 

[Spike]

I would say that the computer you just gave details of in this thread would be far from an ideal business computer.

It would make a halfway decent word processor, and could be used to surf the internet.

I'd say that for even as little as $300 you could get something infinitely better than that if you shopped around a little.

Said that, a computer like the one you've given specs for above would make a reasonable machine if only ever used for wordprocessing or internet browsing, and could be a slave machine on a network.

In terms of minor upgrades, well, I'm sorry to say that that computer, to keep up with the times, would require a new mainboard, a new processor, wuite possibly new RAM, and so effectively, by the time you were finished you'd have built yourself a whole new machine.

I would say that it's definitely worth something, but I don't think it's worth $300

 

[olefarte]

Spike beat me to it. But I have pretty much the same feelings as he does.

I think the price is a little high also, as you could buy a new one from Dell or some other manufacturer for not to much more money and a whole lot better specs.

 

[Spike]

I may be exteremely tired, but I'm just as quick as when awake. lol

That'll probably change when I fall down exhausted, but hey, that could be as much as, say, 30 minutes away!

 

[christine]

Thanks -- you all saved me a headache. I am sure I will have more questions in the future and now I know where to get some answers.

Thanks again -

Christine :wave:

 

[Spike]

No problem. More than happy to help, as is Olefarte I'm sure.

You're most welcome.

 

[olefarte]

I am sure I will have more questions in the future and now I know where to get some answers.

That's what guys like us hang around here for, so let the questions fly if you need more help.