ok.. i need to build a computer for a friend of mine..
whose sole purpose on the computer is to go on the internet..
i dont want this comp to be too fancy..
i dont even think he needs a cd burner in it.. so a cdrom would be fine..
and he wants ot to be as compact as possible..
so what case/mobo and stuff would u guys suggest..
i was thinking of a mini tower, but i dont know how many motherboard are made for that..
+.. what cpu should i get.. upto what speed.. dont want this comp to be too expensive..
also.. he wants an lcd with it.. so i wanna keep the main computer's price to a minimum so he can get a good lcd with it!
for some reason.. hes more interested in spending on the monior than the whole computer..
thanx...
will be looking for some replies..

Price range?

Quote from Noddy : Price range?

That's a really good question!

Quote from murzilka : That's a really good question!

I almost didn't even bother asking it - there are too many questions in the original post and I hate when people can't even do their own basic research - what with Dells showing up for $298 for pretty kick-butt systems and places in "Computer Shopper" advertising all kinds of cheap stuff... not to mention Walmart's (failed) experiment with cheap boxes...

Quote from Noddy : I almost didn't even bother asking it - there are too many questions in the original post and I hate when people can't even do their own basic research - what with Dells showing up for $298 for pretty kick-butt systems and places in "Computer Shopper" advertising all kinds of cheap stuff... not to mention Walmart's (failed) experiment with cheap boxes...

I think he wants it under $200!

Quote from murzilka : I think he wants it under $200!

Yah - probably right - with XP Pro and an LCD...

Yes, Probably.... the computer under 200 but with a nice lcd.
CPU probably celeron... $78
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewPro...190&depa=0

Mobo and Case, probably look for as cheap as possible... make sure ur mobo supports celeron, has integrated graphics and sound.

i haven't heard too much about cd rom drives, but there's a mad dog 4x dvd-r/-rw drive for 10AR that would be a nice cd rom drive.

HD & ram; little things.... but costly.

Its probably best not to build a computer anymore... because parts do add up. Try checking out the current desktop deals from dell. Add a monitor or buy it separately.. because a low end system could add up to a decent system from dell and it saves you all the work.

I never build anymore, especially if I'm looking for something very inexpensive. You just can't beat the prices of some manufacturers (like Dell), plus you don't have to put it together again. You'd be hard pressed to buy the parts they put in those $300 Dells for the same price.

I do not agree with that since I never build from scratch and most of the times have something free around. It is also a good idea to wait for a deal. Moreover, I like to customize my machine myself. HDD and burner is not a problem if you fish around on SD.

thanx for the help guys..
yeah.. he hasnt given me a price range.. he said.. build one.. and give him a price quote..
pretty inexpensive.. but wants an LCD.. what i will do is.. just suggest him to a good lcd from dell.. but i wanna build the comp..
so any price grange is good..
till 350-400 is good..

This shoul do the job with the option of expansion.
System from Newegg.

*ANTEC Solution Series Mid Tower Case with 300W Power Supply, Model "SLK2600AMB"
$52.00
Shuttle "AN35N-Ultra" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU
$55.00
AMD Athlon XP 2200+, 266 FSB, 256K Cache Processor - Retail
$75.00
Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
$74.00
SONY Beige 1.44MB 3.5Inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model MPF920, OEM
$9.00
*Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only
$61.99
*Lite-On White 52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Drive, Model SOHR-5238S, OEM
$28.50
*Logitech X-220 2.1 Speaker -RETAIL
$30.00
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack SP1a - OEM
$90.00

Total: $475.49

The case can be bought for $29.99 at BB this week.
You could get a larger hard drive for less from weekly deals here, so lets say:$50.
You can usually find a hot deal on a 8x-dvd drive for the same price.
For speakers you can usually check woot.com for a good deal.

So in total it would be around: $442.98 with onboard soud and video.

In this situation it would probably be better to get one of the Dell 400sc and put windows xp on it.

Quote from maanitrules : thanx for the help guys.. yeah.. he hasnt given me a price range.. he said.. build one.. and give him a price quote.. pretty inexpensive.. but wants an LCD.. what i will do is.. just suggest him to a good lcd from dell.. but i wanna build the comp.. so any price grange is good.. till 350-400 is good..

There is something that is beyond my comprehention. LCD is good, but why try to save then on othrer things like burner and stuff?

Surplus Computers sells a refurb Dell that runs $99.99 plus $25.25 shipping.

Dell Optiplex GX1 PIII 600Mhz./ 6GB/ 128/ CD System [surpluscomputers.net]

Condition: Refurbished
Warranty: 90 Days

Product Description:

• Pentium III 600MHZ Processor
• 128 MB SDRAM Memory
• 6.4GB Hard Disk Drive
• CD-ROM Drive
• 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
• Integrated ATI Rage Pro (AGP 2x) Video
• Integrated Sound by Crystal Semiconductor
• Integrated 10/100 Network Interface
• 2 PCI, 2 ISA, and 1 Shared PCI/ISA Slots
• 2 Serial, 1 Parallel, and 2 USB Ports