CHEAPEST Computer...

[dragflameson]

Anyone who runs their own computer business and build's computers for their customers, what’s the cheapest computer you can possibly build for a customer.

I came up with $220.00 with S&H included, but that’s WITHOUT a monitor, keyboard, mouse and software lol... and obviously before markup... to make your own profit :(

I mean Dell has a desktop for $399.00 which someone can get for $15.00 a month... so if a customer is going to buy a computer off of you, they're going to want the same performance but cheaper, or else they'll just go to Dell and pay $15.00 a month... right?

[dragflameson]

This is the cheapest I could come up with that includes EVERYTHING as far as speakers, keyboard, mouse, ect.

$434.16 for the following system:

Powermax Beige Case w/PSU ($21.99)

LITEON 52X CD-ROM ($15.00)

Masscool 80mm Case Fan ($2.09)

3.5" Floppy Drive ($7.00)

40GB Samsung 7200RPM ($45.00)

Basic Keyboard/Mouse Combo ($7.50)

256MB RAM PC2100 Rosewill ($29.99)

15" CRT Monitor ($89.00)

Motherboard/CPU combo ($57.00)
-800MHz C3 Samual 2 2000
-Integrated sound, video and LAN

AOPEN Speakers ($6.99)

Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 ($92.95)

Shipping and Handling = $59.65 + parts = $374.51 for total of $434.16

And that's without MS Office, a subwoofer, no wireless keyboard/mouse, no CDRW or DVD and only 800MHz CPU... basically nothing compared to Dells cheapest computer system, and $35.00 more expensive :mad: :(

Edit:

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.. and then on top of that you have to charge labor... *sigh*

[leprechaun_40]

I don't do cheap, costs me too much.;)

(in support and such ):eek:

[dragflameson]

When I say "cheap" I mean "cheap" as in price wise... whats the cheapest computers you build for customers?

[AllGamer]

if you really want cheap

get a Mini Imac :D

[Johnny Fist]

The cheapest I like to go is $500.00. That includes a very small markup for my profit. I have almost no overhead and sell nearly all my PCs online. I've found that selling cheaper PCs with low end hardware, even if its a quality brand name, will attract those people less computer literate and therfore more likely to damage or ruin the computer. By catering more towards the middle ground I can attract people with more money who are more likely to be educated, and as a result more computer literate and less likely to do something requiring me to replace anything. Its harder for me to hit the high end market because I think people that can afford to buy a PC for $1500 will just buy one from a retail store like Best Buy or CompUSA.

[dragflameson]

Originally posted by Johnny Fist
The cheapest I like to go is $500.00. That includes a very small markup for my profit. I have almost no overhead and sell nearly all my PCs online. I've found that selling cheaper PCs with low end hardware, even if its a quality brand name, will attract those people less computer literate and therfore more likely to damage or ruin the computer. By catering more towards the middle ground I can attract people with more money who are more likely to be educated, and as a result more computer literate and less likely to do something requiring me to replace anything. Its harder for me to hit the high end market because I think people that can afford to buy a PC for $1500 will just buy one from a retail store like Best Buy or CompUSA. I never thought about it like that... very interesting! :)

I've just been trying to think things out lately... as I wait for my 1st customer.. still :(

Here's my website:

www.xpresscs.com

People have been taking business cards, and looking at the flyers I got up, but still not a single call or e-mail in almost a whole week :(

[Johnny Fist]

Well, you're just starting out. Trust me, you're going to start seeing problems comming a mile a way just by the way the person talks or their body language. Remeber, every village idiot out there is a computer expert. Couple that with the fact that most of them have easy access to a phillips screwdriver and you've got big problems on your hands unless you protect yourself.

[dragflameson]

Originally posted by Johnny Fist
Remeber, every village idiot out there is a computer expert. Couple that with the fact that most of them have easy access to a phillips screwdriver and you've got big problems on your hands unless you protect yourself. Haha yeahhh...

*sigh*

[Someone Stupid]

Drag: It's just after Christmas for a budget item like a computer. The best you can hope for right now is to keep your losses at a minimum until the market picks back up. People are starting to get their tax returns back, so you might get a bit of business from that. It's always hard starting out as you have no name recognition and it cost money to get that - and then you need customers to back that up. Don't get down on yourself. Just play up your strengths, and that is that you can build to their need and your THERE, your not in India. Give it some time, don't stock up on much in inventory until you need it as I've seen quite a few startups go broke as their inventory became obsolete before their customer base got built up. Sure, they had gorgeous shops filled from the start, but with little traffic to see it, it was wasted.

As for the Mac:
One site made a comp off of parts from newegg and it was around 240 or so minus monitor just to shut the mac crowd up. It wasn't all pretty and didn't have GarageBand (don't we all need that one?) but it's performance was excellent for the price and just as good and if not better than the MM. You add a monitor to that 400 dollar cube and your at 500 plus.

You can get a Dell that performs much better for 500 and looks about the same as a slick looking mini mac attached to some el-cheapo CRT or LCD isn't gonna look that great either - don't even think of an Apple LCD, you've just easily doubled the cost and now you have to deal with two companies for warranties and still out a good deal in performance.

Novel idea, and if Mac made a cheap monitor for it (a small laptops size LCD would be plenty big in sticking with the small cute concept), but sadly Mac doesn't do that - yet.

I can't see buying the box for performance reasons - nice Dell vs. Mac review here: http://www.overclockers.com/articles1176/
I also can't for it's sleek look or whatnot because once you add one of those sleek looking Apple LCD's (nice LCD's, just expensive LCD's), your looking at a very nice PC setup.

Mac users are a different breed though, just even for them, the idea of a 400 dollar cube that needs an equally, if not more so, expensive monitor to keep it's macness isn't going to be that appealing. Maybe they'll make inroads with new customers, but I really can't see how once those who are concerned about money to begin with see it comes sans monitor, mouse, and keyboard.