angrynorth

A legitimate request as I may need a decent quantity of these so please don't dismiss this as flaming.

Right, you PC bods are always gibbering on about the cheapness of PC's What's the absolute cheapest I could build the following for?

Smallest possible case - really small if poss
Slowest graphics card - whatever it doesn't have to be usable
1 USB port
1 ethernet port
500mhz +
16mb ram
Reliable low energy and cool (as in cold) fan, PSU and mobo

If this PC can run one single programme with no user interaction for weeks on end without needing a reboot then that's its exactly what it needs to be.

Any suggestions?

Ta.

Neil Smalley

Whats the program it needs to run. How about Something from here maybe?
http://www.refurbishedcomputers.me.uk/over120.html

BTW what operating system are you planning to use. If it's as cheap as chips you want, then I suggest Linux.

angrynorth

The software hasn't been written yet But its requirements are teeny. I could probably run it off a 3 year old PDA as it needs that little processing power if that was a practical solution.

Thanks for that site, they seem to have the right kind of price-ish but the boxes are too big.

I have looked at Linux but to be honest its just not practical for this. I think win98 possibly 2000 will be the final OS. Its not really that important though as no users will use it, the boxes will just sit there waiting to hand out info.

Neil Smalley

Cheap laptop then? I doubt if any modern small form factor cases will fit such an old design of MB and PSU.

angrynorth

Hmm I had feared that would be the case. I will have a think about the laptop option. My only fear with that is leaving a laptop in some of the places I need to leave them might not be the best plan as although they won't be worth much they appear more nickable than a box.

Iain Young

You can get security locks for laptops which keep them pretty well secured to the desk / rack etc. You also have the added advantage that if the power goes, they'll stay working on battery for a while before shutting down...

lightning101

What you need is one of those computers the size of a CDRom drive, with the ports under it usb, sound firewire etc, you see them in the adverts sections of What Laptop etc.

They have been out for a number of years now, so must be pretty cheap now, will do some research and post back later.

kernel

You could look at mini-itx and EPIA stuff, low power but not as cheap as regular pc bits. http://www.mini-itx.com/

jpor

iTrader: (1)

If you can still get hold them an Old Dell NX1 would suit. Basically has no front expanion bays, just a power button, 1 x PCI expansion slot. Room for 1 x 3.5" HDD or possibly 2 x 2.5" HDDs, Intel BX 440 Chipset with 2 x USB 1 ports, 10/100 ethernet nic (3com) etc.. at the back. But can be upgraded to a P3 500Mhz (Usually had either a P2 250 - 400 Mhz Slot1 CPU as standard) and 512MB RAM (3 X Dimm Slots). And being a dell should be a reliable PC. Not sure where you can still get them from except at computer fairs. Proably get them at around £100 each. Check here for fairs in the country: www.computermarkets.co.uk

GC8

Id second that; VIA EPIA Mini-ITX kit would be ideal. There are much cheaper suppliers though.

Simon

GaryK

I would check the wholesale and job lots section on ebay because you can buy 'lots' of old computer stock, I did exceptionally well last year buying 20 x Compaq Deskpro 233Mhz machines complete with keyboards and monitors for £300!!! so £15 a pop, knocked em all out for £50 a time had cdrom, lan card, they dont normally come up that cheap but sometimes not far off. As above really stick Linux on if its a really simple app Im sure people can help out!

Gary

NWMark

buy a server and user VMWare Workstation on it, you can have as many 'virtual desktops' as you wish then, in one box. And if the program they will be running has very little requirements you could probably get away with buying a modern PC and using that as your server.

much easier for backups, support, upgrades etc etc.

www.vmware.com for info

Mark