Low budget computing

Ideas to save money on your computer

Buy used equipment for low budget computing

Computer Recyclers:
If you live in an urban area there is probably a computer recycling center nearby. Usually these outfits build computers from the best of the donated equipment they receive – which they then sell at astonishingly low prices. This is a serious low budget computing opportunity!

Online Auctions:
Wherever you’re located you can use eBay online auctions. Just be sure your vendor has an excellent reputation and that the software you get can be registered under your own name (if you want future upgrade pricing or technical support). Of course you may save so much money that you’re willing to forgo registering or support.

I’ve had wonderful results on eBay, both buying and selling. I have noticed that these days the eBay newbies sometimes get carried away and make such high bids that they actually end up paying more than retail!

Online Classifieds:
Then there’s the popular Craig’s List online classifieds. They don’t compile stats on seller reputation, but you can find local sellers who you can visit in person. Selling on Craig’s List is also easy – but note the time limit on how often you can post your ads. Of course buying used gear is a sure path to low budget computing. Many stores and manufacturers sell reconditioned units too. As long as the warranty is good those can be a good way to do low budget computing too.

Dell Outlet:
Dell, the large online computer seller, also sells refurbished computers at discounted prices through their ‘Dell Outlet‘ web site. I don’t know anyone who has purchased there, but the warranty looks good and Dell computers are generally excellent.

Build your own computer for low budget computing

It’s really not that hard to assemble your own Windows computer, if you want a desktop system, and there are many advantages to doing so:

• It’s fun!
• You get bragging rights.
• Save 30% to 50% on the latest and greatest equipment.
• You’ll learn a lot, have a better understanding of your system and gain confidence.
• Your new knowledge will come in handy if a repair is needed.
• Rather than discarding your whole machine in the future, you’ll be able to upgrade individual components to keep it up to date – for ongoing savings. That is, if you don’t wait too long, such that hardware changes radically.
• You can choose the very best individual components for your unique needs, rather than having the design of some corporate engineering department forced on you. Big computer vendors don’t always have your best interests in mind. Some of their computer designs decisions are probably made for business reasons, rather than for engineering reasons. The result will be sub-optimal designs or component selections.

All the components you buy come with full instructions. And they don’t expect you to be an expert. If you can follow instructions accurately, avoid the temptation to dive in before reading the instructions, and can wield a screwdriver with a bit of style – you’re in. But be extra careful about CPU cooler installations and all aspects of cooling.

My Do-It-Yourself advice:

• Buy an “Intel Boxed Desktop Motherboard” or one from ASUS. Be sure to compare online reviews first. For Windows 7, be sure to get a motherboard which is run by the Intel X58 chipset.
• Buy an Intel CPU (Central Processing Unit). For Windows 7, the best bet is the Intel i7 CPU.
• Study the documents and info for your chosen motherboard on Intel’s web site. Don’t neglect the part about fans and cooling air, called “Thermal Engineering” or Intel’s “Thermal Solution”.
• If you need advanced graphics (for games, digital art, etc.) buy a display card with an nVidia brand chipset.
• Buy online from Newegg.com.
• You can use PriceGrabber to find the lowest prices. Typically Newegg will provide the best “value” (best balance of low price/quality/trustworthiness). My experience with Newegg has been so good that I always go with them if in doubt – and I’ve tried many online computer stores.
• If you want to research technical products, use the Tom’s Hardware web site reviews.

Be aware though that building your own PC won’t guarantee ultra cheap upgrades for long. You can’t necessarily just drop in a new motherboard and CPU every 2 or 3 years. That’s because new technologies keep coming along which change things like the design of the case, the need for a different memory module or CPU connector, more watts from your power supply, etc. And by the time you do swap in a new motherboard, CPU, memory, larger hard drives and a beefier power supply, you will only be saving a couple of hundred dollars over a completely new system. Not that those savings are a bad thing.

Have a computer built to your specifications

Most metropolitan areas have computer assembly companies who specialize in building computers for their clients. They may not cost any less than the big national brands, but you do get the other advantages of custom built machines. Be sure to shop around for the best companies. Ask your friends and ask the business owners for past customers you can talk to. Of course you won’t save nearly as mush money as you would building your own. But you will get a warranty.

Speaking of warranties, Intel is great in that regard! They give excellent support and are very good about letting you return products, once you secure their RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) number – and you pay only shipping. Intel might very well give you an RMA - even if you made a design or assembly mistake that burned up your motherboard or CPU. And you can do it all, plus walking you through a testing process through their online chat system.

Tom’s Hardware – Cheap computer spec ($750):
In January 2009, Tom’s Hardware (my favorite and very honest computer hardware review site) published a computer design list specifically for a low cost build-it-yourself computer. Check it out.

Watch those computer operating costs

Keep your computing costs down by going for value, rather than just low price, as I discuss below.

One example of an expensive result from considering cost over value is the case of the low-cost inkjet printer. You’ve heard the one about “Give away razors in order to sell razor blades”? How about keeping inkjet printers cheap and making a killing selling ink cartridges?

A lot of people buy inkjet printers over laser printers without considering the long-term cost of consumables. You can spend $100 a month, in a print-intensive home office, on ink for a $200 printer!

Compare this to (a hypothetical) $65 every 3 months ($21.66 a month) for black laser printer toner cartridges to support a $300 black laser printer. That’s $260 a year for printing Vs $1,200. With that much savings, it doesn’t take long to recover that extra $100 for a laser printer.

Of course there’s color to consider. Until recently, inkjet printers were the only low priced option for color. So to save money, you needed 2 printers: a black laser printer for common printing chores and an inkjet printer which you used only when you really needed color. That’s my own solution and I only need to buy inkjet ink cartridges every 3 to 6 months. And I could save even more by buying from the lowest priced quality online sources, rather than local stores or refilling my inkjet cartridges myself from bulk ink supplies, using one the available kits.

High quality color laser printers are available now for $500 or less – so color printing is not the issue it once was.

Free and inexpensive software

Use Open Source, Freeware and Shareware Software:
Open Source is a major movement in the software development community. As a software “end user” what this means is free or very inexpensive software of all kinds. The Open Source operating systems are best left to experts, but many other Open Source software products are fine for average Window users. For example there’s OpenOffice, a complete free Productivity Suite, very much like Microsoft Office and claimed to be compatible with Office and Office users.

There is a lot of free software online as well. Just be careful that the free products you download aren’t just vehicles to deliver spyware or advertising to your computer. A good resource where you can search for safe shareware, freeware and inexpensive software is CNet’s “Downloads” page. I have a page here where I’m listing my favorite free or cheap products. The oldest “free” software movement is “Shareware” – where you can try software for free, then pay a low price if you find it useful. Sometimes payment is even voluntary. The Shareware concept was developed by a computer hobbyist I knew slightly, near my home town.

Notice that Adobe offers 30 day free trials (fully functioning versions) of all their high-priced professional products. If you use these tools commercially, you could very well pay for them with your first 30 days of work using them.

Until next time – the price is right!
_jim coe

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