Low cost Linux machine?

[PsychoticDreams]

I'm looking to put together a cheap (sub $400 machine) to run Mandrake Linux on. I was wondering if anyone out there had any thoughts on what hardware would be best to do what I'm looking for. Basically I'm looking for something cheap that will run X Windows fairly well.

So if anyone out there has any thoughts I'd love to hear them. If you have links to any articles please post them. :)

Thanks.

[heron26]

maybe choose the best you can afford and DON'T put XP on it...

Seriously you could afford another hard drive for the price of XP

[PsychoticDreams]

I have no plan to run XP on it. Probably Mandrake or RedHat. I just was hoping for some advice on hardware that will work well under Linux, but is fairly cheap. :)

I'm probably going to go with a mid-to-high range Duron machine. Probably about 256MB of memory. Dunno. Just rambling.

[heron26]

Well, you should be able to run anything pretty well with a new machine built that way.

Just be careful if you install Red Hat to make sure the install selection you make will allow you to do all the stuff you need to do. the Personal Desktop selection is ok only if you think you will never need to download a tarball and compile the program. otherwise you need the workstation install. It seems a little more complicated to install, but still piece of cake compared to Debian.

Best of luck, it always takes a while to get all the pieces and such together.

[Molecule Man]

walmart.com

[tonimontanna]

www.retrobox.com

[czgu]

Originally posted by PsychoticDreams
I'm looking to put together a cheap (sub $400 machine) to run Mandrake Linux on. I was wondering if anyone out there had any thoughts on what hardware would be best to do what I'm looking for. Basically I'm looking for something cheap that will run X Windows fairly well.

So if anyone out there has any thoughts I'd love to hear them. If you have links to any articles please post them. :)

Thanks.

Don't need $400. $200 buy a 800MHz system (128MB RAM, 10GB HD,....) with LindowsOS v2 installed from WalMart. Remove LindowsOS and install Mandrake 9.0. You get what you want for half price you are going to pay.

[biG xiN Xin]

i think just buy a new computer :P because i get a free old computer form my friend and i try to install red hat. end out i need to pay more to buying video card, mouse, monitor ++++++ but the red hat xwindow still dosent want to work ..... "suck" is the only word i can think about.

just buy a computer with every thing (save cost and time) unless you want to learn then get the free one hahaha

[stuffit]

i've been using linux on redundant computers, and ii've also done some projects setting up no-cost networks from donated equipment. Its a proper laugh, you get to learn about loads of stuff, and you benefit other people too. What are you going to use the machine for? For 400 dollars you could get a nice 2nd hand laptop?

I've using manrake 9 on an old dell laptop, and it installed pice of piss. A few problems, but nothing that stops me doing what i want to use it for.

I've also got a machine, P100 , 40MB ram, 1Gig hard drive, running a distro called vector linux, which is a stripped down version for old machines, and it uses fluxbox as a windowmanager (which is incredibly fast!!) and dillo for browsing (200k browser) and sylpheed for email. It all works fast and people can't believe it!

Then again if you got the money, get the best you can afford..
ste

[mrpurple]

You can try NovaPCS.com

Mid tower Case w/400 watt - $29
ECS K7SEM MBD with built in SIS730 audio/video/Lan - $60
AMD 900mhz cpu - $37 + heatsink/fan - $10
10GB westen digital HDD -$49
40x CDRW - $45 (or 56x CDrom for $27)
Floppy is optional as linux will install from CD - $14

Red Hat Linux 8 has drivers for ALL of these devices built in so set up is as easy as installing

Get a 128mb SDRAM dimm from newegg.com $18

The case comes with a power cord and the board comes with IDE cables. Get a keyboard, mouse and speakers from a local store.

Hope my 2 cents saves you a buck or two.