New bare bones PC

[Sbrem]

Hello all, our old Dell that was running Windows 7 in our shipping dept. has up and died, or at least decided to stop connecting to the internet. We use this machine only for shipping, so it just has to run email, a browser, UPS WorldShip, FedEx software, and hookup to our Zebra LP2844 label printer. We have a guy that takes care of our serious problems when they come up, and he just quoted me $1400.00 on a very sturdy machine that will run for years. When I had him quote me on a NAS last fall, he was pretty high on that as well, $2200; I installed my own for under $500, but had to spend some time in unfamiliar territory to get it up and running; saving $1700 was a better way to go.
So, not being PC user, but a Mac guy, I need a little advice from someone who understands the PC side better than I. So, for under $500, what might you suggest, or is that just a dumb idea to go too inexpensive? Thanks in advance...

Steve

[TheGhost]

Mini pcs are pretty affordable and can do what you need. That's my plan for when our old shipping computer dies. $1400 is an insane price for a shipping and label printer computer. Better off buying a pre built one for like $500 from Best Buy if you want to spend. I've not used any mini pcs so don't go for one without doing a little research!

[Frog]

I'm frankly surprised at what $200-$300 can buy in the way of a refurb from folks like Newegg and Fry's.
A few years back, I bought an HP machine with decent AMD processor, 8 gb memory, and a 1T hard drive with Win 7 Pro (which then recently allowed me to "upgrade" to Win 10 Pro) for something like $185.
Works great in my reception area, and even works (though slowly) on complex graphics. I'd guess that shipping and label making would be a piece of cake.

[Sbrem]

This is what I was thinking too, as, come to think of it, I bought that old Dell used, back from a lease, for maybe $150 or so. Even so, I'll spend a few hundred for what we need. That $1400 quote took me aback...

Steve

[ebscreen]

Off lease refurbs are great for simple workstations. Partial to the Optiplex myself.

That said, I'd throw a $10 network card at it before condemning. Them things see
a lot of heat, we had the built-in one go out on the shopfloor comp.

Unfortunately new Worldship installations are Win 10 only so I'd definitely try
fixing the current machine to avoid the horror.

[royster13]

Refurbished computers from Walmart can be 200.00 and up....

[CBCB]

I second the Dell Optiplex route. We have a ‘social enterprise’ nearby that refurbishes them. $30 SSD drive from Amazon and they do the job. I have five of them throughout the shop!!


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[blue moon]

microcenter, often for $99 if it's just a basic box. I do end up spending about $150 for the most part to get better specs. . .

pierre

[blue moon]

Off lease refurbs are great for simple workstations. Partial to the Optiplex myself.

That said, I'd throw a $10 network card at it before condemning. Them things see
a lot of heat, we had the built-in one go out on the shopfloor comp.

Unfortunately new Worldship installations are Win 10 only so I'd definitely try
fixing the current machine to avoid the horror.

this!

if you don't feel like taking it apart you can try a USB network card.

pierre

[Sbrem]

Thanks all for confirming my suspicions. I hate spending money I don't have to, when with a little digging, I can figure it out and put it together, especially with advice from those that know. Have a good Wednesday everyone.

Steve

[easyrider1340]

FYI.  I have a decent PC that was Win7.  It was running fine so I ignored the free Win10 upgrade notifications.  Later, MS announced no further support for Win7 much earlier than I expected.  Fast forward a few months, now I have to buy Win10.  Ugh.   

After some research, I found a backdoor to legitimately install a free upgrade to this machine to Win10.  I don’t remember all of the details, but I upgraded an MS media/movie player to latest edition.  During that player install, it forced me to upgrade to Win10.   Not sure if the gate is still open, but it’s worth a shot. 

This machine surprisingly run better/faster now (bought originally as a refurb). 


Terry
http://www.AllegiantGraphics.com
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[discounttshirts]

WE bought 2  new refurb Dell Optiflex for front counter and graphic station last year for less than $300 - they had 128 SS drives then added a 1G SS Drive to them - they are super fast for us - here is what we got - Very fast - USB 3.0 also- no problems with graphics or embroidery software

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B7P43GS/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

James
Discount T-Shirts & Embroidery

[Sbrem]

We ended up with the Optilux, 256 SSD/ 8 GB RAM, opened it up, downloaded WorldShip, put in the backup, and was up and running in maybe 30 - 45 minutes (I wasn't really timing it) $169.00 plus tax. Much better than $1400.00. Thanks for all the help everyone, and have a great weekend.

Steve

[mk162]

SSDs are some of the best upgrades you can do to a system.  Almost every computer failure i've ever had is from a standard hard disk.  I don't miss them at all.

[Frog]

SSDs are some of the best upgrades you can do to a system.  Almost every computer failure i've ever had is from a standard hard disk.  I don't miss them at all.

Well, I understand that these can fail as well, but the increase in speed and the constantly shrinking prices definitely make them a no-brainer at least for OS and applications.