[CLUE-Talk] Naked PC's

[Sean LeBlanc]

On 02-22 18:45, Dave Anselmi wrote:
> Grant Johnson wrote:
> 
> > Walmart has started selling PC's without OS online at
> > http://www.walmart.com.  I do not know if all of the hardware is Linux
> > compatible, but a 1.4Ghz Athlon with 256M of memory and a 40G hdd is
> > only $500.  Not bad for an email machine or a developer workstation.
> 
> http://www.ecollegepc.com has similar systems/prices, as well as some
> cheaper options.  Haven't had any problems with 5 of their systems,
> though there aren't any quality components in them (which isn't to say
> they don't work).  I am thinking of putting a case fan in one machine
> since it's a server and runs a little warm.

I haven't bought from these guys(yet), but I've been eyeing them for a
while.  They are in the vicinity (an Athlon XP 1600+/256M/40G was $556) of
this price, but have well-known name brands inside. The site is
www.micronux.com, and they offer boxes w/o Windows...  they also offer Linux
(RH 7.2) pre-installed.  

Of course, it is very cool that Walmart is bucking the system a bit, as
someone else mentioned. It might be because of decisions like this that
Walmart has *still* done well in such a bad market. Maybe Costco and/or Sams
will follow suit? :) Isn't Sams and Walmart of the same parent company?

Do they offer it w/o an OS at the brick-and-mortar store? I bet doing it
there would open them up to too much trouble, unless the OS was sold as an
add-on, and it was made really clear it didn't have an OS - too many angry
customers bringing it back complaining that it doesn't work would sink that
little plan real fast. That, and what do you show the demo box doing?
Changing the CMOS settings? :)

-- 
Sean LeBlanc:seanleblanc at attbi.com Yahoo:seanleblancathome 
ICQ:138565743 MSN:seanleblancathome AIM:sleblancathome