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There's more than one $199 Linux PC out there
In response to one of my Everex articles, commenter Alan Rochester clued me in to the Canada-based Linux store, which is offering a somewhat similar $199 PC preloaded with Ubuntu 7.10. While the site is a little low on description, they do say this: This is our lowest cost PC. This system features an Intel 1.33Ghz processor, 512MB DDR2 Ram and an 80GB hard drive. Options include a DVD-RW drive, bigger hard drive, 1 GB of memory, and keyboard, mouse and speakers. Yeah, I know that the Everex already includes everything but the monitor, but it's nice to see somebody else with a similar deal. Also in this ballpark is Mad Tux, with PCs starting at $149. Cheap as I am, I'm glad there are multiple players in the sub-$200 Linux PC space. How about Dell and HP? I'd love to see it. |
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Comments (19)
$199 PC
jacog,
For us in the US it is a loss.
Right now (November, 2007) the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the US dollar! http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/exchform.html
One green back will only get me .98 of a loonie!
How the mighty dollar has fallen.
Of course for all of you Europeans and Canadians, now is a great time to come to the US and do all of your holiday shopping. Our stores are stocked with all of the latest low priced Chinese made goods you could hope to bring home and have tested for contamination by Lead and other hazardous substances.
(Please take it, otherwise I'll have to pay more taxes for the clean up when the landfill leaks lead into the water table.)
For us in the US it is a loss.
Right now (November, 2007) the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the US dollar! http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/exchform.html
One green back will only get me .98 of a loonie!
How the mighty dollar has fallen.
Of course for all of you Europeans and Canadians, now is a great time to come to the US and do all of your holiday shopping. Our stores are stocked with all of the latest low priced Chinese made goods you could hope to bring home and have tested for contamination by Lead and other hazardous substances.
(Please take it, otherwise I'll have to pay more taxes for the clean up when the landfill leaks lead into the water table.)
At least it's better than Zimbabwean dollars... one USD will get you 250 Zim Dollars. They also have an inflation rate of over 7000%.
Ouch!
Quoting:Of course for all of you Europeans and Canadians, now is a great time to come to the US and do all of your holiday shopping.
Coincidentially, I was looking at some US sites to see if I can profit from the cheap dollar, the way the free market is meant to work. I wish profiting like that was possible, but sadly when I - for example - order TC's new book as a Christmas present for myself, the book is only $45,99 which is really cheap in Euros, but I have to pay $26 shipping costs, and then an additional 40% of import duties and VAT. I can also opt to buy the book once it finally hit the shelves of a technical book store near me in Germany, but then I have to wait over three weeks and the book will probably end up costing €70 or so.
As another example, AMD and Intel processors cost more in Euros here in Europe than in Dollars in the US at the moment, but again if I were to import one, I have to pay the 40% of import duties.
That's just plain stupid and frustrating, the market is never going to work like it is supposed to with this import duties, which go straight to Brussels (okay, we get something in return from Brussels too, like ten years of meetings and after that it's still not sure if software patents are enforceable or not).
Also, the Levi's and Diesel jeans over here are three times as expensive as in the US. As a conclusion, sadly people in Europe do not benefit from the cheap dollar - American goods don't become cheaper, but for some reasons it _does_ work the other way; European goods end up costing more in America too. Therefore, European export to the US stagnates, economic growth is less in my country and government cuts spendings again. So after all, in contrary to what the laws of nature do predict (if there's an action there's a contrary reaction) it doesn't matter where you live, action and reaction are in the same direction, and goods just become more expensive. Someone is filling their pockets with all this sh*t meant to screw us, but it's not me, and all other consumers don't benefit either.
Apart from that, I don't have a credit card - and without a creditcard I can't buy anything abroad (except for Belgium, but that's ahem 20 miles from here). It's darn sad and really frustrating there isn't one safe secure e-payment system in the world (and no, credit cards and PayPal don't belong to the 'safe' category, they are in the 'Microsoft-level security' category!).
Okay, you can relax, the rant is over, I feel much better now. However it still makes me angry; the EU talking about a free market economy and filling its pockets with MY money!
> the EU talking about a free market economy and filling its pockets with MY money
And last night I was flipping through the channels and came across a presidential debate where they were fighting to see who could be most anti-trade.
€70 for a book that costs $45.99 in the US is a great example of how stupid that is (not that the book isn't worth €100!)
What about the pdf version of the book?
And last night I was flipping through the channels and came across a presidential debate where they were fighting to see who could be most anti-trade.
€70 for a book that costs $45.99 in the US is a great example of how stupid that is (not that the book isn't worth €100!)
What about the pdf version of the book?
How the dollar has fallen indeed.
http://www.mises.org/story/2780 The Plummeting Greenback Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
http://www.mises.org/story/2780 The Plummeting Greenback Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Quoting:an additional 40% of import duties
You shouldn't have to. IIRC there's no import tax on electronics. Just the 19.5% VAT. Alternatively, have someone here in the US buy it for you and let him/her ship it to The Netherlands. Mark the box as "gift". Works pretty well, unless you plan on importing 20 boxes of Eee PC's this way :-)
Quoting:and no, credit cards and PayPal don't belong to the 'safe' category, they are in the 'Microsoft-level security' category!).
I just use bank transfer for stuff I buy here in Australia. I won't touch Paypall with a barge pole, not even a really long one. I've gotten some really good bargins buying from web facing retailers that publish their bank account details on their website.
tracyanne, You have a barge pole? Very impressive. Ya just don't see many barges,
or even barge poles now days.
Please give us an example if a site with bank account details, I would like to use that.
Quoting:Please give us an example if a site with bank account details, I would like to use that.
http://www.expresspcparts.com.au/storefrontprofiles/default....
http://www.informatique.nl/ is a large Dutch online store for computer kit. I use it a lot. It has the bank details on it's site. When you order something, you can pay by credit card, through iDeal (A Dutch system where you pay directly and immediately through your own online bank) or simply transfer the money to their account any way you please (wire, manually).
Paying by bank transfer is very possible in Poland, too. See, even in Poland! ;) I pay my bills that way, I buy my computer hardware that way and I buy my CDs that way. It requires a bit of trust, but it's cheap, easy and fun! ;)
When I lived in Japan, credit cards were very rare for anyone not an American. The Japanese use bank transfer or cash routinely.
But then, the bank transfers don't charge absurd fees and require multiple authenticated forms like they do in America.
The banking system in the US is a nightmare, dreamt up by people named Rothchild.
But then, the bank transfers don't charge absurd fees and require multiple authenticated forms like they do in America.
The banking system in the US is a nightmare, dreamt up by people named Rothchild.
Everex machine at ZaReason as well as at Wall Mart
The Everex machine is available through the Linux vendor ZaReason:
http://www.zareason.com/shop/home.php
This lists specs similar to the WalMart machine:
Via 1.5GHz 512 MB Ram (expandable to 2GB) 80GB HD (7200rpm) DVD Rom/ CD-RW OS: "gOS"
$199.99 US
This lists specs similar to the WalMart machine:
Via 1.5GHz 512 MB Ram (expandable to 2GB) 80GB HD (7200rpm) DVD Rom/ CD-RW OS: "gOS"
$199.99 US
At tiger direct they have some nice deals on barebones systems:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-det...
No OS, but Linux is so easy to install. This makes a nice option for those who can pop in a cd and click a few boxes.
No OS, but Linux is so easy to install. This makes a nice option for those who can pop in a cd and click a few boxes.
Tiger Direct has a pretty good deal there. That box for $149 has a better processor and double the memory, but you still need to add a CPU fan and a DVD/CD drive. The lowest-priced fans are $15 to $20. A DVD-ROM/CD-RW is about $25 (CD-R only is $20). That totals out to ... just about $199 -- not bad. I didn't think you could do a full box for $200 -- and with a GB of RAM -- even at Tiger Direct.
And it's even a dual-core AMD processor.
If they're already picking out the CPU and the RAM for you, why don't they just throw in the CPU fan and add it to the price. I can understand choosing your own optical drive (or, like I do, just using whatever's lying around), but they could make it easier by bundling the fan.
Still, you do get a better deal at Tiger Direct if you want to put the thing together yourself.
And it's even a dual-core AMD processor.
If they're already picking out the CPU and the RAM for you, why don't they just throw in the CPU fan and add it to the price. I can understand choosing your own optical drive (or, like I do, just using whatever's lying around), but they could make it easier by bundling the fan.
Still, you do get a better deal at Tiger Direct if you want to put the thing together yourself.
For building a barebone system, I've had good luck with Mwave:
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/Barebones.hmx?
They offer a number of name brand systems, as well as their own brand of build your own systems. You can select Intel or AMD processors (no option for Via), your motherboard, processor, memory, and CD option. They assemble and ship. All you need addtional is a hard drive and possibly a video card (though the onboard NVidia boards are good enough to handle most non-gaming needs, as are the Intel graphics).
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/Barebones.hmx?
They offer a number of name brand systems, as well as their own brand of build your own systems. You can select Intel or AMD processors (no option for Via), your motherboard, processor, memory, and CD option. They assemble and ship. All you need addtional is a hard drive and possibly a video card (though the onboard NVidia boards are good enough to handle most non-gaming needs, as are the Intel graphics).
More Canadian Linux Goodness
Thanks for the info. You may also want to check out koolu.com for another Canadian Linux original.
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Now if they could only sell that durn Eee at the originally hyped price.