[Cialug] inexpensive file/print/terminal server

[Dave J. Hala Jr.]

I don't think that ebay is the best place to look for used general
purpose PC's. I peek around on ebay quite a bit, but general purpose
pc's and laptops tend to go for 75% of the new price.

You may be to buy a new system with those specs or greater for somewhere
around the $199 range.


On Wed, 2005-11-16 at 10:42, Kendall Bailey wrote:
> A friend has an old/slow laptop (256 MB though) which runs Linux, but
> modern browsers are slow.  I set up a 1 GHz pIII running debian,
> headless in her basement and it runs (ran) as a terminal/file/print
> server.  But now it seems to be dying.  It runs fine for minutes or
> hours after a power cycle but then just stops responding.  I put a
> monitor on it, which just goes blank on failure.  No response to
> keyboard or network.  Power light, HD and fans stay on though.  Any
> clue how to diagnose it?
> 
> I run the same kind of setup, with a fairly old Athlon 1GHz.  Both the
> Athlon and pIII I picked up on ebay for about $100 each.  Searching
> for just the right basic hardware is not easy though.  Anyone have
> advice for finding a 1GHz or faster machine with 128MB or more at
> reasonable price?  No need for CD-RW or graphics card or even sound. 
> I put a new 80 GB drive in the pIII, so I don't even need a HD this
> time.  Just USB, ethernet, and preferrably a CD drive to install from.
> 
> So is ebay the best place to look, or is there something more local
> that does not impose a MS tax, and might have good used hardware?  Or
> have you all found that new hardware is worth the cost?  If so, where
> to get bare-bones systems?  I've never built one from parts but if
> someone in the group would like to provide ongoing advice on what to
> buy, I'd be willing to try...
> 
> Thanks,
> Kendall
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Open Source Information Systems, Inc. (OSIS)
Dave J. Hala Jr., President <dave at osis.us>
641.485.1606