With regard to a "cheap pc" for misc. non-mac stuff... What would be the minimum system requirements and software to look for, so one wouldn't be buying something too outdated to be useful?
What would be the decent inexpensive used pc laptops to watch for? Or desktops for that matter? I have a good monitor and keyboard collecting dust in the spare room that might as well have some meaning in their lives.
My humble $0.02 on the matter:
I've been given a PC by the company I do consulting work with and its just a P2 533 Mhz machine with Winderz 2000 on it. I had an old 40G HD which I added to the machine qintupling its storage ;) Slow but usable. That'll be the biggest problem if you get an older machine. It'll come with a tiny by today's standards HD. You'd want a bit more muscle to run Windows XP (home edition is good enough for what you'd want, no need for the corporate/business version) and stay away from ME, stick with 98 service pack 2 if you want an older 'stable' version of Windows (you can think of Windows 2000 as an updated version of NT, the 'corporate' version of Windows). It'd be a lot easier to add a HD to a desktop machine versus a laptop. On the other hand, if you really aren't going to be adding very much software, you could easily make due with a factory 10G HD. As far as brand goes, well, you're getting a used PC so it doesn't matter too much. I wouldn't buy a corner shop down the street built type, I'd buy a 'name' brand. Just wipe the disc and reinstall whatever version of windows comes with the machine then spend the time to go to the windows update website and just keep applying patches til it says you're up to date. Starting with a fresh slate is very important when you're dealing with a used PC. Remember, you aren't trying to buy a gaming machine, so you'll get a bare bones machine without a fancy 3d video card and fancy sound. But those aren't important for just running things like the Sony MD software and the like.
Brian
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