Re: [OT] computer needed
Rob you make a good point. The group should level $2 per user and go get a machine. Do those prices include a monitor? If people need monitors I've got stacks of them doing nothing at present. Cheers Don Robert Fisher wrote: On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 2:18:07 pm Derek Smithies wrote: On Sat, 21 Jun 2008, Nick Rout wrote: dragonpc will sell an upgrade kit (new) for $250+gst with mem,case, mboard,cpu but no drives, and no OS. Well I might as well throw in my 2 cents too. I often get ex-lease computers for customers from NZCS. They have never let me down and generally I think their prices are a bit lower than the Computer Broker. Typical this week:- IBM 8187-N8M Netvista P4 2.8GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, DVD ROM, XP Pro (not loaded) $199 + gst 12 month warranty upgrade only $40 + gst __ Dell Optiplex GX280 DHP SFF P4 3.0GHz HT, 512MB RAM, 40GB SATA HDD, CDROM (slimline) PCI express, XP Pro COA (not loaded) $229 + gst 12 month extended warranty only $40 + gst __ Dell GX270 DHS P4 3.0GHz HT, 1GB RAM, 120GB SATA HDD, DVD Combo, AGP, XPH COA (not loaded) $269 + gst 12 month extended warranty only $40 + gst
Re: [OT] computer needed
On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 2:18:07 pm Derek Smithies wrote: > On Sat, 21 Jun 2008, Nick Rout wrote: > >> dragonpc will sell an upgrade kit (new) for $250+gst with mem,case, > >> mboard,cpu but no drives, and no OS. > > Well I might as well throw in my 2 cents too. I often get ex-lease computers for customers from NZCS. They have never let me down and generally I think their prices are a bit lower than the Computer Broker. Typical this week:- IBM 8187-N8M Netvista P4 2.8GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, DVD ROM, XP Pro (not loaded) $199 + gst 12 month warranty upgrade only $40 + gst __ Dell Optiplex GX280 DHP SFF P4 3.0GHz HT, 512MB RAM, 40GB SATA HDD, CDROM (slimline) PCI express, XP Pro COA (not loaded) $229 + gst 12 month extended warranty only $40 + gst __ Dell GX270 DHS P4 3.0GHz HT, 1GB RAM, 120GB SATA HDD, DVD Combo, AGP, XPH COA (not loaded) $269 + gst 12 month extended warranty only $40 + gst
Re: [OT] computer needed
Thats all well and good but this person is wanting a computer for keeping track of memberships and newsletters not for keeping huge video files. On Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 3:46 PM, Derek Smithies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, > On Sat, 21 Jun 2008, Steve Holdoway wrote: > > On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:18:07 +1200 (NZST) >> Derek Smithies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> >>> 40gb does not hold many top gear episodes. >>> >>> I've got all of series 10 on an usb stick... >> > Not really. > HDD episodes? or low quality? > > The point is, that once you start getting video media, it is not long > before you run out of room. > > also I think you'll find that 320GB hdds are still around the $100 mark, >> too ): - 750GB seems to be the sweet spot atm at around 24 cents / GB! >> > > Quoting from Dragon's web site, (tastech.co.nz is similar) > > Western Digital (WD5000AAKS/AACS) 500GB Caviar Hard Disk Drive, 7200RPM > 16MB , SATA-300 (SATA-2) - $130incgst > > Western Digital (WD3200AAKS) 320GB Caviar Hard Disk Drive, 7,200rpm, *16MB > cache, SATA-300 (SATA-2) - $100 inc gst. > > yes - you is right... $100 gets you 320GB > > > > Derek. > -- > Derek Smithies Ph.D. > IndraNet Technologies Ltd. > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ph +64 3 365 6485 > Web: http://www.indranet-technologies.com/ > >
Re: [OT] computer needed
Hi, On Sat, 21 Jun 2008, Steve Holdoway wrote: On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:18:07 +1200 (NZST) Derek Smithies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 40gb does not hold many top gear episodes. I've got all of series 10 on an usb stick... Not really. HDD episodes? or low quality? The point is, that once you start getting video media, it is not long before you run out of room. also I think you'll find that 320GB hdds are still around the $100 mark, too ): - 750GB seems to be the sweet spot atm at around 24 cents / GB! Quoting from Dragon's web site, (tastech.co.nz is similar) Western Digital (WD5000AAKS/AACS) 500GB Caviar Hard Disk Drive, 7200RPM 16MB , SATA-300 (SATA-2) - $130incgst Western Digital (WD3200AAKS) 320GB Caviar Hard Disk Drive, 7,200rpm, *16MB cache, SATA-300 (SATA-2) - $100 inc gst. yes - you is right... $100 gets you 320GB Derek. -- Derek Smithies Ph.D. IndraNet Technologies Ltd. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ph +64 3 365 6485 Web: http://www.indranet-technologies.com/
Re: [OT] computer needed
On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:18:07 +1200 (NZST) Derek Smithies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > 40gb does not hold many top gear episodes. > I've got all of series 10 on an usb stick... also I think you'll find that 320GB hdds are still around the $100 mark, too ): - 750GB seems to be the sweet spot atm at around 24 cents / GB! Steve -- Steve Holdoway <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Re: [OT] computer needed
On Sat, 21 Jun 2008, Nick Rout wrote: dragonpc will sell an upgrade kit (new) for $250+gst with mem,case, mboard,cpu but no drives, and no OS. not much use without a hard drive, so you need to factor that in. Generally the broker's second hand machines home with a 40G disk, at least enough for what has been sought. yes. However, this is a linux user group, and old/small drives can be sourced from our parts kits. you do need to add an optical drive. I had a look in my "parts bin" (garage) and found two optical drives after a quick glance. Futher, 40Gb - how small is that? 320Gb is $70 from any of those cut price suppliers mentioned in this thread.. ((On a side note, remember how 20Mb was huge ??) (((8kb took 5 mins to save with a ZX81 to tape))) 40gb does not hold many top gear episodes. Derek. -- Derek Smithies Ph.D. IndraNet Technologies Ltd. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ph +64 3 365 6485 Web: http://www.indranet-technologies.com/
Re: [OT] computer needed
Hi, On Sat, 21 Jun 2008, Christopher Sawtell wrote: On Saturday 21 June 2008 10:52:14 Derek Smithies wrote: A comp broker box will be $200+ they will insist on selling it with windows xp, so the price is higher. this is a couple of years old. Beg to differ. A list memberwith whom I am pretty well aquainted got a rather nice HP portable from them without an O/S just last week. Hi, thanks for the clarfication, and you are correct. In the main, broker sell machines with win xp installed. There was a linux machine there last time I looked, but they wanted > $300 for it, which brings the price much too close to the price of a new box.. Derek. -- Derek Smithies Ph.D. IndraNet Technologies Ltd. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ph +64 3 365 6485 Web: http://www.indranet-technologies.com/
Re: [OT] computer needed
Hi, On Sat, 21 Jun 2008, Nick Rout wrote: What has memtest got to do with linux? memtest comes on a linux distro's CD. Derek. -- Derek Smithies Ph.D. IndraNet Technologies Ltd. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ph +64 3 365 6485 Web: http://www.indranet-technologies.com/
Re: [OT] computer needed
On Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 10:52 AM, Derek Smithies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Fri, 20 Jun 2008, Christopher Sawtell wrote: > > DragonPc (www.dragonpc.co.nz) for new, but still cheap. > > Having been through the debate with my colleagues over the costs: > > A molten media type box will come at $100 or so, with a 1ghz or so proc. > > A comp broker box will be $200+ > they will insist on selling it with windows xp, so the price is higher. That is not the case in my experience. Some of their machines have windows (they may as well, the computers have a licence sticker). But many don't and i have also negotiated a lower price without windows. In fact it was not a difficult negotiation - how much without wondows - ummm errr, discussion out back - they suggest a price and you're done. They also had linux pre-loaded machines in there last time I was there (last weekend). > this is a couple of years old. > > dragonpc will sell an upgrade kit (new) for $250+gst with mem,case, > mboard,cpu but no drives, and no OS. > not much use without a hard drive, so you need to factor that in. Generally the broker's second hand machines home with a 40G disk, at least enough for what has been sought. > My view is that the newer box is going to last quite a bit longer than the > previous choices, and on a cost/hassle basis works out best > horses for courses. Many of the second hand boxes are good quality compaq/hp small form factor machines and that is a real advantage for certain uses. Those machines tend to be quite quiet, reasonable performancce media boxes in black/silver. > > I recently bought a box from a shop which was an exlease model. It failed > the memtest in every linux live cd disk. I took it back. There were other > computers (of the same type) in the shop. On the next 3 computers I tried, > memtest failed on all of them. > The shop did take the computer back in the end, but they did mutter about > linux incompatibilities. What has memtest got to do with linux? >The shop felt the memory in the computers was OK. I > felt sorry for anyone buying them. > > At which point, I looked at the hassle factor and went to dragonpc >
Re: [OT] computer needed
I might have a pc you guys could use give me an email offlist and we'll see if I can sort out. Kerry On Fri, 2008-06-20 at 12:55 +1200, Matthew Whiting wrote: > Kia ora, > > I'm currently quite involved with the Southern Seed Exchange, a network > of seed collectors and savers based here in Otautahi (information attached). > > One of our key members who currently takes care of membership and > newsletters is in need of a computer. I'm wondering if anyone supportive > of the seed exchange would have a machine they could donate or make > available cheaply? Any suggestions much appreciated. > > Cheers > Matt >
Re: [OT] computer needed
On Sat 21 Jun 2008 10:52:14 NZST +1200, Derek Smithies wrote: > At which point, I looked at the hassle factor and went to dragonpc Compare tastech.co.nz for even lower prices for new kit. Otherwise I agree. Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
Re: [OT] computer needed
On Saturday 21 June 2008 10:52:14 Derek Smithies wrote: > A comp broker box will be $200+ > they will insist on selling it with windows xp, so the price is higher. > this is a couple of years old. Beg to differ. A list memberwith whom I am pretty well aquainted got a rather nice HP portable from them without an O/S just last week. -- Sincerely etc., Christopher Sawtell
Re: [OT] computer needed
On Fri, 20 Jun 2008, Christopher Sawtell wrote: On Friday 20 June 2008 12:55:33 Matthew Whiting wrote: Kia ora, Molten Media for cheap. 205-A Wordsworth Street Sydenham Christchurch 8023 Phone 03 377 1154 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Computer Broker for something rather better. http://www.computerbroker.co.nz/ CHRISTCHURCH Phone: (03) 377 5195 Fax: (03) 377 5105 DragonPc (www.dragonpc.co.nz) for new, but still cheap. Having been through the debate with my colleagues over the costs: A molten media type box will come at $100 or so, with a 1ghz or so proc. A comp broker box will be $200+ they will insist on selling it with windows xp, so the price is higher. this is a couple of years old. dragonpc will sell an upgrade kit (new) for $250+gst with mem,case, mboard,cpu but no drives, and no OS. My view is that the newer box is going to last quite a bit longer than the previous choices, and on a cost/hassle basis works out best I recently bought a box from a shop which was an exlease model. It failed the memtest in every linux live cd disk. I took it back. There were other computers (of the same type) in the shop. On the next 3 computers I tried, memtest failed on all of them. The shop did take the computer back in the end, but they did mutter about linux incompatibilities. The shop felt the memory in the computers was OK. I felt sorry for anyone buying them. At which point, I looked at the hassle factor and went to dragonpc Derek. -- Derek Smithies Ph.D. IndraNet Technologies Ltd. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ph +64 3 365 6485 Web: http://www.indranet-technologies.com/
Re: Next talk MythTV 8 July 2008
Ross, Didnt someone in your territory make a dish out of a warehouse frypan? That would be an interesting demo! Barry Ross Drummond wrote: On Thu, 19 Jun 2008, Nick Rout wrote: For once CLUG does not clash with my Board of Trustees so I will present about MythTV on 8 July 2008. I am hoping to demo it actually working on a live TV feed, and/or setting up from scratch, but I am open to suggestions of what people actually want to see. My own setup is freeview via DVB-S (satellite) which is probably the best way to get a reasonable amount of digital TV in NZ at present. However to demo that I will need a satellite to connect to. So ... We can either 1. set up a temporary satellite dish if anyone has one lying about; or 2. find a venue with a sky dish that we can plug into for the night; or 3. Just demo the software without any live TV. If anyone has any brilliant ideas, or something they particularly want to see, let me know. I will also need a projector and screen, dunno what the drill is with this these days, but I understand it has presented a problem recently. I can supply a DVB-T(digital video broadcast - terrestial) decoder if required. This set would work best through a standard UHF TV aerial which I do not have on hand. I can also supply a satellite finder if required. If someone can supply the dish I can set it up for you. A SKY dish is OK but would require a LNB(low noise balun) of recent vintage. A LNB is the thing on the end of the arm where the dish focuses. A dish does not have to be mounted on a roof. Any position with a good view of the northern horizon is OK. I have had a temporary dish set up on my lawn. Cheers Ross Drummond
