WTB: several cheap PCs

[Wade]

I thought I'd post this here since I know there are a lot of bargain hunters.

I need to buy several (4 or more) inexpensive PCs.  They all need to be the same.  I would like to buy from a reputable company.  I have found some great dealers on ebay but the company that needs these doesn't want to deal with ebay.  They'd rather just call up an order and give credit card and shipping information.

PC Requirements:
* speed/memory unimportant
* 1.44 Meg floppy, preferably standard face (not a proprietary style like compaq, dell, IBM often use)
* much prefer replacable batteries
* hard drive
* prefer if they come with keyboards too
* appx $75 or less SHIPPED, the cheaper the better
* much prefer if the parts are replacable... but I understand that integrated video, ram, and I/O cards are common at this price level
* processor speed unimportant but low power/not requiring a FAN would be a plus

THINGS I DON'T NEED:
* CDROM/sound/DVD/etc
* lots of memory or processor power
* anything that isn't DOS compatible or requires special software/drivers
* monitors or cables


Compgeeks doesn't have anything this cheap at the moment.  pcsurplusonline.com has some for $75 shipped that look decent but the have the non standard floppy drive and I don't know about replacable batteries.  Probably integrated parts too.

Thanks!
Wade

[tmasman]

What are they wanting these for?

I mean would a 486 work, or are they looking for PII 300 (just an example)?

If you find an ebay wholseller that deals with what you are looking for they are usually a business just using ebay to sell the stuff. You might be able to contact them about buying a few PCs directly from them (avoiding ebay all together).

Just trying to help...

~ tmasman

[Wienerdog]

* much prefer replacable batteries

Are you looking for desktops?   I assumed so at $75 but the battery part threw me off.  What are they for?  If you don't want to post it, just PM me and tmasman.  

The reason I ask is that most of your requirements sound like some cheap laptops would be ideal for you (low heat, no fan, processor unimportant).  

[Wade]

tmasman,

In theory, 486's would work.  But really I'm looking for the newest PC's I can find for the dollar.  Not for performance, but reliability.  They have a bunch of mixed and matched 486's and 386's now.  The problem is that those machines are so old that the CMOS batteries are dying, sometimes spilling juice on the other parts.  Also, I used to have tons of spare 286-486 PC's and parts, but now I'm running low on them and the parts I do have are proving not to be very reliable.

That's true, and my first approach was to see if a particular guy on ebay (who obviously runs a business just selling these types of PCs) would sell off ebay.  He would, but he said they were all listed already so I'd either have to wait or buy them from ebay. :/  I need to find these today or possibly tomorrow and give the company the information to order them.

Wienerdog,

   I'm looking for desktops.  Laptops wouldn't work because I need to be able to add some extra ISA cards.  Also, they tend to be less repairable.  Obviously I left some things off my list!  I will edit it.

Thanks,
Wade

[Wade]

OKay, I can't add to the list so here are some additional requirements:

* must have at least 1 free ISA slots
* must have 2 onboard serial ports
* must be as new as possible (not for speed, but for reliability)

Wade