Arrow Direct, crazy cheap used computers!

[Howard_Casto]

http://arrowdirect.com/search?q=hp#/?_=1&filter.category_hierarchy=Desktops&page=1

I normally (stupidly) let you guys know about deals before I get mine, and they sell out.  This time I went ahead and bought one though.  I might buy another next month if the sale is still on. 

Anyway, these are refurbished computers.... right now they have a big sale on the HP/Compaq units.  The prices are already low, but if you enter the coupon code "HPDeal" you get an additional 80 dollars off.   

I got a core 2 duo 3.00ghz with 4 gigs of ram for 83 bucks!

For the record these are PCs with the OS installed, win 7 home edition usually. 

So if you are wanting a cheap, yet fairly high-end pc for a mame cab build now is the time.... the hdd sizes aren't great, but they are decent.  I think this one has 160 gb. 

So basically I need to find a video card and it's ready to go. 

(BTW, 3.00 ghz core 2 duo is the minimum specs to run Mortal Kombat/Injustice... I've been told you can usually over-clock these to around 3.5 ghz as well).

[rpgposer]

Be careful, a lot of these may have motherboards without an external video card slot.  I am having trouble viewing the site, so I cannot verify.  I do think it's a pretty good deal though.

[pbj]

Are these fast enough to play Gauntlet Legends?

[Howard_Casto]

I'm not sure if anything is fast enough to play gauntlet legends, but when it comes in I'll try it. 

[Howard_Casto]

Be careful, a lot of these may have motherboards without an external video card slot.  I am having trouble viewing the site, so I cannot verify.  I do think it's a pretty good deal though.

Well there are several form factors to choose from.  With micro and small FF I think that would be a concern, but I got a regular desktop.  I can't think of a good reason why they would sell a desktop sized machine without room for expansion.  Even if I need to get a motherboard though, I only paid 80 bucks, which is the cost of a win 7 license anyway.

[JDFan]

http://arrowdirect.com/search?q=hp#/?_=1&filter.category_hierarchy=Desktops&page=1
 if you enter the coupon code "HPDeal" you get an additional 80 dollars off.   

IS it a % discount or $80 and is it only on certain systems ?? (I see they have a couple $82 - $125 systems that I doubt would get you $80 off  ) (ie. http://arrowdirect.com/hp-compaq-compaq-dc7600-3-00ghz-pd-desktop-160gb-2048mb.html )

EDIT : Just checked a few and it doesn't work on all of them but it did give $80 off a $123 system making it $43 for an older HP/COMPAQ BUSINESS DESKTOP DC5750 MT 2Ghz AMD ATHLON 64 X2 80GB 1024MB. And the shipping quote says only $9 to ship it Fed Ex Ground !

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah it doesn't work with "free" computer obviously.  I think the cheapest you can get depending upon the day is around 20 bucks. 

[ark_ader]

I just picked up a perfect working Xbox for $5 at Goodwill.

Considering it plays Gauntlet Legends.....

[pbj]

Xbox plays the inferior dark legacy and requires both analog and digital inputs.

[Howard_Casto]

Ok it came in today... the ups guy left it on the porch for anyone to pilfer.... good thing I was in. 

I just spent 20 min or so setting it up, I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase thus far. 

It came in and looked brand new, I had to turn the thing around to find the "grade B imperfection" that was the scratch on the back of the access door. 

As described, 3ghz core 2 duo with 4 gigs of ram.  I popped it open and there's a vid card expansion slot, a full pcie and a micro one.  One memory slot is still available.  The MB had hdmi built in, which means it's a fairly recent machine so all the bus speeds are nice and peppy. It was nice and clean inside as well... it's been rebuilt... no dust bunnies.  It came with win 7 home 64bit, which I was a bit concerned with when ordering... often with these refurb units they try to get cheap on you and put 32 bit windows on there. 

It's not hooked up to the network yet so I just put mame and crusin-usa on a thumb drive for an initial test.... ran 105% which is actually better than my "good" desktop does and I haven't put a video card in yet!  So yeah pbj, with some tweaking it might run gauntlet dl.....  I'll try it when I get a chance. 

All in all I would say I got off with a good deal.  The only bad mark I can give the site is their lack of customer service.  I never got an email saying the computer was shipped or on it's way, ect... just a confirmation from paypal.  I tried to contact them via their paypal contact info, but it was invalid.  By the time I figured out it they had an automated form on the website to contact them, it had come in. 

Regardless, I'm going to give this one a month and see how it does.  If it holds up I'll buy another next month. 

[pbj]

Seems like they're even cheaper today... have a couple in my cart at ~$45ish shipped.

[Howard_Casto]

Just make sure you get a desktop or tower model.  SFF and Micro probably won't let you put a vid card in. 

It sucks they are even cheaper but ah well... I'll just get a better deal on the next one.

[deadmoney5]

Are these fast enough to play Gauntlet Legends?

 

[Howard_Casto]

Just to try to benchmark this thing I fired up legends.  Runs around 80-90% if you set the resolution dip to medium or high res.  At low res it runs at 100%.  So yeah, it'll run it surprisingly.

[HaRuMaN]

I just picked up a Core 2 Duo, 3Ghz, 4Mb RAM, Win 7 Pro, 160 Gb HD...   

[Howard_Casto]

Now we just need to find one of the sites that tell the settings for over-clocking this model.  This particular hp model has been OC'ed to 4ghz with extra cooling, 3.5-3.6 with stock parts. 

[thatpurplestuff]

Thanks for the heads up on this!  Just picked up a model with the same specs as you (3.0ghz core 2 duo 4gigs ram 160gig hd)... although I didn't realize until after I ordered that it was SFF so a video card upgrade is most likely out of the question.  I am primarily concerned with being able to run Hyperspin+MAME and I just need something powerful enough to run games like Shuffleshot without stuttering, and given that my current arcade PC was built in 1999 this will most certainly be a huge step up haha.  Either way the price alone beats the hell out of some of the other options I was considering!

[RetroGreg]

What's better: Athlon II X2 or Core 2 Duo? Both 3.0 ghz, same hd, same ram, same price...?

[Howard_Casto]

Well the mame devs say the intel stuff is better.  Amd traditionally speaking is the inferior, yet cheaper choice... so when they are the same price, so intel.

[RetroGreg]

Cool. I ordered a core 2 duo. Thanks for the fast reply and for posting the deal!

[ark_ader]

That code doesn't work anymore. 

[Howard_Casto]

Search dealnews.com... they recently posted some other coupons for the site, including a 50% off one. 

[knave]

Yup...Last thing I really needed was another PC...I was able to resist the core-2-duo's but a really affordable box to run steam in big picture mode was on my wish list.  I picked up a i5 tower with 8gigs of ram and a 320gb HD with Win 7.

[roknrol]

Thanks for the heads up on this!  Just picked up a model with the same specs as you (3.0ghz core 2 duo 4gigs ram 160gig hd)... although I didn't realize until after I ordered that it was SFF so a video card upgrade is most likely out of the question.  I am primarily concerned with being able to run Hyperspin+MAME and I just need something powerful enough to run games like Shuffleshot without stuttering, and given that my current arcade PC was built in 1999 this will most certainly be a huge step up haha.  Either way the price alone beats the hell out of some of the other options I was considering!

I've been dinking around for the last three days with a @2003 HP 2.6GHz P4 that I got for free, trying to get the silly thing to hold together long enough to load XP Home ... first a RAM slot went bad, then PSU died, then the XP load gimped somehow ... saw this post and thought pffft done!

I got the same thing (SFF 3.0 GHz, Core2Duo, 4GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Win 7 Home) shipped for @ $52. If I'm reading the HP spec sheet right, it should have 2 PCIe x16x (low-profile) slots available. 'Course if you de-case it or just pop the top, you should be able to fit a full-height card in there. Stock PSU limits add-on graphics card to 35w, though ....

[Howard_Casto]

It has two and a one of those micro slots.

The wattage shouldn't be much of an issue.  You'll want to get a low profile card with the thing and low profile cards don't pull a lot of power. 

I picked up one of these today to go in it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131338

It isn't a great card by any means but my current desktop has a hd 4600 in it and manages to play Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition and Street Fighter IV and after rebate I'll only be set back 10 bucks.  I also read a very old article in regards to the older, 512mb version of this card in crossfire mode.  It's performance still isn't stellar, but if you buy two, you'll literally double your performance, which is rare for a crossfire setup. 

[ark_ader]

I got the Dell Optiplex 760 3.0 SFF 160HD 4096 Ram for $80 shipped with DEALNEWS coupon.


Thanks Howard.  I'll have to start making excuses why I need another PC.... :

[SNAAKE]

I am looking for an excuse 

[wp34]

I've been watching the Arrow site for a few days. It is real interesting how the inventory and prices fluctuate.  It is like watching a commodities market.

[Howard_Casto]

I think they get businesses' computers back when they buy em on lease.  What they charge probably has a lot to do with what they paid. 

[JDFan]

I think they get businesses' computers back when they buy em on lease.  What they charge probably has a lot to do with what they paid.

Looks like they are mainly a Refurbisher that gets off lease product and refurbs it and then sells at a small markup to third party resellers mainly (ie. the ones that sell cheap refurbs on craigslist etc. probably purchase from them to relist on craigslist etc.). Kind of makes you wonder if the pricing with the coupon codes is the same as the discount offered to resellers that use them or if the resellers get even better pricing from them by signing up.

But they must be doping a fairly brisk amount of sales to be able to offer $8.99 shipping on systems As I know I sure can't find that kind of price for shipping a computer system - anytime I've looked the shipping made it more costly than the system was worth to ship it even to a nearby location.

[ark_ader]

I think they get businesses' computers back when they buy em on lease.  What they charge probably has a lot to do with what they paid.

Or the Government has upgraded it's Windows XP machines. Which would explain abundance of Dell and HPs.

The shipping is UPS ground.  It will  take a week to get up my lonely mountain.   

I'll get ---my bottom--- kicked for buying it, but looking at the specs it would make for a pretty good lab computer.  Try explaining the need for lab computers to noobs....

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah it's hard to work on crap without some spare PCs lying around.  Even outside of a work environment... let's say your main pc gets hit with a nasty virus or has some sort of hardware failure.  You really need a separate, working pc to download/order the stuff you need to fix it. 

[ark_ader]

Well to give Fedex some credit they managed to deliver my PC today, instead of Monday and I am completely impressed.  Before I opened the box I was expecting some crap that has been bounced down the stairs a few times, but no it looks like it came from Dell nice and clean with only a few scratches where the desk lock has been.   Thanks to Howard (again) I have a nice and quiet bare metal ESXi server.  This unit also had a Display Port, even though it is currently headless, makes compatibility toward monitor configurations a breeze.

[JDFan]

New code seems to be DNDELL40 which gets you 40% off Dell products and Free shipping !!

[HaRuMaN]

HPSLICK50 gets you 50% off HP and free shipping...

[pbj]

Anything capable of running Gauntlet Legends 100% on sale?

[HaRuMaN]

Anything capable of running Gauntlet Legends 100% on sale?

I think Malenko has what you need...

[Howard_Casto]

Are you sure  he... has what he neeeeds?  Cause they say he's just a friend.... yes they say he's just a friend.

[pbj]

Oh, baby, you got a disease.
You say it's just a rash,
but it's all over your ass.

Oh baby...

[roknrol]

HPSLICK50 is good for monitors, too. A number of 19" models available for $20-$23 shipped. Shaw.