Cheap Dell Desktops: Companies are Practically Giving Them Away

(updated 03/23/10)

by Randy Yates

Dell makes great computers. Their online customization system ushered in a new way to buy a computer. Now all major computer manufacturers offer the same type of interface on their sites. They also worked hard with businesses in order to better serve them. This led to many businesses adopting Dell computers as their main computer vendor. In turn, this also leads to consumers being able to find great deals on Dell desktop systems. As companies upgrade their existing computer infrastructure, they sometimes sell their old computers by the pallet. These huge lots of computers sell at a bulk rate to refurbished computer vendors. They in turn sell the computers at great prices on the internet.

There are many good older models of Dell desktops. Two of my favorite are the GX270 and GX280. These systems are typically loaded with a 40 to 80 GB hard drive. This isn't a huge amount of storage space, but its great for the normal computer user. You may want to grab an external hard drive to go along with it later. This isn't required, of course, but it's always good to have an external hard drive to store backups and to easily tranport files from computer to computer if needed.

These desktops also typically come with a powerful, speedy, P4 processor. These are still relevant CPUs. Though they are only single core processors, most users don't even take full advantage of dual-core processors. These P4 processors will handle just about anything a normal user can throw at them, right away.  This is especially true when coupled with additional RAM. Steer clear of any "deals" you see which offer a Celeron processor. Celeron processors are economy versions of the P4 chip. They are typically P4 chips that didn't pass specifications. They are also usually limited to less Level 2 cache. What this means for the consumer is although they get a cheaper price on a computer, they get a computer with a bottleneck in performance built-in. Avoid Celerons.

You can usually find a good used GX270 or GX280 for around $100. This is the price for just the computer. You'll want to purchase a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers as well.

Here are some of the best deals on GX270 desktops we could find. Below these, we have also listed some GX280 desktops and some good RAM upgrades for either.