77 lines
4.2 KiB
Plaintext
77 lines
4.2 KiB
Plaintext
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Episode: 4148
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Title: HPR4148: Cheap Computers
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Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr4148/hpr4148.mp3
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Transcribed: 2025-10-25 20:15:03
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---
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This is Hacker Public Radio Episode 4148 for Wednesday the 26th of June 2024.
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Today's show is entitled, Cheap Computers.
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It is hosted by Moss Bliss and is about four minutes long.
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It carries a clean flag.
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The summary is, by used run long.
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Hi, my name is Moss Bliss.
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You may have heard me on Mintcast's Distrahoppers Digest or full circle weekly news.
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This is my second podcast on HPR.
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I keep hearing people complain that they can't find a decent computer under $2000.
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My response is, lower your expectations and help end a digital waste.
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You really need a top-end gaming machine?
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Most games will run on older computers just fine.
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And there are lots of 2016 models and a few newer years coming off office leases.
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My suggestion is the Lenovo Think Center M700 Tiny.
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I will have other suggestions later in the podcast, but this is what I went with and have
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personal experience.
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The M700 Tiny is a box about the size of an older external TV drive, with your choice
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of an i3i5 or i7 processor up to 64GB of RAM and a power supply sipping away at up to
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35 watts.
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If you go on eBay or your local equivalent, you can find these for ridiculously low prices.
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My recommendation is to go for a box with an i5, 8 or 16GB of RAM, with or without a
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drive.
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You can find them even cheaper if you search for no OS, which frequently still includes
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the drive, but SSDs are quite cheap these days, so it hardly matters.
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I recommend the i5 rather than the i7, because in the 2016 models, the i7 wasn't much
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more than a heat producer compared to the i5, but no faster, and the i5-based machines
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are often 100 to 150 dollars cheaper.
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Of course, I recommend putting Linux of your choice on these machines when you get it.
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It will require hitting f12 when you boot up with your USB stick installed.
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You will need a monitor and keyboard for this if you don't already have one.
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I would suggest looking locally for a used 26-inch LCD or LED TV.
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You will also want a cable for it, and you can either get a DisplayPort cable while you're
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at eBay or a DP to HDMI adapter to use the HDMI cable, which probably comes with a TV.
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For a keyboard, you should go to your local big box store and get one you like if you don't
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want to buy used.
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You can find them from $5 to $20.
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I apologize for my US-centric prices, but you should have similar prices in your local currency
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if you have eBay or something like it.
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I just did a quick look up for M720 no OS on eBay, and saw i5 machines which were purported
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to work from between $80 to $120 with 8GB of RAM.
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Be careful to watch for shipping prices.
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I see a particularly good looking Reverish model with 16GB for under $120, but the shipping
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is over $35 from Australia.
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If you want an AMD chip, you'll need to research the model number, but they do make them just
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not as many.
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If you don't like Lenovo, you can find Dell's and HP's, HP Elite desks in the same range.
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One good thing about the HP's is that they label which generation they are, G2, G3, G4.
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Newer generations cost more, but will be more future proof.
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There is currently an HP Elite Desk 800G2 with 8GB of RAM and no OS on eBay for $50.
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Again, if you buy a G3 or G4, it will cost more, but will be a newer machine as well.
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These are all 64-bit quad core computers, some over 3GHz, with low power demands, cheap
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to buy, cheap to use.
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Any version of the links will run on them, and if you're desperate, you can run Windows
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10 on them as well.
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That should be enough to get you started if you have questions, write me at BardMoss
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at PM.me.
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Hacker Public Radio needs more podcasts on any topic and any link, get in touch with
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Ken and volunteer.
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This is my second holy unplanned podcast on HPR.
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You could be next.
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This is Moss Bliss signing off.
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You have been listening to Hacker Public Radio at Hacker Public Radio does work.
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Today's show was contributed by a HPR listener like yourself.
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If you ever thought of recording a podcast, you can click on our contribute link to find
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out how easy it really is.
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Hosting for HPR has been kindly provided by an honesthost.com, the Internet Archive
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and our Sync.net.
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On the Sadois status, today's show is released under Creative Commons, Attribution, 4.0
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International License.
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