Episode: 4148
Title: HPR4148: Cheap Computers
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr4148/hpr4148.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-25 20:15:03

---

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