I was at the kmart site looking for small notebooks for my students (you'd think the school would provide this eh?), and came across this which might be decent enough for a young kid (I know my kids aren't going to be allowed to touch *my* computers).

Now, it isn't the most powerful thing and you can probably build a faster one for about the same price, but for it is cheap enough for people who don't know how to build their own PC's, but want their kids to have a computer (no internet rebates thingies either).

http://www.bluelight.com/store/ProductRedirect.jhtml?lt=im&PRODID=660184&ACAT=1001

Our Price: $249.99
Additional handling charge of $20.00 applies.

Supercharged* and unbelievably affordable, the high-end BlueLight PC is loaded with the newest technology available. The result is superb quality, strong performance and a fun web experience.
533MHz Intel Celeron™ chip
7.5GB hard drive
32MB RAM (up to 256mg)
56k modem
Microsoft Windows 98
Web-ready keyboard
2-button wheel mouse
1-year limited warranty

They have a couple of slightly upgraded models too (for $50 and $200 more than the price above, but I just figured the cheaper one might interest some people looking for something cheap for the kids to hack into the school computers and get better grades, etc. :D

* I disagree with the label of 'supercharged' heh :D

Doesn't look bad for the price :)

Hmm. Great idea, although I think you could do better for the same price on eBay.:stickout

I know people that have paid lots more............for lots less :rolleyes:

Pretty good configuration for that price, kids can save up some pocket money for a Geforce card and it'll be ready for Counter-Strike, Max Payne, etc.. (i know they love it)

I know it sounds dumb, but a lot of companies do this to lower the price...

Make sure it comes with a monitor!

Other than that, yea nice one :)

Sorg

The only bad thing with it is that they screw you with the RAM. Anymore you can't run anything with 32 mb of RAM. Also I have heard some horror stories with people purchasing computers from K-Mart.

oh my god that computer looks retarded :D :D :D

I think it's cute in that "wake up in the middle of the night screaming" sort of way.

Good point about the monitor, didn't catch that, though you can pick up a cheapie and ram is cheap enough now. I dunno, it might end up being as much as a cheap eMachines, though I'm not certain those are much better. Never had one.

It didn't look all that great, but I was thinking it would be for 7 year olds, not college bound kids (don't brand your child a complete loser by sending 'em off to school with a computer that says BLUE LIGHT on it, heh).

If you know of any other sub-$300 computers, I'd appreciate the link(s). The parents of my students are extremely low income, but I think they might like to know about cheap computers.

I wouldn't trust that 'putter at all....seems like it would fall apart at any time! But that is just my opinion, I will keep my eyes open. Maybe Dell would donate some computers....or they could get Palm Pilots/Visors/Mini Blue Screen of Death....

I haven't tried these folks myself, but it might be just what someone else is looking for...

PeoplePC.Com is currently sending out HP units, 800 mz, 128mg RAM, 20G hard drive, 56K modem, 48x CD-ROM drive, 3.5 floppy drive, 15" monitor, 2 USB, 1 serial, 1 parallel, and 1 game port, Win ME. All you can eat internet access with up to 10mg "personal web space" and email. Total is $24.95/month. Not shabby, considering you'll pay almost that much for an AOL account, and you get an HP computer in the deal. No printer, but for $39.95 - $49.95 you can snag an Apollo (HP's "value line") at most Target stores nationwide that uses commonly available HP cartridges.

They have a couple of "upgrades" available as well, including a notebook. Sometimes the computers are IBM, sometimes Toshiba, sometimes HP, and for a brief time I think they had Compaqs. Always "name brand" at any rate.

You can see the gory details here:
http://www.peoplepc.com/people_packages/bundles_moreinfo.asp?bid=36&slice=36D

As far as HP equipment goes, I've had the occasional problem, but as long as it is under warranty, I've been real dang pleased with Customer/Tech support.

The other option that we have used for a cheepie pooter is EMachines. Out of three that we have here, two have had to have the power supplies replaced after warranty was up. :eek: Otherwise, if you can find one cheap, they are decent starter/student machines that will get most of the general public by quite nicely. Some of the EMachines *do* have a rep for bad power supplies, and they use a proprietary ps that is a bit more pricey than a typical ps off the shelf, :( but once we have replaced them, they run fine, and we have had no further problems. Interesting side note: one EMachine unit where the ps went bad simply refused to shut off, and would instead reboot, no matter what you did to the BIOS, or the OS. We bought our EMachines at our local Computer Renaissance store that specializes in refurbs/rehabs.

And, yes, there is always eBay, but most newbies need a bit more hand-holding than you can find there... :D