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Thread: Cheap Desktop PC Recommendation

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    Default Cheap Desktop PC Recommendation

    Recently became unemployed, and was previously using work laptop in my home office, hooked to a HP dock, and dual monitors. I have to give back their laptop, but want to keep my dual monitor setup.

    We have a household laptop already, looking for suggestions for an inexpensive desktop. Will be used only for email, surfing web, and occasional downloads.

    Looking for:
    Budget, $300 range
    Small form factor
    Either 2 monitor support, or can use with dock.
    Wifi
    500 GB or 1 TB HD (only mentioned the 1TB as several on BB had this)
    16 or 32 ram (again, only mentioned these as it was on BB)

    Prefer it doesn't come with keyboard/mouse (already have these)

    Best buy has a ton of refurbished units on their website. I'm not against these, as they come with a 1 year warranty.

    But there are sooooo many to choose from. Any help appreciated!
    Last edited by cidley69; 01-30-2023 at 02:00 PM.
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    What's your budget? Also I think for your uses, 32 gb ram is grossly overkill, and honestly could get away with 8-12.

    Lenovo has refurbished units and are nice and compact: https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/d/deals...sortBy=priceUp
    Last edited by msommers; 01-30-2023 at 01:08 PM.
    Ultracrepidarian

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    I recently went through this.
    Steps I took.
    1) look at the city of calgary surplus site and determine which is best for you from that list.
    2) figure out when that model and processor were released.
    3) check bestbuy and only consider models that age or newer.

    If confused, look up @ExtraSlow posts from q4 2022.

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    HP EliteDesk 800 is a great little machine. Lots of refurbs on Amazon/Ebay, but not sure how common 1TB hdd's is with them.

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    dell refurbished probably has something in the 2-300$ range and then you'd have to spend 80$ on a 1tb ssd upgrade.

    If you want something nice/new and really small formfactor you could get a beelink mini pc for around 600$

    https://www.amazon.ca/Beelink-SER5-G.../dp/B0B82KLJ6Q

    Currently on sale for 567$ - 5600H, 32gb ram, 500gb ssd, wifi 6e. Then just swap the ssd if you need more space.
    Last edited by pheoxs; 01-30-2023 at 01:59 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by birdman86 View Post
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    HP EliteDesk 800 is a great little machine. Lots of refurbs on Amazon/Ebay, but not sure how common 1TB hdd's is with them.
    https://refurbishcanada.ca/collectio...39630900658310

    $259, this seems to be right on target. Is this too good to be true? Anyone bought from this company before?
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    I use the ryzen version of these guys and they work great. Fits into your budget
    https://www.amazon.ca/Beelink-Perfor...-8063055?psc=1

    here is a review for it
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYBmrntb74s

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    ERA and the city surplus sale as ES mentioned. Sometimes you'll see the xeon workstations on fb marketplace for cheap too.

    Then upgrade ram/hdd as needed.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cidley69 View Post
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    https://refurbishcanada.ca/collectio...39630900658310

    $259, this seems to be right on target. Is this too good to be true? Anyone bought from this company before?
    Shipping may kill the deal as all these refurbish companies are base in GTA. Check local 1st. As for pricing, between Bauer and your place, you should know how much these are worth.

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    The tiny Beelink is looking pretty good.

    Any downside to these ones, vs going with a refurbished little bit bigger one?
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    I've had no issues with mine. It's only used for a torrent/Plex server and it's served me well. I do find it bogs down once I hit 1000+ active torrents though.

    Because I know someone is going to ask it's sonar/radarr. The number of torrents add up quickly depending on how many shows I have it monitoring

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    Quote Originally Posted by cidley69 View Post
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    The tiny Beelink is looking pretty good.

    Any downside to these ones, vs going with a refurbished little bit bigger one?
    CPU is weak but given you get 16GB ram and 500GB SSD and already with 2 HDMI ports for your dual display, it seems to do all you need.

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    Ssd is a must.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gpomp View Post
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    I bought a computer from these guys a few years back, really happy with it - excellent condition.
    Originally posted by arian_ma
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    Quote Originally Posted by msommers View Post
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    What's your budget? Also I think for your uses, 32 gb ram is grossly overkill, and honestly could get away with 8-12.

    Lenovo has refurbished units and are nice and compact: https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/d/deals...sortBy=priceUp
    I can't find any refurbished units at that link....is that the correct site?
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    Quote Originally Posted by Asian_defender View Post
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    I use the ryzen version of these guys and they work great. Fits into your budget
    https://www.amazon.ca/Beelink-Perfor...-8063055?psc=1

    here is a review for it
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYBmrntb74s
    Ended up ordering this one from Amazon. Pretty hard to beat the convenience, and as noted, it checked all my boxes.

    https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

    Thanks Beyond IT team for the great suggestions!
    My Karma ran over your Dogma

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    Its more expensive, but I've been using a steam deck with USB PD passthrough dock. As my main computer. It does not use Windows at all.

    The thing it can't do easily is print, or HDR (as of Feb 2023). But 1440p60 youtube still looks amazing, not sure if it has the guts to decode 4k60 as I don't really have consistent enough bandwidth to try.
    0.5 gram microsd delivered by 12,000 pound combustion vehicle and driver.

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    Update:. A couple weeks into owning the Beelink mini computer.

    It works great. Running windows 11 for first time, no downside other than learning curve.

    The Beelink does everything I need it to, and the tiny form factor, and fact it literally attaches to back of a monitor is sweet.

    Would highly recommend one of these for anyone looking for a basic function computer.
    My Karma ran over your Dogma

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    Thanks for the update. I'm looking into one of these as well
    Ultracrepidarian

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