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$139 PC comes with Linux preinstalled

desktoplinux.com — MadTux and Vector Linux today announced a Linux PC for the rock-bottom price of $139 (keyboard, monitor, and optical drive not included).

Who dugg this? Made popular May 19, 2007

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  • XTX7X, on 10/11/2007, -16/+142It's even too low-spec for that. I know I'm going to be attacked by Linux fanboys for this, but running any modern distro off of 256 megs of RAM is complete hell. The CPU is *****, slower clock for clock than most of Intel's... even Netburst. I wish people would stop digging something up because it has the word "Linux" in it.

    Look what you could get for only $70 more.

    Linkworld 431-10 C2228 Black & Silver Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply
    $24.99
    MSI K9MM-V Socket AM2 VIA K8M800 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
    $45.99
    AMD Sempron 64 3000+ 1.6GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model SDA3000CNBOX - Retail
    $29.99
    WINTEC AMPO 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model 3AMD2800-512M1-R - Retail
    $22.99
    Western Digital Caviar WD1600BB 160GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
    $50.99
    DCT Factory KBJ-006B Black PS/2 Standard Keyboard - Retail
    $3.99
    Logitech SBF-90 Black 3 Buttons 1 x Wheel PS/2 Wired Optical Mouse - OEM
    $4.99
    LITE-ON Combo Black IDE Model LH-52C1P-185 - OEM
    $21.99
    Subtotal: $205.92

  • covert215, on 10/11/2007, -7/+72I wouldn't pay that much for a computer with a 13GB hard drive and only 256MB RAM....
  • Satanael, on 10/11/2007, -15/+38And by harvesting my own wheat I bet the bread I eat could be a lot cheaper, too. I wish people would stop buying ***** just because it has Mrs. Baird's on it.
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -6/+25@covert215

    why thats better stats than the pc im forced to use everyday at work with windows xp........
  • Andytom, on 10/11/2007, -9/+26@ xtx7x

    $70 is still a lot of money for some people, its not just $70 more its more than 50% of the original cost of the machine.
  • sams2100, on 10/11/2007, -4/+19What a great way to throw away $139 + cdrom cost + keyboard + monitor. I guess people dont realize that you can get a used pc off ebay or something with better stats than this piece of junk that will have a real CPU (amd or intel) and be the same price or just a few dollars more... and I bet the used one would come with a cdrom drive.
  • damentz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17haha, nice analogy, people don't understand that the person selling the computer needs to make profit so they can continue their work. So it will be some percent more expensive, but your basically paying for their assembly of it, which makes sense.
  • Lane, on 10/11/2007, -3/+15of course it comes with linux, windows would double the cost....
  • Cerealkillr, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13I might be excited if it were a Laptop
  • sams2100, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11I find that hard to believe... what sort of work machines are you using? Last time I had 4MB of ram I was running an IBM 8088 with a 4 MB memory card crammed into one of the ISA slots.
  • SweetMercury, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12Why is the biggest complaint that you can't run it as a media center?

    Maybe, just maybe, people who can only afford a $139 PC are only looking to use it to access the internet so their kids can get their homework done? Or something equally "trivial?"
  • XTX7X, on 10/11/2007, -6/+16@Andytom

    Fine, if you'd like to, remove the keyboard, DVD-ROM drive and mouse like the computer they linked to did and you're nearly there. Shrink the hard drive, and use Newegg's free case:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811117086&CMP=EMC-IGNEFL051707&ATT=N82E16811117086

  • nyx210, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11That's really good for people who only use computers to surf the web and check their email.
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -5/+13What a ripoff!
  • geminus, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10Fry's Electronics puts out a $100 "Thiz Linux installed" desktop every year on Black Friday... and it comes with an "Optical" drive.
  • dignews, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Have you seen the price of vista I didn't realise how much it was! I saw it in my local computer store and Vista Ultimate cost £369 (which is $728 according to google) the student/teacher edition which is the cheapest vista you can buy cost £179 ($353)
  • specialK16, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7"C7-M Ultra Low Voltage: for mobiles / embedded (1.0-1.5 GHz) - NanoBGA2, 21mmx21mm, 400 MHz FSB" (from wikipedia)

    Actually, a 1.0 GHz processor for mobile devices is great!
  • 1longtime, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9@JasonCox:
    "Nice price. Hell, just shove in a bigger hard-drive and install Server '03 and you have a good storage appliance."

    Are you kidding? Server '03 costs more than that whole computer.
  • kidjay, on 10/11/2007, -6/+13"Still, the computer is too ***** old... the only thing you can do on it is work."

    i can't work on that. i can't work on any linux box. the only thing you could use this for is an internet kiosk or simple word processing.
  • YesImHavingFun, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Better to see this then overhearing a customer at bestbuy, "I just want a computer for word processing and internet use." "Oh really," says the salesperson, "then I have the system for you, a Pentium D processor and..." etc.

    I love new technology, but I use a 6 year old 1ghz AMD thunderbird for my day to day usage-- everything from internet and document editing, to some good 'ol rise of nations. Money is better spent on a gorgeous display and comfortable office chair. Or your favorite charity.
  • schmolch, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Where the hell do they get new 13GB HDDs from these days?
  • damentz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9Uh, you can buy another stick of memory yourself and your set. The computer is not for computer enthusiasts, or for people that collect data (music) or backup crap.
  • XTX7X, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8The Best Buy sales rep brought me to that same computer when I asked for an office heater..
  • tomz17, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7For all of those screaming about how underpowered this machine is. Remember when the Pentium 100 with 32 megs of ram was all the rage? I ran office, netscape, netscape mail, photoshop, etc, without a hitch on that machine. That is ALL that THIS machine is being marketed for, and the specs on it are WAY better!

    In fact, this week I'm waiting for a motherboard RMA for my c2duo, so I dusted off an old athlon 1.2ghz and loaded up ubuntu feisty fawn on it. The machine has absolutely no problem running open office, firefox, thunderbird, gimp,etc. Not everyone is playing the latest 3d games, encoding DVD's, or running huge scientific simulations. The specs and price are perfect for someone just looking to put together a few documents, check e-mail, and surf the web!


  • Andytom, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7I don't think anyone has noticed that even though this has low specs it doesn't really matter since this is going to run vector Linux http://www.vectorlinux.com/ which is one of the most lightweight and stable distros available while still being reasonably easy to use.
  • xero040486, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7I'd say it's a pretty good deal.

    Unfortunately, most people will just look at the price tag and not the specs. That computer would be great for small offices or home use where the users wouldn't be doing anything other than word processing/email/internet.

    Some of you diggers need to understand that not everybody needs a powerhouse machine with 4 gigs of RAM and an nVidia 57million graphics card.
  • arizonagroove, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Where did they find a 13.5Gb harddisk?
  • Lakeuk, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Sounds like a cheap MythTV box, just add an extra HHD and TV Card
  • Zuggy, on 10/11/2007, -3/+8Although this may make a decent little home server out of it, you could probably build something that's better for the same price, or find something used with similar specs for less.
  • kafitz22, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5@bobbothegrayson

    No where is he saying you have to Microsoft Windows Media Center...there are some great, even better OSS and/or free alternatives.
  • Chandon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5xtx7x -

    And that's still not a pre-built system. You can usually save a couple bucks by building yourself. If this specific system isn't want you want, Mad Tux offers some other systems that are close to competitive with self-built low end systems.

    Actually, if you care at all about the advantages of a VIA C7 (crazy-low power consumption, low noise, accelerated crypto), this is an amazing deal. Normally C7 motherboard/processor combos cost more than this. This is an amazing deal if you want a cheap development platform for some sort of mini-ITX appliance or general-purpose low end router thing.

    Even for a general usage low end desktop, the C7 is a really good deal. If you wanted to spend more to get more at the same power consumption you'd be talking triple the price with some sort of ULV Pentium M deal. Sure, as an enthusiast you might care more about performance than power consumption - but that's not appropriate everywhere.
  • mwosh, on 10/11/2007, -8/+13I just bought a computer with these exact same specs for $25, windows 2000 preinstalled.
  • franksmith, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9@ cdahlkvist said

    "All we are doing with these cheap systems and $100 laptops is putting computers in the hands of people that will only be the cause of more Nigerian scams and murders.

    It's sad to say. I believe that knowledge is power and the Internet (along with reading a book every now and then) is a great enabler for intelligence. However, it's sad that the dark side is that the more people you enable that couldn't normally get connected the more online crime you create.

    Maybe I am an elitist in the sense that I feel if you can't afford to get connected with the world maybe you'd be better off not being connected."


    Yeah we should make sure stupid and poor people are not allowed into libraries as well huh?

    Thinking like yours should require you to be sent to Nigeria you tool.
  • shanesemler, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6@ xero040486

    That is utter hogwash. Linux zombie propaganda. Better hardware will always give you a better computing experience. You're like one of those electric car people that rave over every crappy "green" car that looks like some kind of hideous little UFO crossed with a beer can. No one even paid any serious attention to electric cars until the Tesla. Now everyone thinks electric cars can be cool. Chances are good that in reality, most people will only be able to afford the UFO/beer-can but they will dream about the Tesla. The same goes for Linux. Sexy, powerful, kick-ass Linux machines would do more to push Linux into the mainstream than an army of fanboys spouting propaganda.
  • NJPENSO, on 10/11/2007, -9/+13I SAW THE WORD LINUX, EVERYONE DIGG THIS.
  • Chandon, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Great. You can get a leaf blower / space heater for $100 on ebay, or you can get a nice low-end desktop brand new for $140. Maybe you don't care about noise and power consumption, but not everyone agrees with you.
  • coolicebiz, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Lack of CD is a minus but I think it's good enough for a customer support computer

    definitely if you want a bargain for a home computer you must search ebay :)
  • arjie, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4@meatloafsurpriz:
    You shouldn't talk about things you know nothing about. I am using Ubuntu with 256 MB of RAM and a 2.93 GHz Intel. It works just fine, I can play Unreal Tournament (native), Warcraft III (wine), and OpenArena with little lag _after sharing 32MB of RAM for the on-board Via graphics_. As for simple usage like browsing the web or typing up documents, printing, that sort of thing, there is no noticeable slowness. That is in Gnome. In KDE, I can even afford to run a compositing manager (kompmgr, not accelerated) and have no trouble.
  • jmnormand, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7i could buy a used xbox and run linux and game on it for less...
  • aximbigfan, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7@sams21, its NOT a knock off cpu. its is a via c7, commonly used in very, very small computers and carputers.
  • rooster1056, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Jeez what a bunch of cynical bastards. xero hit the nail on the head.
    This isn't any barn burner, but it would work fine for my old lady who just wants to surf the web and read her email.
    And throwing in an optical drive & a little memory is no big deal.
  • shanesemler, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7Linux needs some high end boutique computers. No one is going to wet themselves over some cheap, crappy computer. This is exactly the sort of thing Shuttleworth was talking about - Linux isn't a cheap knockoff of Windows. Linux needs some dream computers to fire people's technolust, not this P.O.S.
  • exeterdad, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4I have to admit it's amusing seeing all the debate about having to have the biggest and baddest mobo just to survive daily computing tasks. But I guess I can relate. I remember back in the late 80's having no room in my car for my back seat, because I had my stereo components and speakers back there. But now... I'm happy with the stock stereo that came with the car.

    Sure... I've paid more for a video card in the past than the cost of the entire MadTux computer. Sure the MadTux computer may not be a gaming computer. But honestly... if you game, obviously you have money to spend so it's likely the computer wouldn't interest you anyhow.

    This particular computer I'm posting on is a 800 mhz AMD Duron. With only 256 mb of ram. It's a computer I blew the dust off of while I save up to rebuild my P4 3 ghz 800mhz fsb. mobo.

    As I type I'm encoding a dvd from a xvid. It's moving along at about 21 frames per second. I'm not lagging. I'm running KDE.

    And I'm running the exact same operating system as that $139.00 MadTux computer.

    Vector Linux 5.8 SOHO "discover the difference"
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5The point of hte comment is that why buy this when you can just get a used computer from hunrdreds of people who have recently purchased a new computer to replace hte one that they bought in 2002. A 2002 computer will have just as good specs as this one, and in many cases better, and if you know them well enough may even be FREE. And certianly less than $139.
  • specialK16, on 10/11/2007, -1/+42 words:

    Thin Client.

    C'mon, it's not rocket science...
  • Chandon, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4*****. You find me working VIA C7 systems for $9.99 and I'll buy them until I run out of money. Just a motherboard / processor package for the C7 usually starts around $140.
  • justhinking, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Agreed.

    As a VectorLinux user myself, I'm in a position I don't often find myself in here on DIGG-island: Being very knowledgeable about a topic. But, given this unique situation, it's astounding to see how blatantly uninformed us DIGGers can be, and still run our mouths like we've got all the answers.

    Oh, and if you are looking for more than a reliable, more-than-capable, daily-use computer, don't buy the $139 box - MadTux/VL are offering a jacked-up version as well. For $269 you get this: http://store.madtux.org/product_info.php?cPath=57&products_id=310
  • sams2100, on 10/11/2007, -5/+8I seriously doubt that knock off CPU will handle any sort of decent media. But I guess if you're buying that sort of budget computer for your media center, you wont notice it dropping frames on your 10" tv you bought at a flee market for $5.
  • Chandon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3sams2100 -
    Lots of people built MythTV boxes based on VIA C7 mini-ITX boards, which shows that it can handle video pretty well. Talking about the C7 as a knockoff is really just showing your ignorance - sure, VIA doesn't compete in the high powered desktop space, but that doesn't change the fact that their products in the areas where they do choose to compete are really nice. C7 / Unichrome Pro is better stuff for a low power / low cost Linux desktop than anything that AMD or Intel have to offer.
  • Chandon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Oh noes. Not using 8 megs of system memory to store the graphics buffer! The obsession over shared memory for a gaming system is 100% legitimate. GDDR3 on the chip trashes DDR2 across the FSB all day long when you're trying to turn 100 megs of textures and geometry into a 1600x1200 image 40 times per second.

    On the other hand, if you're doing anything other than playing the latest games (only three of which run on Linux: Doom 3, Quake 4, and UT2003/4), you'll be better off with shared memory since other applications just aren't intensive enough to need that memory bandwidth. Even for most 3D applications, shared memory is fine. Under Linux, you're actually usually *better off* with a graphics solution like Intel Extreme Graphics or the VIA Unichrome Pro here because those chipsets have open source drivers - and the stability gain from open source drivers is way more relevant for most uses than high performance in three specific games.
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