The Juggle Zone: Bargain Blog

As some of you know, I currently operate a P133 (as in 133 MHz, not 1.33 GHz). It is a Toshiba Satellite 220CDS (notebook) that I bought prior to my freshman year of college, in 1997 (6 years old!). After several drops, the top left corner blacked out (about 1/2"W by 4"H). Over the past week, the (10x) CD-ROM drive stopped remaining shut when closed, so it only works if it's held closed by hand. I upgraded the RAM a long time ago (from 16 MB to 80 MB) and the HD (1.34 GB to 10-12 GB). However, that newer HD has been having some problems of late, namely corrupting files. Additionally, my computer has had the tendency to die after being left on for too long.

So I'm well overdue for a new computer.

And today is the day I finally ordered one. It's a Dell 2400, P4 2.2 GHz, 400 MHz FSB, 256 MB RAM (which I'll upgrade myself to at least 512 MB), 80 GB HD (which I may upgrade to 200, see below), 48x CD-RW/DVD combo, 56K modem, speakers, 10/100 NIC, mouse, keyboard, floppy (yes, I included one, as my wife and I still use them).
Software includes: Win XP Home, WordPerfect® Productivity Pack (immediate uninstall: probable) with Quicken New User Edition. Cost: $402.70, including tax ($9.70), after coupon ($25), discounts (free HD upgrade, free memory upgrade, etc.), and MIR ($100). Of course there's also FatCash, for another $14.79 in savings, and CC cash back, for another $5.03 in savings - bottom line: $382.88!

I didn't include a monitor, because Dell charges too much for them. For now, we'll use an old 15" CRT, but I'll probably get a 17" LCD at some point (i.e. when a nice deal comes along).