What would be a fair price for this computer?

I think the best way to tell what the fair going rate for just about anything, but especially computers, is to check eBay.
Here's a similar machine with 1GB RAM with keyboard and mouse on eBay that's currently just over $100 (although still with 5 days to go):
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Dimension-4600-Pentium-4-2-6-GHz-1-GB-Ram-40-GB-HD_W0QQitemZ300087766246QQihZ020QQcategoryZ140070QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
There's a couple of similar machines with 256 RAM with "buy it now" prices of $120. I didn't see any currently up for sale with your friend's exact config.

Drano wrote: 50 bucks, tops. And only with the disks.

Yeah, without the disks, it's pretty much useless, unless they wanna pop an extra hundred on an OS. Really, it's only going to be used by someone for some surfing and word processing.

The best use for such a box might be to prop up a car while you steal the wheels.

caaahyoko wrote: Yeah, your friend may get more pleasure out of taking it to a field and smashing it to pieces. That's my plan for mine :twisted:

I once saw a piece of "performance art" at MIT that involved a large group of dorks wrapping an old pc (probably a 386) and monitor in sheets and trying to smash them with sledgehammers. not sure if they simply lacked the brute strength or if these things actually are quite smash resistant, but when they unwrapped them, the major damage was to the monitor. everything else was vaguely dented but didn't look terribly damaged.

so they opened up the computer and exposed the boards, covered it back up with the sheet, and began trying to smash that. given the lack of wreckage after that, I'm thinking that scrawny dudes should try to smash anything with a sledgehammer.

Emily wrote:
Wouldn't you need at least two computers to steal the wheels off a car? Or do different rules apply for computers and milk crates?

If your friend is serious, I have a matching Pentium 4 here that could be donated to the cause; the owner told me a couple of days back to junk it as the parts aren't worth the cost of getting a car to Manhattan.

When I worked at Summerstage, all our office computers were from Materials for the Arts. They are a great organization if you're interested in donating.

http://www.mfta.org/

MichaelKeys wrote: [quote=alafairnadia]
I once saw a piece of "performance art" at MIT...

That's all I needed to know.



Wow. That's sad. Not even with a sledgehammer. Those old metal towers are tough, but come on.

I still think she might get more than $50 on eBay.

Drano wrote: Say, is my old Dell still floating around out there? If so say "hi" to it for me...

I think that it's been parted, but it's still being of use.

caaahyoko wrote: I once saw a piece of "performance art" at MIT that involved a large group of dorks wrapping an old pc (probably a 386) and monitor in sheets and trying to smash them with sledgehammers.

You know, I can imagine how lame this "performance art" was, and yet watching someone smash a computer can be surprisingly entertaining. Ever seen Office Space?

Of course, those guys used a baseball bat...

This thread reminded me that I have an extra eMac sitting in my apartment that I should sell. I only used it a few times, so I figured it would be worth maybe $500. According to ebay prices its worth more like $300. That sucks.

Carnivore wrote: There's no way an eMac is worth even close to 500 bucks, and this is coming from a total Mac fanboy. For just $100 more than that, you can get a brand new Mac Mini with an Intel 1.66 GHz Core Duo processor and 512 MB RAM.

I was just guessing. It was one that my mom won in a contest, so I didn't even know the original price. I only know the price of my MacBook Pro, dude.

Hell, I've never even bought a PC whole. I've been rebuilding them over and over again since I was a kid. The metal tower that I will soon kick to the curb is at least 10 years old and has seen 3 motherboards.

quijibo wrote: i got an eMac and it's totally da bomb.
i suggest donating it and getting the tax write-off -- you'll get more money that way

That's what my rational mind says to do, but I want the cash within the year of 2007.