How cheap can PC’s get?

Mike Elgan’s Computerworld article asks: What can you get for less than $700? The answer: A lot.

You've no doubt heard that Dell plans to sell PCs at Wal-Mart. It turns out that the prices of these systems will be extremely low. A Dell Dimension E521with a dual-core Athlon chip, 1GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, Vista Home Premium and a 19-in. monitor will cost less than $700. (Note that Vista Home Premium by itself would cost you $200.)

Meanwhile, Asus announced at Intel's Computex a $189, full-size, solid-state Linux laptop that boots in just 15 seconds from its 2GB flash hard disk. Called the 3ePC, the low-cost PC isn't a humanitarian effort for third-world kids, but a consumer product that will be sold in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.

I don’t know about the $189 laptop, but the Dell E521 with a 19-inch monitor sounds like a great buy.

I’m all for supporting the Linux operating system but buying a flash-drive laptop doesn’t get me excited.

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