Preorder two copies of the Windows 7 upgrade, then sell one later to recoup all your costs.
(Credit: Microsoft)By now you've undoubtedly heard the news: Until July 11 (or while supplies last), you can preorder the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $49.99.
After the deal expires, that same upgrade will cost you $119.99. Needless to say, if you're interested in Windows 7, now's the time to buy.
My advice: buy two. Then, after Windows 7 ships (on October 22), turn around and sell your spare copy for $100. Obviously that's $20 less than the list price, meaning you should have no trouble moving it on eBay, Craigslist, or wherever.
At the same time, you recoup 100 percent of your investment and get Windows 7 to boot (literally).
Risky? A gamble? Perhaps, but to this day upgrade copies of Vista are selling on eBay for $100 and more. And that's two years later. The only real downside is that you're out $100 for about four months. Worth it? Let me know in the comments.
In the meantime, keep in mind that if you're a Windows XP user, there's no automated way to upgrade your system to Windows 7--not without wiping your hard drive. (Vista users, however, can upgrade directly.)
That means you'll need to back up your drivers, data, and the like, install Windows 7, restore your stuff, reinstall your applications, etc. It's a hassle, but in the end you'll have an outta-the-box-fast PC with a spiffy new OS.
And a free one at that.
This smokin' quad-core desktop is new, not refurbished, and a steal at $599.
(Credit: HP)Remember the HP Pavilion M9350F from back in January? That post elicited a ton of discussion (nearly 150 comments), in part because it was a uniquely awesome deal, and in part because of a little controversy. More on that in a bit.
The original deal was $619.99, plus $30 shipping, for a refurbished model. BuyDig has the HP Pavilion M9350F, new, for $599 shipped. If you're in the market for a desktop, get out your wallet: It doesn't get better than this.
I say that as the owner of this exact system. Although I did suffer a couple months of frustration owing to a hardware glitch (the machine would slow to a crawl for hours at a time), I eventually tracked down a hard-drive firmware update that solved the problem. The M9350F has been a gem ever since.
As I said the first time around, the specs on this thing are unreal: a quad-core AMD processor, 6GB of RAM, a 750GB hard drive, a 512MB GeForce 9800GT graphics card, a TV tuner, and 802.11n wireless connectivity.
It lacks a Blu-ray drive, but I don't need one. I'm happy with the LightScribe DVD burner. If you do decide to leverage its media-center capabilities, you'll appreciate the HDMI output (via DVI adapter) and Windows Media Center remote.
In short, this system is loaded, and it's $50 less than it was five months ago. Plus, you get a full one-year warranty instead of just 90 days. (Speaking of which, I dealt with HP technical support a couple times, and they were surprisingly efficient. I even got follow-up calls to make sure my problem was resolved.)
Indeed, despite my rocky start with the M9350F, I have no qualms about recommending it--especially at this price. Just make damn sure you install that firmware update.
This is the system that will be powering Cheapskate Labs for the foreseeable future.
(Credit: eCost)Well, I did it. After four years with a hulking, noisy, upgraded-to-the-limit Pentium 4 tower, I finally pulled the trigger on a new system. It's a refurbished HP Pavilion M9350F, which eCost has on sale for $619.99.
The specs on this thing are pretty unreal: a quad-core AMD processor, 6GB of RAM, a 750GB hard drive, a 512MB GeForce 9800GT graphics card, a TV tuner, and 802.11n wireless connectivity. No Blu-ray drive, but I honestly couldn't care less. I'm happy with the LightScribe burner.
I just hope that it's quieter than the jet turbine that currently sits under my desk. And I'm a bit concerned about overheating, which, according to a few user reviews I've read, is a problem with this model.
But I'll deal with that, if and when it occurs. This system lists for about $1,200, so $620 (plus $30 for shipping) was too good to pass up. I can't offer a hands-on recommendation yet, but I will say I've never seen a system as loaded as this one for such a low price.
Because this is a refurb, it comes with only a 90-day warranty. That doesn't bother me. In my experience, a desktop either works, or it doesn't. Any problems should manifest within those first three months.
Thanks to reader j_a_s_p_e_r for the heads-up on this deal!
(Credit:
Rick Broida)
It's spring: Time to clean out the junk. I'm not talking about old photos and Word documents, but rather the system-sapping stuff that Windows accumulates over time: temporary system files, unnecessary Registry entries, unwanted Web histories, and the like. Freeware favorite CCleaner promises to kick all that crapola to the curb, leaving your system cleaner and, theoretically, faster.
CCleaner scans your machine for temp files and other clutter, then shows you what it found and gives you the option of deleting it all. (Alas, there's no undelete option, so proceed at your own risk.) You can then run a scan of the Registry and let CCleaner wipe out the detritus (this time with a backup, thankfully). The software also includes a rudimentary uninstaller and startup-program manager.
The only thing I don't like about CCleaner is the Yahoo toolbar it wants to add to your browser upon installation. You can uncheck that option, but it seems counterintuitive for a gunk-cleaner to add its own gunk to your system. In all other respects, CCleaner works as advertised and can really help fine-tune your PC. Download it right here.
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