Jonathan, Finding cheap consumer oriented pc's with Linux pre-installed is strangely difficult. If you're not opposed to the company for philosophical reasons, Wal-Mart has new Linux based PC's starting at $200 http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3380786&cat=41937&type =19&dept=3944&path=0%3A3944%3A3951%3A41937 They're not exactly powerhouses, but it may meet your needs if you don't want to go through buying used systems and installing Linux yourself (or paying someone to do so). If you don't want to go to Wal-Mart, your best bet may be going to a local computer shop and asking them to custom build systems for you. I agree with the comment about the Mac Mini being a great machine for people needing *nix in a non-techie environment, but adding a monitor to it will make it go over your $500 budget (you'll also need to buy a keyboard and mouse). They also ship with reasonably marginal RAM for OS X, so I would recommend spending a bit extra there as well. Hope this helps! -Dan -----Original Message----- From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of Jonathan Dill Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 3:49 PM To: hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net Subject: [Hidden-tech] linux PCs Hello folks, I'm looking for vendor / model recommendations to buy a Linux PC for under $500 not including monitor. I'm hoping to get something more or less "off the shelf" like a "bare bones" PC and add some bells and whistles later. Quick turnaround time 1-2 weeks is essential. The goal is to have a basic working PC at home for office apps and internet access until I can budget for something with more power. I've built PCs "from scratch" before, but found I didn't save much money that way, but perhaps I am simply "over-designing." Thanks, --jonathan _______________________________________________ Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tec Discussion list. If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members page on the Hidden Tech Web site. http://www.hidden-tech.net/members