Workhorse for less than $500

Quote from Pekelo:

He only meant running it 24/7 but nothing else.

Anyway, let's move on. What will you use 10 years from now??? I assume today's new computers, unless you want to stick with 15 years old ones...

Generally, I agree with you, that if there is a design that proved to be particulary robust/stabil/reliable it is worthy to keep it around as long as it is possible, but there is a cut off years and tasks, when the new ones can do the same task just as fine as that old one.

So how long would you keep this P490 around?
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A P490 is a great base platform but they are getting old these days... not terrible but there are better things out there simply that are quieter, smaller, use less power and equally as fast - but then again that depends on the user and the application.

I use P490's and P690's for BSD based data servers/databases all the time and I'll keep doing so for years since they are currently so overkill.

As a desktop it depends on the user - the biggest benefit/drawback to the P490/P690 is that they are packed with PCI-X slots and have few PCI-e slots. The T5400 is a better balanced solution but still not quite as cheap as the P490/P690.

I think there is a use for everything... if it is appropriate I will keep the P490/P690 around for years & years - or dump it tomorrow. It all depends. Also, DDR2 has gotten expensive and the P490/P690 chassis stopped production some time ago so it is still in a sweet spot where it is cheap - but if it gets "rare" and therefore expensive it will be 100% moving on to the T5400/T7400
 
Now I assume you are getting these things as used ones. And this brings up another issue. If you could get it as brand new and cheap, that is one thing, but if the machine already has 5-8000 hours on it, that could and will effect its reliability. The Precision line is 5 years old already I think...

For the OP, I have found this website, selling Dell Precisions, with 1 year warranty:

http://www.stikc.com/Catalog/Dell-Precision-490

$325 or the P380 for $250, P390 for $300...

The T5400 is almost the same, $369...
 
Quote from Realistic:

Couldn't resist regarding the argument between new and old...

Simple Analogy: Man walks into a Brothel, he is faced with two choices; save a few bucks and go with the "older" proven workhorse, or for just a little bit more go with the newer, faster, "hotter" option...

imho, the choice is clear.... :)
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Depends if the brothel runs a good virus program.
 
Quote from Pekelo:

Now I assume you are getting these things as used ones. And this brings up another issue. If you could get it as brand new and cheap, that is one thing, but if the machine already has 5-8000 hours on it, that could and will effect its reliability. The Precision line is 5 years old already I think...

For the OP, I have found this website, selling Dell Precisions, with 1 year warranty:

http://www.stikc.com/Catalog/Dell-Precision-490

$325 or the P380 for $250, P390 for $300...

The T5400 is almost the same, $369...
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I buy them by the pallet (a lot of 5-15 machines) from Dell or other certified resellers. They are all new or factory refurb parts, they are all burned in by me prior to delivery and they are a great deal for the money. I only charge $150 over parts/cost to assemble, configure and burn in no matter what the specs.
 
Quote from Realistic:

Couldn't resist regarding the argument between new and old...

Simple Analogy: Man walks into a Brothel, he is faced with two choices; save a few bucks and go with the "older" proven workhorse, or for just a little bit more go with the newer, faster, "hotter" option...

imho, the choice is clear.... :)
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Not quite.

In this instance, they both need to "work" for only about a minute..:D
 
As for new vs old, if a pc is very old then it is probably too old. I have an 13 yrs old thinkpad that still runs very well, all the hardware parts are working even though it has taken a lot of abuses from my kids. But the problem is that it has no wireless moderm, no earthnet jacket, no UBS port, and only 32 MB RAM.
 
Quote from pepper_john:

As for new vs old, if a pc is very old then it is probably too old. I have an 13 yrs old thinkpad that still runs very well, all the hardware parts are working even though it has taken a lot of abuses from my kids. But the problem is that it has no wireless moderm, no earthnet jacket, no UBS port, and only 32 MB RAM.
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"Very old" has the problem of obsolescence. Most of what's being debated here is "a few years old but of high quality" vs. "new, cheap quality".

How does one decide? I say, "go for a quality motherboard". The other components are mostly "off the shelf/same" for all makers.
 
Quote from pepper_john:

As for new vs old, if a pc is very old then it is probably too old. I have an 13 yrs old thinkpad that still runs very well, all the hardware parts are working even though it has taken a lot of abuses from my kids. But the problem is that it has no wireless moderm, no earthnet jacket, no UBS port, and only 32 MB RAM.
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When buying a used machine how do you know how many 10's of thousands of hours those components have seen, and that it won't fail tomorrow? Workstations are more often than not staay on 24/7/365.

Better buy two and setup both in advance because if one goes down..
:eek:
 
Quote from johnkurtz:

When buying a used machine how do you know how many 10's of thousands of hours those components have seen, and that it won't fail tomorrow? Workstations are more often than not staay on 24/7/365.

Better buy two and setup both in advance because if one goes down..
:eek:
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"Staying on 24/7/365" doesn't wear on components as much as turning them on/off a lot. Besides, we're not talking about trying to buy stuff which is 10-15 years old.
 
Quote from johnkurtz:

When buying a used machine how do you know how many 10's of thousands of hours those components have seen, and that it won't fail tomorrow? Workstations are more often than not staay on 24/7/365.

Better buy two and setup both in advance because if one goes down..
:eek:
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"Staying on 24/7/365"* doesn't wear on components as much as turning them on/off a lot. Besides, we're not talking about trying to buy stuff which is 10-15 years old.

* Did you know? ...There is a light bulb in a firehouse which has been burning CONTINUOUSLY FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS!!
 
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