I just bought a Refurbished computer from eBay for $133. To make things easier, here is a link to it:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180398369428&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I bought it refurbished becaues I don't have enough money to buy a brand new one.
I want to somewhat upgrade this computer to make it run better. I haven't received the computer, so the only specs I know of are the ones in that link.

I am on a tight budget, of 150-200. Maybe higher, depends.
I know I want a cd/dvd drive in it for sure. Atleast 3 gigs of ram, 2 is okay.
I'm not even sure if the memory it has is good or not.
That's about as much as I know. If you know of some things I should add, please tell me.
Thank you.

Edit: I'm pretty sure this is the same computer:
http://www.superwarehouse.com/HP_Compaq_Business_Desktop_D530_Pentium_4_2.8GHz/PB603AABA/ps/399091

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 22 2009, 4:00 am by BluEditor.

Ugh. You really screwed yourself mate. It doesn't have a lot of options in the way of upgrades. According to the specs its DDR1 RAM which isn't worth buying, doesn't specify if it has a PCI-E x16 slot, and the PSU is probably too weak to support any GPU worth buying anyway. You really should've checked with us before buying.

Edit: Your edit confirms it. There is literally nothing worth the price of upgrading in this machine.

Meh, thanks Excalibur.
I know some people that will buy it for $300.
I don't want to make a post for every single computer I see on eBay, so is there a way around that? Perhaps you can give me some sites that will help me decide?

I'll need some help though, because as you just noticed, I don't know anything about computer specs.

www.newegg.com

You'd ALWAYS be better off building your own. It brings the price down immensely.

If you're not reselling all of it, keep the monitor. It isn't worth $130 (as it's probably old and slow), but it's certainly worth at least half that if it's in good condition.

Fighting really hard, we might be able to get you a new desktop for $300 all told. That's what this topic was all about.

Oh Ex, btw, if all you needed was something to browse the Internet/give to your 75 year old grandma, $133 is cheaper than anything you can build on Newegg and that hp isn't total crap, per se. I think my high school had tons of them as standard workstations

How exactly on Newegg did you know I didn't have much options for an upgrade? Do I just type in the name and see what newegg recommends?

Okay, I will build a computer, but how much money would I save? I really just want a computer that can atleast play SC, and do some other programs that might be a bit more intense. Not really looking for a gaming computer, more like something I could use at home for a job or school.

The build in the thread DTBK linked to would be cool.

Thank you, I'm checking them out right now, but some of the deals/products aren't on sale for that price anymore. I can cut down the 17" monitor because I can get plenty of those for 50 from craigslist, and I already have 2. Alright those prices have me motivated. Now to think of a way to convince someone why they should buy this comp.

He probably knew from the specs website you gave. Since it does not have pci-e you cant seriously upgrade gpu and I am not even sure its atx form factor. You can get more ram but its ridiculously expensive because its ddr. That ebay computer will play sc but probably nothing more intense .

Yeah, to be fair, that computer will play Starcraft just fine.

ANY computer with at least 1000MHz (for some trigger intense maps) will...
Minimum requirement is 90MHz (granted, you can forget multiplayer with that)