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Try the Dell Auction site. This is a different site from the Dell Refurbs.
Dell Auction = Dell Financial Services' lease returns. That means the computers are typically at least 2-3 years old. Not that such is automatically bad ... here at work, all of our "new" computers are from DFS because we just don't have the finances available to move everyone to Windows 7 (because of the need for all new software applications), so we NEED computers that are still XP-based.
However, for a home user, I feel they will be much better served with a new computer. Something top-of-the-line 3 years ago is mid-grade today ... and something mid-grade then is practically bottom-of-the-line today.
I was at WalMart earlier today and saw an eMachine with Athlon X2 2.4gHz for $298, Win7, 64 bit. They also had flat screen monitors from $100 to $229.
I know a lot of people don't care much for off brands but I've had one $600 eMach for about five years and had to replace only the electrical supply fan, once. Components are fairly typical from one box to another.
I said to upgrade it a little... for $10 more you get a Phenom II 955 which scores 3948 which is better than your E7500 at 2013. Upgrade the memory to 8gb for $54 more too.
I usually tell people to spend a little more because if they buy too cheap a computer then it's already obsolete and doesn't have much of a life left to it for future technology.
I don't think this was meant to be a competition. My concern is that the OP said, 'My laptop just quit.' That's gonna make it kinda hard to buy from a website, no matter how good the offer.
And really, just for posting on forums..., I'd save my bucks.
I sometimes do heavy internet browsing with switching between lots of programs and sometimes a video game and my memory load hits above 8 gb. And new internet browsers use the power of your video card to accelerate internet graphics. So having a modest video card over integrated video helps.
I said to upgrade it a little... for $10 more you get a Phenom II 955 which scores 3948 which is better than your E7500 at 2013. Upgrade the memory to 8gb for $54 more too.
The base system starts at $519 as it is ... and that's where my $700 comment came from.
Sure, spending more gets you better performance ... I don't doubt that at all. However, the OP's stated a budget of $500 with a monitor ... and when the base system exceeds that already without the monitor, that doesn't answer the question at all now, does it?
Everyone has different needs ... not everyone is into gaming, not everyone streams HD, and not everyone needs any of the higher performance. It's no different when it comes to vehicle choices ... there will be folks who can and want a luxury car, folks who absolutely have to have that big 4WD SUV, folks who want good fuel economy from a hybrid, and folks who can only afford a sub-compact.
To ignore their budgets, and suggest something more expensive because "it's much better" ... well, that's like suggesting to a city dweller that slogs through traffic everyday that they need a car which will do 190 mph, despite that the fastest they'd be going is 35 mph.
It's worth it to go $300 over budget here. You get a quad core vs a dual core. And you get a computer that will last you 4 to 5 more years of "future proofing..."
I tried internet browsing on my Athlon 2100XP with an ATI X850 vc and it was suffering. Moving the browser around the screen was slow and choppy. A dual core wouldn't be much better, but that's like my E1705 laptops... which are a bit adequate.
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