Cheapo ink cartridges, DVD-R blanks, $199 Sempron 2200+ PCs

IF YOU know of any good value IT sales (auctions, rebates, one-off, clearance, surplus, classified ads) going around in the United Kingdom, France, USA or Singapore, don't hesitate to contact me, at least 24 hours before the sales end.

Now anyone who owns a printer knows that the price of a printer is only a fraction of its TCO - total cost of ownership. Many people, including me, know too well how expensive original cartridges can be. In fact, researches have shown that original cartridges cost more per litre than the most expensive perfumes available or even Champagne. Don't drink your ink cartridge though. It is not for nothing that HP imaging department for example rake in billions in profits. while its computer department got only peanuts.

Manufacturers will even go to court to secure their golden eggs and will recourse to heavy subsidisation so that their printers' price is low enough for you to buy. Now if you plan to print a lot, then you should buy very judiciously. From my personal experience, Epson seems to be the most easily hacked to accept compatible cartridges. We covered the R200 printer some days ago and at Choicestationery, they are selling compatible cartridges for very cheap. For £28.99 - including VAT and deliver, you get 13 cartridges. Now use voucher code "25" at checkout and you can trim an additional 10% if used before the 24th December 2004.

Basically, you're getting a cartridge for £2.23 per unit. How much saving can you do? At PC World, you will pay £11.99 for one original cartridge and £9.99 for one compatible cartridges. Ebuyer also sells them for £1.84 - but the price does not include VAT and postage. The brand is Inkrite and users seems to be very impressed by the quality of this product. If you have other printers, it pays to shop around and look for compatibles for your printers. Choicestationery offers a one-year guarantee, lowest price guarantee or 10% off refund, no credit charge and a price-you-see-price-you-pay policy.

This has to be the cheapest new PC in the world. At $199.99, the Microtel SYSAM4001 is a strange beast indeed. It is at its heart, a 1.5GHz AMD Sempron 2200+ powered computer. It comes with 128MB DDR memory - SDRAM is long dead now, a 20GB hard disk, a 52x CDROM, Integrated everything - LAN Ethernet, graphics and audio.

The motherboard used seems to be a microATX since there is only one PCI slot available, but also fortunately an AGP8x one. The board used is apparently the Asrock K7S41GX - grabbed from Microtel's website. It features Asrock's well known U-COP, Hybrid Booster, which is a safe overclocking feature - strange to think that this entry level computer could possibly overclock, Real 256E 3D Graphics module.

Up to 64MB of system memory might be shared but I would advise against using more than 8MB at a time. There are four USB 2.0 ports, a pair of speakers, a keyboard and a two button wheel mouse. Is this however the future of computing, with its bland look, no vestige of the past - analogue modem and floppy disk drive - and no Windowz OS - is it the beginning of the end, shall we very soon see a TescoOS or a WalmartOS?

The operating system used is the Xandros standard edition v2.0 which comes with OpenOffice 1.1, Mozzilla, Xandros Disc Burner, Xandros file manager and much more. Intruiguely, it says that you can "install new software from one of the largest inventories at no additional cost". What inventory is it talking about. Last but not least, there are two free 5.25-inch bays and one 3.5-inch bays.

However, nothing prevents you from going Ebay way. Ben.katz is selling a branded IBM (Lenovo???) Netvista Pentium III 1GHz for only $189.99 - with a $40 shipping though. The IBM NetVista is the perfect solution for your home or business. Its slick and compact design takes up very little space - ideal for quick and easy setups, letting you focus on productivity! The IBM NetVista features am Intel Pentium 3 1GHz processor with a 133MHz FSB and 256KB cache coupled with the i815E chipset, 512MB PC133 SDRAM memory, a spacious 30GB hard drive and the Windows 2000 Professional operating system.

You also get a 48x CDROM, a nVIDIA Riva TNT2 AGP graphic card with 16MB memory, high quality built in speakers adn integrated audio controller as well as integrated Ethernet LAN connection. But that's not all, you also get Microsoft Windows 2000 and Office 2000 operating system, though you'd probably better check whether they are original or not.

Two USB ports are provided as well as two free PCI slots, one 5.25-inch bay. The desktop format will surely appeal to some though. As you might guess, the Nevista comes with a large number of business friendly features which will make the sysadmin smile - Advanced power management, SMART reaction, Universal Manageability Services, Keylockable cover, RFID antenna, support for RSK 3 OKI, C2 Tamper switch and lots more.

I am pretty sure that this computer will probaby be quicker than the Microtel one at most tasks.

Looking to buy some cheapo DVD-R media? Have a try at the budget range of Bigpockets.co.uk which are info-smart branded. They are selling a pack of 100 blank DVD-R for only £13.99, less than £3.50 per 25. Their top surface is branded yellow while their writing surface is purple. They support up to 4X and can store up to 4.7GB. I would also advise you to test them before buying several spindles of them and update your DVD writers' firmware. µ