Complete $200 Computer for BloomTech Full Stack Web
Tags: webdev, programming, beginners, javascript
Published: 2023-02-24 05:43:57

## I receive a lot of questions about what is the cheapest computer one can use to complete a web coding bootcamp such as BloomTech.
 

### I put my money where my mouth is and give the cheapest desktop setup using used and new components I could come up with in 3 hours. I’ve set a *$200 budget*, and whatever is left over I can use for food, investing, or extra udemy courses.

#### I'll ask learners on extreme budgets a few questions
* Do they own a TV or somewhat modern monitor that’s 1080p or better? 
* Do they already have a keyboard and mouse?
* Do they have internet at home?

For this article I’m going shop as if I only have access to the 3rd item on the list. Basic DSL, Cable or Fiber internet at home, and I know their wifi password. 

### Research, Research, Research
I go visit my local Goodwill store in San Antonio (any thrift store will do, but you might need to visit more than one). What I’m looking for is a couple of monitors, video cables, power cables, and a decent name brand keyboard and mouse (logitech, microsoft, etc.). 

#### What did I find?
* $10 - HP 2009m 20” monitor
    * Cons:
        * lacks an HDMI port, but has a DVI and VGA connection
        * This is a small screen, but bigger than most laptops
        * Was completely untested, and I couldn’t find a power cable
        * no cables anywhere at this thrift store! 
    * Pros:
        * It’s really cheap and will do well to play videos, or even render web pages.
        * The resolution is a very strange “mid 2000’s” 1600x900
* $20 - LG 32LH30 32” TV
    * Cons:
        * Was completely untested, and had no cables
    * Pros:
        * it’s a 1080P version!
        * It worked once I got power to it!
        * it’s got a bunch inputs
* $5 - Random cherry brand keyboard
    * Cons:
        * “Windows 98” keyboard
        * “Classic” beige look
    * Pros:
        * Uses Cherry MX switches
        * USB keyboard
        * USB Hub built into the keyboard
* $5 - Microsoft USB laser mouse with scroll wheel
    * Cons:
        * No side scrolling
    * Pros:
        * Cheap!
        * USB Mouse
* $5  - Logitech USB Webcam
    * Cons:
        * Untested
        * It literally has no label other than logitech
    * Pros:
        * USB
        * Has a microphone
* $5 - “amplified computer speakers”
    * Cons: 
        * No label, so I have no idea who made them
    * Pros:
        * Has a power brick and cable
        * Was able to test it on my android phone, works fine, but isn’t great quality

Unfortunately the only things with cables were the keyboard and mouse. I had to take a $30 chance since there were no cables there to test the TV and monitor. Also I don’t really have any spare cables since I moved recently and got rid of my rats nest of cables. 

### Total spent on Monitor and peripherals:
*$50*

Okay, now down to the computer system
Amazon it is… I’ve got $150 but also still need cables for this computer.

I need: 
* Keep it under $100, cables can get pricy
* At least a 128 gig hard drive (preferably a M.2 drive, or one that can be upgraded)
* 8 gigs of ram
* minimum of 2 core processor
* dual monitor support that works with my ancient HP monitor and the random LG TV
* USB ports for the webcam, keyboard, mouse
* speaker port for my unknown branded speaker
* Has either wired or wireless networking

I immediately found these systems:
* $99 - ATOPNUC Celeron N4020
    * Cons:
        * 2 core CPU
        * 128GB eMMC Hard drive (slow, but faster than a hard drive from my youth)
        * Slow CPU
        * Slow CPU
        * Slow CPU
        * has 4 gigs of ram :( technically it will work, ugh it’ll be slow, not upgradable
    * Pros:
        * Has a VGA Port!
        * Has HDMI
        * Has five USB ports (2x 2.0, 2x 3.0, 1x type C)
        * Has wireless
        * has a speaker port
        * Can be upgraded to a M.2 drive
        * Windows 10 Pro license
* $95 - ATOPNUC AMD A9-9400
    * Cons:
        * slower CPU than the Celeron, but still fast enough to do what I need it to do
    * Pros:
        * Has two HDMI ports (no VGA), I guess I could get an adapter?
        * Has 8 gigs of RAM, and it’s expandable
        * Has a 128GB M.2 SSD
        * Has Dual HDMI ports
        * All of the pros of the Celeron system, minus the vga port

So I chose the ATOPNUC AMD A9-9400 even though I don’t have a second monitor that supports HDMI, maybe I should have started here before buying the peripherals and monitors

#### Total spent on the computer
$95
### Total spent on everything so far:
$145

Okay, so I only have $55 to get cables, looked around and couldn’t find any at the local thrift stores, so back to Amazon to see what I can come up to, and hopefully find an adapter for the VGA or DVI port

* $8.99 Capshi HDMI to DVI adapter cable (yeah, it wasn’t expensive)
* 2x $6.69 Amazon Basics computer monitor tv replacement power cord
* $6.99 KabelDrek 6 foot HDMI cable
* $21.13 Amazon Basics 4,500 Joule Surge Protector

#### Total spent on cables and surge protector?
$50.49
### Total spent on everything so far:
$195.49

### Okay so now that I’ve got all of this stuff, plug it into the correct ports and let’s roll!

#### How does it run?
Well… it’s slow, like really slow. I could probably spend another $100 and get something 5-10x faster level slow. 

#### Does it do everything I need it to do as a web developer? 
* yes.
* seriously it does fine
* no really it ran all of the assignments I could muster from Bloomtech

#### What specifically did it excel at? 
* absolutely nothing.
* no, really nothing at all, it’s really quite slow and mildly frustrating, but it does run

#### Will it run Crysis?
* no.
* don’t even try stardew valley
* no, not even minecraft
* okay maybe some 80’s games from gox, but this is a development box not a gaming rig

#### What aren’t you telling me?
* It will play videos at 1080p, but it can’t do much more than that at the same time. I ended up playing a lot of the videos at 720p. 
* Zoom has no background capability, but you could probably green screen it. I don’t own a green screen
* npm install is really slow on some of the projects, when I have both a server and a client running on some of the later projects the mouse movement sometimes is delayed, but not a single lock up, even on the most demanding projects.
* I didn’t run anything other than an ad blocker and windows defender so be very careful out there, stay away from websites you shouldn’t go to.

#### Software I’m using on this machine
* Windows 10 Pro (had to manually update it… no automatic updates because of a group policy)
* Defender
* AdBlock Plus free
* Chrome
* git-scm
* Visual Studio Code
    * Plugins:
        * code spell check
        * Wix import cost
        * Live Server
        * Markdown Preview
        * WakaTime
* Node 16.x
* Insomnia API
* Python 3.x

#### Would you run this as your development machine for work?
No, honestly it’s useable for learning web development, and that’s about it.

#### Okay what did you do with your extra $4.51?
Actually... Taxes ate that up... but I think if I could find those cables cheaper I could easily get some Ramen with the leftover money.