Jack Bruss wrote:
> We're looking for a low cost system - I'm thinking around $300 - $400.

With that price, you'd have to salvage a lot of parts.

And at 8 years old, the list is short.

Maybe:
Case, Kinda depends, You'll have to look.

Yes:
modem
sound card, if PCI
Ethernet card if PCI.
Optical drives, yes, but they're aging

No
Hard drive (aging, and the new standard is SATA, not IDE)
RAM, now DDR, not pc 100/133.
Processor.
Motherboard.
Power supply
Video card (new standard is PCIe, not AGP)

At that price you're better off buying a budget PC. But avoid the
emachines. They're a false economy, as they don't live that long.

Another way to obtain a newer PC at that price is secondhand, check
EBAY, some pretty powerful systems can be had at that price. Just pay
attention to what you're buying.

Dell, and some of the other manufacturers sell refurbished PCs, and
scratch and dent new ones at a good price, too. So check that out.