When my old P120 finally started to sputter, I shopped around for a replacement. I decided to go with an Athlon chip and found the Pogo Altura info online after a search. Their online customization page let me try out different configurations to find the one I wanted. I checked elsewhere (online and off) for comparable systems and found that it was pretty competitive.

I took the advice of an earlier reviewer here and opted mostly for the basic setup; I only chose upgrades where they would really count, like in the processor speed (750M) and RAM (256M). The result was a really powerful machine for same amount I spent on my old Pentium.

I've set up quite a few Linux machines (Redhat, Slackware, & Debian), so I could have done the config myself, but it was a real treat to get a new system, plug everything in, and start working right away. I decided to go for the Windows98 dual boot and VMWare's "Winux" software. The VMWare setup can be a real bear, so it was also nice to have it done and waiting to be used. Finally, I learned that they spend a couple days testing each system before they ship it. It adds a few days of waiting but it's worth it for the peace of mind.

Since I started shopping, the price has stayed pretty constant, but the choices in configuration have increased -- 3 choices of Linux distribution, etc. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a really powerful Linux system as a desktop machine or server.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1965
Operating System: Linux
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: 701-800
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: Zip Drive
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20