Build a $250 Ubuntu PC

When we review budget computers, a phrase we commonly throw around is "just the basics." We use it to denote a PC that can handle e-mail and instant messaging, Web surfing, average office tasks (such as word processing, spreadsheets, and finance management), light photo editing, and simple print-design projects. True, these are things computers have been tackling for a long time, but the operating systems and software used to do them have become more complex, rendering a dusty, old, beige machine obsolete in a heartbeat. Even just poking around the Internet demands more processing power than it did a few years ago.

If you're still using a particularly long-in-the-tooth PC, it's likely because you don't have the money to spend on a new machine. We can appreciate that, so we pulled together a desktop that can ably handle today's average demands, built with easy-to-assemble, off-the-shelf components for a total cost of less than $250.