Budget Computer Deal: Vostro 220s & Monitor for $359

If you're looking for a cheap deal on a PC, check out this budget computer system discount from Dell Small Business. Buy a Dell Vostro 220s Slim Tower PC with a 19" LCD monitor for only $359 after a $300 discount from instant savings.

This is a nice computer system for running business software, productivity applications and accessing the Internet. Plus a few relatively cheap upgrades can make this budget computer system even better.

The following are some of the included features at the starting price.

• 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (3M L2 Cache, 1066 FSB)
• Windows Vista Home Basic with Service Pack 1
• Dell S1909WXF 19" Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor
• 2GB Dual Channel 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
• 16X DVD-ROM Drive
• 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with DataBurst Cache
• Integrated Intel GMA X4500HD Video
• Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio
• Integrated PCIe Gb NIC Ethernet
• USB Keyboard and Optical USB Mouse

If you're on a super tight budget and want to go with the cheapest system possible, you can't get a computer and monitor for much less than $359. On the other hand, if you have a little more to spend, you can choose some upgrades that are a good value. Browse the following for improvement ideas to the base configuration that can make this budget computer system more powerful–and therefore one that will last longer before you need to upgrade again.

This budget PC doesn't come with any office productivity software. You can add Microsoft Works 9.0 for just $10, or step up to MS Office Basic 2007 (which includes Word, Excel and Outlook) for just $149. You may also want to upgrade the operating system to Vista Home Premium for just $29.

It comes with an S1909WXF 19" monitor, but you can upgrade to the 21.5" Dell S2209W monitor for just $40. It is a good upgrade, because this 22" LCD monitor (21.5" viewable) supports Full HD resolution in widescreen format.

Another good peripheral option is to add the Dell 1230c Color Laser Printer for just $99. Yes, 99 bucks for a COLOR laser printer. This is $130 off the regular price of $229.

As for the PC hardware, the base CPU is pretty good. If you want something faster, you can upgrade to an 3.0GHz Intel E8400 with 6MB of cache and 1333MHz FSB for $60. For $30 you can upgrade from 2GB to 3GB of memory. For $30 you can upgrade to a 16X DVD+-RW burner.

As for hard drives, you can increase the capacity from 160GB to 250GB for just $10. It is $50 to go up to 320GB. Another option is to keep the 160GB primary drive and add a secondary 160GB hard drive for just $40. This gives a combined capacity of 320GB.