I'm not sure any of the above know exactly what they're talking about - I'm not trying to insult, I just think there's a big misconception. Intel is the leader in manufacturing at the moment, but it doesn't mean you have to buy one. Just to let it be known I'm an Intel-owner, but you should know that AMD price matches Intel based on performance of their chips and in many cases AMD is cheaper for the same performance. AMD isn't the leader anymore, but they still make procs from the mid-to-lower market that provide very similar performance.
The site listed the computer at 329 pounds, not 400, so it may be better than you expected. As others have said these are mid-low line parts. Intel is getting ready to release a new proc, which means sales are starting. Not to mention SSD hard drives are gaining interest in the enthusiast community with Intel's nicer random-write capabilities; prices for Hard Drives in general are coming down - especially with the new production economies. Throw in the fact that HP is what DELL used to be for cheap computers and you have low prices.
I think the biggest reason this is *cheap* - I say it loosely because that's still almost $700 USD - is because it's a business machine with NO MONITOR and monitors take up a big portion of the price. Go to ibuypower.com and see how cheap a top of the line computer can be at the moment - it's amazing.
Remember, a computer is made of:
- Processor
- Video card
- RAM
- Motherboard
- Case+Fans
- Power Supply
I tried to price the list from high to low price, but each category fluctuates based on what you're buying. Business machines use cheap, mass produced cases. Usually, basic motherboards, decent ram, mid-level video cards, but decent procs.
