bare-bones

What kind of MP3 player will $18 buy?

From the Department of Bad Ideas: While we totally understand (and encourage) good old-fashioned price wars, they shouldn't come at the expense of basic functions. Take, for example, the "KanaSD" MP3 player from Greenhouse Japan.

The good news is that it costs about $18. The bad news is that it doesn't have any built-in memory--we're talking none. Instead, you need to get your own SD storage card, which will probably be more expensive than the player itself. Nor can we expect find video playback or a color screen at all on this low-budget device, as … Read more

Build your own Alienware PC

Alienware made an interesting announcement today with the news that, "for a limited time," you can order a bare-bones Alienware case directly from the Dell-owned boutique. Just $400 will get you the classic P2 Alienware chassis in either silver or black, complete with an electric-blue lighting kit. It does not come with the custom lighting software that lets you tie the light behavior to various applications, as found on its full-fledged systems. At $400, Alienware's case becomes one of, if not the single most expensive bare-bones kits on the market. Of course, few others look like an … Read more