newbie: advice on buying a sun ultra 10

[Guest_imported]

Hi
I'v been meaning to ditch my PC and convert completly(hardware and software) to unix.
I'v seen a few ultra 10's on ebay going for prices that I can afford.
My main use will be for office stuff(been using staroffice on windows), browsing the net, mp3's and learning java.
Does any one have any advice such as things to look for and things to avoid.

thanks

 

[lfoata]

Sun Ultra 10 is a good machine, But if your goal is to run Startoffice (or Open Office), browsing the net and listening to mp3s, I strongly suggest you get a new PC for cheaper than a Sun Box and run Linux on it.
You will get faster processors and is easier to manage (especially Mandrake).
We have done testing for floating point calculations and the Intel processors perform better than the Sun. Too bad I.T. is not cash business

Luc Foata
Unix sysadmin, Oracle DBA