Compaq offers 500B, 505B budget desktop PCs; start at $359

HP on Tuesday announced its Compaq 500B and 505B microtower business desktop PCs, intended for small businesses on a budget.

The 500B (pictured at top) starts at $359 and nets you Windows 7 Professional (or XP Pro, or Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11), Intel Pentium dual-core or Celeron processors, up to 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM (1333Mhz), 160GB SATA 7,200 RPM hard drive (up to 500GB), a DVD-ROM drive (writer optional), Intel GMA 3100 graphics (Nvidia GeForce G210 or ATi Radeon HD 4350 optional) and 802.11 b/g/n.

In addition to one 5.25 in. and one 3.5 in. drive bays, the 500B offers eight USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 rear, 2 on motherboard), RJ-45 port, VGA port, audio in and out on front and back and a microphone port.

The 505B (pictured at right) distinguishes itself with AMD Athlon II dual, triple or quad core processors and integrated Nvidia GeForce 6150SE graphics by default.

The 500B will start at $359 and the 505B will start at $409. Both will be available Oct. 22.