PC prices dropped 15 percent during the first nine months of 1998, and are expected to drop even more. Several manufacturers are promoting consumer models for the Christmas season priced at $500 with business PCs priced at $910 or less scheduled for release shortly thereafter. Low-end business machines may drop down to $500 by the end of the first quarter of 1999 according to Computer Reseller News, a major trade publication. The low-cost business machines are likely to use older-generation components, especially sub-300 MHz processor boards. What almost all of the business PCs will have is a network interface card (NIC). There are likely to be options which will bring the price up, however, so libraries should not budget anything less than $1,250 for a minimally configured machine.
https://librarytechnology.org/document/5846/