Laptops/notebooks

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mikesduster

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im thinking of getting a used LAPTOP but i have NO CLUE what im looking for!!!!....gigabytes,ram,hard drive,disk space,and whatever else there is.

can someone HELP me out??...i know a pentium 4 is good but besides that,IM LOST!!!
im looking on ebay and for a price lower then $250.00 oh yeah,what kind to buy??..dell,gateway,ibm??

thanks guys!!!
 
Hate to say it, but Dell is the AMC of the CPU world. A toshiba is a much better machine, they make better system boards and use their own hard drives and CDRWs/ DVD drives that Dells steals.

Also they speak english and have better customer service.

I know because I do this for a living!

I would get a modern CORE2 DUO even the best buy units with a least one gig of RAM and wireless all come with DVDRW drives and 15.4 screens with a 120 gig Hard drive and a nice display in the $800-900 range.
 
He only wants to spend $250

BTW I've found Dell customer service to be very polite and helpful, and English speaking.
 
I've had a Dell Latitude for 2 1/2 yrs, it's the companies, and I'm on it now. This thing hasn't missed a beat and it's been through the ringer. What with getting bounced around in the overhead compartments in airplanes and car trunks and it's been through at least 75 xray machines it's been really good.

Terry
 
I have a dell inspiron 9300 for about a year and a half, and it is hands down the best machine I have ever owned.

if you are going to buy one, get top of the line, with as much RAM and HS storage as possible, unless you do not plan to hold on to it for a long time.
 
im looking at a IBM THINKPAD with Pentium 4,1.8 GHz,512MB ram, 40GB hard drive, windows XP PRO, DVD+/- RW and comes with a BRAND NEW 54M wireless adapter and a BRAND NEW case.
and a 14" screen,

any good??
 
i I understand where you guys are coming from wth the dell coments. But I see 10-15 PCs a day and have worked at companies that purchase 2-3k units a year. They just are not the best PC for the money and all tech support and parts are out sourced. Also when a part fails they send the hard drive etc to the customer, want you to install it and it is a refurb. On a toshiba it is sent to them and a new part is installed and all data when possible is backed up.

IBM sold to Lenevo in china 2 years ago too.

good luck..

sorry
 
I am pretty much a computer idiot, but my mother works with and sells computers for a living. I would not buy something like that on ebay, or used. What if you have problems with it? If it were me, I would save to get one from a place that warrantees them. Up here in Vancouver Canada she deals with Staples. If there is a problem, she drops it off to have it repaired. No hassles. Try that with a used computer from ebay. Just trying to help out.
 
mikesduster said:
im looking at a IBM THINKPAD with Pentium 4,1.8 GHz,512MB ram, 40GB hard drive, windows XP PRO, DVD+/- RW and comes with a BRAND NEW 54M wireless adapter and a BRAND NEW case.
and a 14" screen,

any good??
Click to expand...

this a used puter? cuz all the new ones come with vista.

how much is this for? IBM thinkpads have a good history. The only thing I would desire personally is more ram at least a gig and a larger hard drive.

however it all depends on what you are going to do with it as to how it needs to be spec'd out.
 
I have a Compaq Presario 2100 (HP) that I bought new for $625 from Fry's Electronics. I've had it for about 1.5 years so far, and it's a great laptop. It's a larger laptop, but that's OK, because I can't type on a little toy keyboard.

Dell's have never impressed me. My work bought a bunch of them a few short years ago, and they haven't held up for crap. They are used in equipment rooms, clean enviroments (no air plane trips, or even rides to the house) and they still break regularly.

Toshiba, Compaq/HP and Fujitsu all make good laptops. There is nothing "wrong" with buying a used laptop, just be prepared to fix some things. Seeing you can get a decent NEW laptop for $600 or less, I would save a few extra pennies and go that route. The only downside is that it's very hard to find a new 'puter that isn't running Vista *gag*.
 
You prob do better with Dell if you customize it with higher end stuff. I bought mine as a desktop replacement, I use it as my main computer for gaming and everything.

Works great, no complaints so far.

Inspiron E1705

Intel Core Duo
1 GiG Ram
120 Gig HD
17 inch wide screen
Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GS
1500 Draft N wireless

$1400 Delivered to my door.
 
Check around your town for discount electronic places. They usually have 2-3 year old notebooks in decent shape/quality for cheap. Here in Austin,TX we have a place called Mr. Notebook and all they do is refurbish/repair/sell used notebooks. Usually starting at $150.

Greg
 
I have never had internet drama or "started something" but I do want to add my two cents to this since you asked. This has been my experience with Dell.

We bought two Dell's.

The first one lasted 3 1/2 years and when it died under warranty it took two months, and 30 plus phone calls and it is still not correct. I personally think that it was so old they couldn't easily fix it. My wife is an online student and it put us in a bind to put it mildly. Fortunately much of it was over X-mas break but it still made for long hours on the phone.

My new one that was less than a year old had an issue. 3 weeks door to door and it was fixed. No real complaints there.

A co-worker has three broken ones at home that are recently broken and has given up on repairing them.

I was quite enamored with the Dell's. Due to the atrocious customer service etc. I will not darken that doorway again.

On a lighter note, mine is a bit over a year old and for what I paid, it does well I guess.

I like the idea of going to Staples or something for repairs. I would not want to handle all of that on the phone ever again. Ever!

My wife converted to the dark side and went Apple. Wow! Nice stuff but big bucks.

So long as you don't need repairs or something, Dell does have some decent buys.

Just my two cents, ROB
 
Are any of you guys running vista? I have vista ultimate in my 15.4 inch Intel Core dual with 2 gigs of ram and a 120 gb hard drive. with vista and all the fun stuff inside my computer flies. It was a little more on the expensive side to get the ultimate but its great. Any problems with yours?
 
i need help....how does this look??

Item Specifics - PC Laptops
Brand: Dell Hard Drive Capacity: 30 GB
Family: Latitude Screen Size: 14 inches
Processor Type: Intel Pentium M, Centrino Operating System: Windows 2000
Processor Model: -- Primary Drive: CD-RW/DVD Combo
Processor Speed: 1.4 GHz Condition: Used
Memory (RAM): 512 MB
 
what does this mean???....i need an answer asap.
thanks.

Everything working great but you have to change back light. the LCD panal still works as new.
 
heres the laptop im looking at...does it look ok to you guys??

Intell Pentium Centrino M 1.6GHz
Microsoft Windows XP Home
15.4” Widescreen
768MB RAM
60GB Hard Drive
DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
USB 2.0 x4
1394 Firewire
PCMCIA Slot
SD Memory Slot
Svideo
VGA
 
that one looks good to me. i guess i am a bigger fan of AMD processors over the pentium centrino, but if you are just going to use this for browsing/document work it would be a great pick i think.
 
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