[lug] CPU comparisons

[Paul E Condon]

On Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 04:59:52PM -0600, Nate Duehr wrote:
> 
> On Oct 29, 2007, at 7:32 PM, Steve Sullivan wrote:
> 
> >On Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 05:21:37PM -0600, Nate Duehr wrote:
> >>Servers are getting like cars... let someone else take the ridiculous
> >>depreciation hit and buy them from the secondary market, with the  
> >>rack
> >>rails still attached, and all of their markup gone.  Let some
> >>corporate loon with a budget that's not monitored closely for return
> >>on investment buy the new ones and wait for the fire sale.
> >
> >OK, being a neophyte in how and where to purchase, I'll ask...
> >
> >Do you also purchase laptops and workstations on the secondary market?
> 
> Nah, they get too beat up.  Especially laptops.
> 
> >Where would you find a secondary market for servers / workstations /  
> >laptops ...
> >ebay?  Craigs list?
> 
> I mostly have hunted eBay when I needed something.
> 
> >How do you make sure there aren't hidden flaws, like cracked boards
> >that fail once things warm up, or that just cause random system hangs?
> 
> Not to be a smart-aleck, but it's used... you don't.  Caveat Emptor.
> 
> Of course, I've had brand new stuff come out of the box not working,  
> too... over the years...
> 

I recently purchased a Gateway E-3200 with 256MB ram but no HD for $45
from Action Computers in Arvada. I already own some HDs saved from
other computers that have died. For prices like this, worry about
'getting your money back if it doesn't work' really isn't an issue,
IMO. (Such boxes are still useful for home firewalls, print servers,
etc. ) 

Interesting piece of info - the salesman said that it is illegal for
them to sell a used computer with a hard disk in Colorado.  He said it
was to protect private information of the former owner. He said that
they must remove the HD and physically crush it. I wonder...  If there
really is such a law, I wonder what hand the lobbyists for the HD
industry had in getting it passed. But HD are so cheap now that its
hard to believe the manufacturers have budget for lobbyists.

-- 
Paul E Condon           
pecondon at mesanetworks.net