[lug] Looking for a laptop...

[Bear Giles]

I just bought a system from Dell Financial Services -- they refurbish 
laptops coming back from leases and sell them.  There's a 100 day 
warranty, plus whatever is left on the original manufacturer's 
warranty.  It's not expensive either -- I'm using a system identical to 
my system at work (2 GHz, 2 GB, 80 GB) and it only cost $450.  The main 
trick is watching for discount codes on consumerist.com -- there's 
usually a 25% discount once or twice a month.

You'll have to put in your own HD, if you need a 250 GB drive.

Overall I think it's a nice balance between risk and cost.  Craigslist 
might be cheaper, but you won't have any warranty.  The system may die 
in 100 days, but even if it does you could replace for less than the 
cost of a single new laptop.

Stephen Queen wrote:
>> My requirements for a used laptop:
>> 1 Ghz processor
>> expandable to 2 gig of memory
>> support for 250gig hard drive.  ;-)
>> Support for running Windows XP and Ubuntu 8.x via dual booting.
>> touchpad.  (I can't use a touchpoint worth a damn.  It's ok to have both)
>> graphics better than 1024x768.
>>
>> My budget is around $500.  I'd like to go new but I have other priorities
>> and I need something in the next week or so, not the 3-4 weeks a new one
>> would take.
>>
>>     
> I've watched the craigslist off and on for used computers/laptops. The
> thing that always stuck me is that most of the people selling used
> computers tried to tie the value of their computer to the purchase
> price, not to what a comparable computer is selling for new,
> presently.
>
> About a year and a half ago, I purchased an "open box" laptop from
> Tigerdirect for around $500. It was an Acer, I forgot the model
> number, and I was fairly happy with it. The keyboard wasn't the
> greatest, but then it was only about $500. It was purchased as an
> experiment at work, and is still kicking around the lab being used as
> a terminal for embedded projects.
>
> I just recently read that there are going to be some good deals on
> computers in the next few months as dealers try to reduce their
> inventory in a bad economy before the end of the year.
>
> My $0.02.
>
> Steve
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