Buying a used laptop.

[Skunkworks]

Im considering buying a used laptop. I will buy it through the classifieds, so I probably won't have that much time to try it.

Any good advice on what to look for? I thought about bringing a benchmark/utilities program to try to check whats really inside. My main concern is the screen, how do I check it?

Any advice?

/skunks

[SLF 999]

Screens tend to either work or not, if it looks ok with the Laptop on then it is working correctly, just look out for colour blotches on it and try to look at it with a white background, eg an open word doc this will show up any problems.
One thing to look out for is battery, as these tend to degrade after about 18 months and new ones are expensive eg £100 +
Its worth looking about and seeing what model you like and then check up on price of parts, memory etc so that if you want to upgrade then at least you have an idea of costs.

[PPRuNe Towers]

Here in the UK prices are collapsing. Plenty of new TFT screened units at around the 630 GBP mark plus local taxes. Very capable machines unless you are working in an extremely specialised area.

Wise council above from SLF. Batteries (Nicad), Screens, tubes illuminating them and type/brand specific memory makes repair and upgrading a very tricky and expensive proposition.

There's a war out there in the PC world as markets slump. True bargains abound - they're brand new and guaranteed.

[Skunkworks]

Well, what Im looking for is at least a PIII, 128mb with a 14"TFT. A new computer with this type of performance still seems to be quite expensive.

I only want to spend around 1000 euros.

I have been offered a Dell Latitude CPx PIII 750mhz, 128mb, 17gb, CD, 14"TFT for approx. 900 euros. It seems like a good offer, what do you think? Has anyone used this model?

/skunks

[Wrongstuff]

For what it's worth, I have 2 Latitude's. One is an old P1 233 about 4 years old in almost constant use and never so much as coughed once. The other a P3 700mhz,bought six months ago that so far has been totally reliable. Have a look on the dell website in the second hand section it will give you a good idea of it's worth.My only real complaint is the outer plastic case feels fragile, compared to say a Compaq. The P111 has been so good that I sold off my desktop and bought a docking station,releases a huge amount of desk space.Last thing it's not light weight compared to some like the Sony, so it makes you thing about lugging it around to far.One other thing I never carry it around in the bag supplied by Dell or any other bag that looks remotely like a lapcase bag, I've met so many folk over the years that have been relieved of them, if you get my drift.

[Slasher]

Skunks unfortunatley buying a used laptop is throwing good money away in my opinion. What was top notch 3 years ago is now aging junk that will be unable to cope with the new programs and software that will be forced down our throats in a few short years time.
My advice is to save your loot and buy the best top of the range machine of today you can possible afford. By this I mean your looking at a 1 gig processer with at least 256k ram and a minimum of 10-15 meg HDD with a DVD.
Buying one now would maybe set you back quite a lot of money but at least in 5 years time it will still be of very good use and cope well in 2006.
Just look at computers like cars. Buying an old hack (always in the garage, spare part problems, etc) every 2 years is more expensive than buying a late-model that can last you 5 to 10 years.

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

I bought an ancient Toshiba with a 486 II, a Global Infinity modem card and 32mb about a year back for £60 from the back of a oub car park - well actually it was behind a hangar...

It was - the story goes - from a 'mate' who offloads IT equipment for ICI.

I asked few questions.

It worked like a trooper and got very little love or cleaning from me.

Then one night recently the house was hit by lightning and the poor little Tosh got roasted. Cue the man who doesn't make dramas out of crisis... one week later a brand new Toshiba Satellite Pro with all the bells and whistles worth about £1,100 retail.

I'm not suggesting an immoral insurance scam - I could hardly have faked the lightning strike - but my overall experience of old laptop buying was good.

Try www.loot.com (http://www.loot.com) and if you are prepared to go out to pubs and not ask questions then you can get some fantastic deals. This does of course fuel future crime.

WWW

[Sidestick]

Hi there! For what it's worth I bought a 2nd hand IBM Thinkpad Laptop about a year ago and it's great: rugged (stands up well to pounding in a Flight Bag), fairly slim and lightweight. Cost around £550 for a machine that was only 5months old.

Useful note: IBM T/pads have a 3 year transferrable Warranty and by typing in the serial number of your particular machine on the IBM www, you can check the machine's background history -- useful for those back-of-the-pub transactions. Also the machine has a fairly quick built in self-test routine which checks just about every conceivable aspect of it- again handy before you hand over the cash.

I bought mine from a guy in Glasgow who specialises in reconditioned/refurbished laptops: Laptops Direct tel 0800-0523548. Ref - Tom Lee. Most of his machines are IBM castoffs from their factory up the road at Greenock. Trustworthy and very helpful. Mention me (not meant to sound arrogant !) & your aviation interest & he'll be pleased to help you out.

regards, Peter Jackson

[crystal ball]

I have a Toshiba 2710DVD notebook for sale, PentiumIII 500mhz speed step etc, 56kmodem, 14" TFT screen floppy drive,10 gig HD restoration disk etc, also included in package is Office 2000 Professional, HP Laserjet 6L printer and Iomega 250 ZIP USB backup. A small problem is that I live in Aussie and asking $2600 the lot, I think thats under 1000 pounds sterling. Will take it to YMML if anyone interested. In show imaculate condition, 18 months to run on extended warranty.