Input wanted to buy a used laptop

Bovon · April 14th, 2005, 08:25 PM

Hello and thanks for dropping by.

First off, I hate to ask general questions like this because I realize everybody has a favorite make/model etc.

I have an older family member (late 50's) that wants a "decent" used laptop.

I have absolutely no clues at all... I owned one Dell P-100 a few years back...but thats it. Today, the market is flooded with used Laptops. I just did a search at eBay for "Dell Laptop" and got 103 pages of hits back. Besides that, I don't even know what she wants.

Here is what I am thinking...find something between 800 Mhz and 1.4 Ghz, about 128 to 256 MB RAM, and a 20 mb hard drive, a CD/DVD drive and a floppy drive. She wants Windows 98se on it...which is no biggie as I can wipe the drive and load Win98SE pretty easy..if it has the drives.

There will not be any gaming. E-mail when at their farm place for a week or so, and just general text type stuff.

I don't even know what make or model to start looking at...she said the other day that she had seen a laptop in Radio Shack for some ridiculously low price...heck... I didn't even know Rat Shack even had laptops now.

If anybody has any suggestions for a brand (both good brands and bad brands...to stay away from) will be appreciated.

She would like to buy one for around $350 to $400 bucks..not more than $500 tops.

Thanks..

Xtreeme · April 14th, 2005, 08:43 PM

Our Walmart did have a athlon XP one for $450 NEW. Might look there. Um, for $300 or so used you can get something that will do what she needs. But these are proprietary, which means if a part goes, it maybe hard to replace it. With new at least you have a few years of safety in that way. And one year replacement on parts.

Since Ive just fixed a few lappy's Ill tell you which to NOT get. Any dell or gateway. Ive fixed more then a few, all the same problem. The power jack breaks easily. And then you have to completely tear the lappy down to bare bones, empty case. Solder the new jack on (no problem for you). Then reassemble. Its a pain more then a problem. Last one I did gateway told customer no fix-buy a new one. I did the job for $75 and he was a happy camper! hehe. The parts supplier I go to had 25 of these on order already if that tells you something. They fit both gateway and dell. The metal block that supports the jack only goes 50% around it. So its twists and tweaks till it breaks. Oh and there is a huge gap between the jack and the case, you don't notice till its apart.

Personally Ive used Toshiba laptops for years. Grade A+ stuff. Never a problem. Heck I have a p1 Toshiba satellite here still runs to this day! Id look at them, especially if going used.

SpaceSquad · April 14th, 2005, 09:33 PM

yep all I can say is toshiba makes some fine laptops. I have a toshiba satellite myself, very pleased with it. Ebay does have a large selection, so I would say try there to save some money. A lot of local places jack up the price substancially no matter how old it is. A year ago, I saw some dell P3 700MHz for like almost 600 dollars! I walked right out of that store lol.

Bovon · April 14th, 2005, 11:03 PM

Exactly the kind of info I wanted!.. thanks a bunch guys.. I will start looking at Toshiba's...

Is Toshiba a "name brand"?... similar to Dell, Gateway, IBM etc. etc.?

Seems like I have had a Toshiba CD ROM drive a few years ago...same people?..

Xtreeme · April 14th, 2005, 11:06 PM

"Is Toshiba a "name brand"?... similar to Dell, Gateway, IBM etc. etc.?

Seems like I have had a Toshiba CD ROM drive a few years ago...same people?.."

Yep, same co. Its name brand. They are good at about everything. Their cdroms are great too.

yohon125 · April 14th, 2005, 11:17 PM

had a toshiba vcr back in the day. wow. vcr lol

HeadBand · April 14th, 2005, 11:52 PM

yeah there are often some good after rebate deals at the local stores...this is the best i can find right now but i have seen them for $349 before
http://officedepot.crossmediaservice...8&L2CatID=5209

otherwise check out the refurb pIIIs here
http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=NBB#PentiumIII
the ibm for $461 looks good

zynot · April 14th, 2005, 11:58 PM

Yea I just registered here, but i have the same problem! This is insane. I have searched google for this problem and found this site. This is the best I could find towards fixing the problem. So far I believe its a worm passed through email. This all started when I opened a blank email from a friend titled "I just recieved this." I opened an attachment that passed through Norton and bam 15 minutes later here i am. lol if you can help I'd sure appreciate it everyone! If you need to contact me the email is lil_man2002us@yahoo.com THANKS!

Bovon · April 15th, 2005, 12:34 AM

zynot...Welcome to TECHimo!!

We are not sure what your problem is..but it would appear your problem has nothing to do with this thread.

All problems, requests etc. require a new thread be started for that individual problem...so, if you will..begin a new thread for yourself.. you will get better assistance that way.

Remember as you continue to visit here, it is considered rude to "hijack" a thread...this is where you locate a thread that is ongoing about a problem similar or the same as you have..and you jump in asking questions about your problem, taking the emphasis away from the original problem. Start your own thread even if the problem is identical..you will get tons of help that way..

Xtreeme · April 15th, 2005, 02:00 AM

hello and welcome aboard. Yep, wed be gald to help. Just as he said, start a new thread. If you dont know how that is understandable. Were not chewing you out just pointing out how it works. Go to the main forum page. Where it lists categories. Go to "general tech" or "app and operating systems". Either fits your problem. Once you enter that thread you will see at top it says new post. Hit that button and then post a good description and your porblem in the title part. Describe like "virus problem" or something in the title. Youll get alot of help that way. Then in the context area type your problem.