Purchasing a used laptop, brand thoughts?

[GoStumpy]

I'm looking at purchasing a used laptop locally, and I have a few options.

The one with the best specs is the Acer Aspire 5738Z,Core2Duo T6600 2.2ghz CPU, 4gb DDR3, Win7, and he says a good battery. Asking $220

I don't personally like the Acer brand, and there are a couple Toshiba's for sale as well:

Toshiba Satellite A300, Core3Duo T3200 2ghz, 2GB ram, etc. $180

Toshiba Satellite L500D, Athlon x2 dual core 2.1ghz, 4gb DDR2, etc. $240

HP G61, Athlon X2 M320 2.1GHz, 3gb Ram, $250

Thoughts??? I definitely believe that Toshiba is a better brand than Acer, and will last longer... and since I'm buying an already used laptop, I think that would matter more than ever?

I wanted to go with the A300, but 2gb of DDR2 sucks. Should I suck it up with Acer and just get the one with the best specs? I'll be putting my 80GB Intel SSD into whatever laptop I buy, which is why I didn't list the HDD specs.

I'll just be using this for general browsing, youtube, online poker, etc.

Thanks for any input!

 

[JWade]

check out both dellutlet and dell financial services.

since your looking at c2d speeds here is an example:

e6400
128gb ssd
2gb ram
vista (but can easily load win7 on it)
p8600 2.4ghz

after coupon code offers20 it is 192.86 after shipping. I have had really good experiances with refurbished/off lease dells

 

[GoStumpy]

Thanks for the idea! I checked dellrefurbished.ca and there aren't any in my price range..after adding shipping the absolute cheapest one is $255.

The guy offering the Toshiba A300 and the Acer Aspire 5738Z will take my non-working (dead motherboard) for a $30 credit...so the A300 will actually be $150 (no tax no shipping ) or the Acer 5738Z would be $190 no shipping/tax.

 

[Charlie98]

You can give the A300 a little boost by upgrading the RAM. Hopefully it's just a single 2GB card and you can add another.

I'm assuming it's running XP?

 

[GoStumpy]

He says it has a fresh install of Win7... I'll have to make sure there is a CD key somewhere on the laptop to make sure it's legit

Link to the ad:

http://classifieds.castanet.net/details/for_sale_toshiba_satellite_a300_new_price_/1524135/

 

[holden j caufield]

you could spend that much or just a few more dollars and get a used business line laptop. Those acers aren't made to last. If you're around southern california let me know. One of my office rooms I've accumulated too many techy toys and laptops and the girlfriend is not happy. She wants me to clean it out by christmas.

 

[Ganiy]

It is better to look for Toshiba than Acer if you plan to buy a used laptop and upgrade the RAM. Why have you decided to buy a used one?

 

[Matt1970]

He says it has a fresh install of Win7... I'll have to make sure there is a CD key somewhere on the laptop to make sure it's legit

Link to the ad:

http://classifieds.castanet.net/details/for_sale_toshiba_satellite_a300_new_price_/1524135/

That is originally a Vista laptop. He could have got a tag from another PC/Laptop and stuck it on there but that is still a no-no. I wouldn't touch any of those personally since there are a lot of nice online Black Friday deals to be had soon.......

 

[GoStumpy]

Reason I'm looking at used is, my wife is expecting, and money is really REALLY tight right now... She'd kill me if I spent $300 on a laptop right now.. and I'm looking for something under $200 if possible.

I just lost my netbook that I've been using for the past ~3 years (beer spillage) and I want to upgrade to something just a bit bigger & faster, so I can play multiple tables of online poker.

Anything available here new (In Canada) brand new has 12% tax, and anything near my price range is another netbook. I'd like to have a real laptop (for the first time in my life, lol)

So I guess the consensus is to go with Toshiba for longevity's sake? And I'll pry into how it has Win7 too

 

[GoStumpy]

Since I'm obviously not looking for a powerhouse, nor am I looking for something to last me many years (maybe), but I'm looking for something that will last until I can save up and purchase a decent NEW laptop...

I'm currently typing on my wife's 2008 Sony Vaio with a T5750 2.0ghz CPU, 3gb ram, etc... and it's going strong now, and I don't see it dying anytime soon. Good PC's do last, when taken care of.

So perhaps I should just get a real cheap one to bridge the gap of now, with NO Laptop, to (hopefully soon) when I can afford a real one...

This seems pretty damn cheap:

http://kelowna.en.craigslist.ca/sys/4214286805.html

Processor Intel Celeron T1600 / 1.66 GHz
RAM installed size 1.0 GB
Hard Drive 160.0 GB - Serial ATA-150
Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Business
Display Type 14.1 in TFT active matrix
Max Resolution 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )
Graphics Processor Intel GMA 4500M Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0
Optical Drive DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - Integrated

$70!

 

[Matt1970]

Since I'm obviously not looking for a powerhouse, nor am I looking for something to last me many years (maybe), but I'm looking for something that will last until I can save up and purchase a decent NEW laptop...

I'm currently typing on my wife's 2008 Sony Vaio with a T5750 2.0ghz CPU, 3gb ram, etc... and it's going strong now, and I don't see it dying anytime soon. Good PC's do last, when taken care of.

So perhaps I should just get a real cheap one to bridge the gap of now, with NO Laptop, to (hopefully soon) when I can afford a real one...

This seems pretty damn cheap:

http://kelowna.en.craigslist.ca/sys/4214286805.html

Processor Intel Celeron T1600 / 1.66 GHz
RAM installed size 1.0 GB
Hard Drive 160.0 GB - Serial ATA-150
Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Business
Display Type 14.1 in TFT active matrix
Max Resolution 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )
Graphics Processor Intel GMA 4500M Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0
Optical Drive DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - Integrated

$70!

Anything after windows XP will suffer with one 1GB of ram so bare minimum you will need to buy a 1GB stick, maybe 2 if it currently has 2x512.

 

[GoStumpy]

Yeah, I agree. I just opened task manager with Vista on my wife's computer and just having one browser open and one poker client it was already at 1.36gb used....

There are some used ddr2 locally I might be able to score for pretty cheap, but yeah, 1gb will NOT do.

 

[GoStumpy]

Well apparently he put 2gb in it, and still only wants $70... so I'm going to take a look at it tomorrow, if all goes well I think I found my dirt cheap intermediate laptop

 

[s44]

Chromebook

 

[Torn Mind]

The benefit of forced obsolescence due rapid innovation in laptops is that yesterday's rich boys' toys are today's affordable(and still usable) used laptops. Go for the "old" high-end. You won't regret it.

You could get a used/refurb Dell Precision laptop with a 1900x1200 IPS screen from Ebay.

Example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-PRECIS...11989772?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item5af83fd60c
If buying on Ebay, make sure to ask them about screen resolution, RAM, dell serial or part numbers, etc so you don't get something underwhelming.

Or you can get a Thinkpad T61 or later for they keyboards and reliability; the Flexview IPS screens are better than their cheaper option, so ask the seller if it has that.

 

[GoStumpy]

Couldn't pass it up... traded him non-working laptop that was given to me and $40 for the Acer Extensa 4230...

Total cost = $40

 

[GoStumpy]

After using it for a full day, I have to say, this has been the deal of the year for me It runs poker clients beautifully, it runs my database / HUD smoothly, and I didn't even put my SSD in it yet.

It runs cool, very cool.. With 6 tables running and my HUD, it's 46C.. my wife's Sony is at 60C just sitting there! Good sign. I didn't realize the Extensa series was more aimed towards the business line than consumer-grade, I guess that's why it's still here and in perfect condition

Pic:

Only downside I can see is the battery is toast... it'll last maybe 15 minutes, tops, before it shuts down. Just enough to be able to move it from room to room and plug it in without having to shut it down every time.

Battery is available for $40 shipped, too, which is awesome. My wife's Sony Vaio battery was over $100!

Sorry for posting again, just happier than heck at the deal I got

 

[Torn Mind]

What CPU does that laptop have? You can find used C2D CPUs for cheap on Ebay. Just make sure the chips are compatible.

 

[GoStumpy]

Celeron T1600 1.66ghz dual core


Good idea, never thought about that.. I wonder how fast I could go'

-edit-

Doesn't seem like it'll be worth the upgrade, marginal performance increase as far as I can tell.. Even a T7200 is a ~10% increase.

 

[Torn Mind]

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...-4230-4630-travelmate-4730-owners-lounge.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...e-pics-56k-warning-nifty-surprise-inside.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har.../334009-gl40-chipset-cpu-compatibility-6.html

Not much documentation on which CPUs are exactly compatible.

The Core 2 Duo numbering scheme is rather confusing. It is not easy to tell which is the older gen(Merom) and which is the newer gen(Penryn) based on the numbering scheme.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penryn_(microprocessor)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merom_(microprocessor)
I think the T6400 for $3.30 on Ebay would be a worthy try. Low risk, high reward.

 

[ZGR]

I had an old Dell Inspiron with a single core 2.0 GHz Celeron. Got a Core 2 Duo on eBay for $23 and it was Very easy to replace. Just plan ahead and get some thermal paste.

 

[GoStumpy]

Something I will look at later on, for sure..

Would you think upgrading to 4gb ram is more important?



Either way, buying a new battery will be higher on my list than the performance upgrades..

http://www.amazon.ca/Battpitt-trade-Notebook-Replacement-4230-2818/dp/B004DZDZ2I

 

[Charlie98]

I upgraded both my old Dell laptops with better processors, it did make a difference... it also made them run hotter.

I just swapped out the old WD spinner with a Samsung SSD in the AMD machine... honest to goodness, it's like a new machine! It almost makes buying a new battery worth it (her's is toast, too... about 20 minutes.)

 

[Torn Mind]

Something I will look at later on, for sure..

Would you think upgrading to 4gb ram is more important?



Either way, buying a new battery will be higher on my list than the performance upgrades..

http://www.amazon.ca/Battpitt-trade-.../dp/B004DZDZ2I

4 GB of RAM would be good. Gives the machine room to "breathe" if you have a bunch of tabs open in a web browser like Chrome.

Battery life would be improve even by upgrading to a Pentium, I think, since Speedstep is not on C2D Celeron chips. Of course, servicing a laptop requires a bunch of steps, so no rush to upgrade the CPU if you don't feel the need right now.