Special Caveats for Picking Up a Laptop on Ebay?

[Huntsman]

Been thinking I really need a laptop (for surfing SF at lunch and eBaying/email on the road), but will run $1.4k+ tx if I do the Dell/Compaq/Hp/Sony route. I'm a desktop guy, so that's not appealing. Did see some interesting systems on eBay though, but am pretty wary. All I really want is XPPro, Office (incl PowerPoint), and the ability to plug the thing into my cell/catch a hotspot to connect to the Web. 1GB Ram, 1.6G Core Duo, 60GB HDD would be nice, but not necessary.

So what, should I expect to get at least the original OS/important software on disk? Or do they not really come like that from the OEM anymore? Anything else? Should I expect to want to wipe the thing if it's not NIB? Of course the usual eBay stuff applies...

Thanks,
Huntsman

 

[Bergdorf Goodwill]

Huntsman,

I would personally be wary of large electronics purchases on eBay, because if someone is out to rip others off that is likely the way to go about it so that a base of negatives and complaints and disputes does not appear. I know I have read about scams being run on people.

It might be a better idea to take a look at your local craigslist if you don't mind a laptop that's got a couple of months' wear. Let the early adopter nerd eat the initial depreciation and you've got a nearly new system.

 

[DNW]

eBay is an okay place to get a laptop. That's where I got mine. Three things to consider: seller's reputation, remaining warranty, form of payment. First, I would NEVER buy from a guy with less than 1,000 recent feedbacks when it comes to this (learned this the hard way while buying my own laptop over a year ago). Secondly, make sure the remaining warranty is still full. You can do this by asking for the laptop's serial number and go on the manufacturer's website to check. Though I didn't know at the time, I got a 4 year in-home IBM service warranty without asking for it. This is by itself a few hundred bucks' worth. Lastly, fund your paypal with a credit card--with Amex preferrably. Paypal will **** you over if the seller decides to defraud you and withdraw all his funds. When this happened to me, I called my Amex rep and the matter was resolved without me having to pay for anything. I would've been out of 2 grands if things were left to Paypal or eBay.

 

[WN2]

Never, ever buy a used laptop unless you're buying it from your and/or get it practically free. The hard drive and battery especially are the problems, both of which can be in any condition. I just bought a brand new Fujitsu Siemens laptop with all the necessarities but nothing special for 599€, I'd imagine you can get one in the US for the same dollar amount or less. You get up to 3 years of warranty and all the other nice things too.

 

[mack11211]

I gambled and won, then lost.

My seller had a feedback rating of about 6 but I suspected he was just a young geek with ESL issues, which was true.

Computer, Sony VAIO, was in fine shape. Some of the bootleg software didn't work tho'

Problem was 11 months later then I took the laptop outside, and the thing caught a chill and died. Condensation issues on the motherboard, said the techie.

Since it was a used machine there was no warranty of any kind. Sony doesn't sell parts to others, so it can name its price for repairs. Repair cost made buying a new laptop, that is really new with warranty, the better deal.

 

[Huntsman]

So the consensus is you can get a deal if you're really, really careful and quite lucky, but the odds are against you. Ok.

 

[briancl]

Just watch some of the deal sites (fatwallet, for example) for a good Dell laptop deal. They may not be the absolute best, but for the price, you can't beat them.

 

[whacked]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Been thinking I really need a laptop (for surfing SF at lunch and eBaying/email on the road), but will run $1.4k+ tx if I do the Dell/Compaq/Hp/Sony route.

I'd suggest you check the prices again. It doesn't look like you need a laptop with all the latest bell n' whistles (fastest Core 2 Duo available, >=2 GB RAM or a cutting-edge graphic card...) for those purposes; a middle-of-the-road configuration (Core Duo/mainstream Core 2 Duo + 1GB RAM + 100GB HDD..) would suffice. Look into dealsites (www.slickdeals.net gets my recommendation) for coupons and such; you'd be surprised with what you can get for ~$900 from Dell/HP/Acer/Toshiba...

 

[VMan]

http://www.woot.com/ has a laptop tonight. 17" widescreen, built in 802.11b/g wireless, 120gb hard drive, 2GB ram, for $1K plus $5 shipping. Good price, but it would have to be a rush purchase, and it might have more than you are looking for. Best Buy has this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....&ref=10&loc=01 and many more in the $600-$800 range.

 

[whacked]

Also, take a look at www.notebookreview.com to figure out exactly what laptop configuration would suit your needs best.

 

[Huntsman]

Thanks for the links guys, I used to be down with this stuff but I lost it somewhere. whaked, I'll look again as you suggest -- hardware-wise, I was fine at nine bills, but XPPro and Office are what's killing me $-wise.
Thanks again,
Huntsman

 

[Quirk]

Did you check the Dell outlet? Some are returns, but many are cancelled orders that have been customized to the purchaser's requirements, but were never shipped and never used.

 

[Huntsman]

THat I have not done and will do. Good one.

 

[dah328]

I got a couple-year-old Thinkpad A22m off ebay for about $200. Perfectly capable of web browsing and email, etc. which was my intent. It came from a seller with lots of positive feedback and was exactly as advertised. Only thing is that I cannot get it to work with either PCMCIA or USB wireless adapters. That's an odd glitch as I do not think those ports have any hardware in common that could cause the problem.

 

[Great Zamfir]

Trouble with electronics is that even if the buyer is legit, there might be issues that only come surfacing after a few month. So warranty is crucial.

When you are looking around for a new laptop, you might be tempted by large screen machine with good specs and low prices. I have one of those, and it is perfect as desktop replacement.

However, they are cheap because they are relatively big and not too sturdy. The strength is something you can't judge from the net. If you want to use it especially for on the road you should try to find a high end business model, they are much stronger.
If ou can find a outdated IBM or higher range fujitsu with still at least a year of warranty remaining on it you probaly have the best deal.

I would say, read business oriented reviews to judge the building quality of brands, and geek sites to see where you can get them cheap