• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

advice on buying an older laptop

If you do jump on the TP 600, I have a few extra accessories for it, including an external floppy drive, internal Zip drive, 128Mb SODIMM, mebbe some other stuff.

--T
 
Of the ones I had before, I sold one on eBay ($75.00 starting price, 5 bidders, 100.00 final price), + shipping cost (this seller is including shipping in the sale price) and the other one I sold locally, based on the eBay price. Neither had usable batteries either, so the asking price is in the right range.

--T
 
yes, Terry that's me and i did win it.

it came to $180.23 CDN total with shipping, and i have already paid for it via INTERAC email money transfer, and he is going to ship it out via FedEx ground tomorrow.

even if he wipes win98 off the hd, i have a couple of copies of win95 on disc, which i would assume would run faster anyway.

chris
 
I think speed difference between Win95 and Win98 is marginal, at least if you're getting a 300+ MHz computer. Win98 on the other hand appears a bit easier to manage (install drivers etc) and if it is 98SE, has some more after-market support.

I suppose the reason why you're getting a laptop is because your daugther can bring it with her. If you have a spare 14" CRT (or better) and perhaps even a PC keyboard and mouse, you may later consider plugging in those when it is used as a stationary computer. A docking station may come handy, but should not be required.
 
thanks!

i am really glad it comes with a modem.

yeah anders, it should be helpful for her with transport, as she can take it with her to her mom's.

also, the desk she uses is not that large, so with a laptop she will be able to have her paper work right near her, books, etc..

i have never used win98.

one laptop that i wanted way back when, and IIRC, was made by IBM. it ran windows 3.1 and had a word processor, spreadsheet app, and a couple of other things on ROM, and with a press of a soft key, BLAMO!, the app. would be running. that would be one sweet thing to have now, and who cares if the actual apps. in ROM are out of date.

on a slightly related note, i have often been tempted to put windows 3.1 on my pentium 166, but all on a ram drive.

would love to see that dos shell all in ram :)

chris
 
Ah, this was the 233 MHz ThinkPad 380XD on eBay, not the 300 MHz ThinkPad 600 with a dead battery on the swap list. The latter guy btw reduced his asking price to $50 plus $10 shipping.
 
On the topic of laptops, I found a rather funny one on Tradera (probably the biggest Swedish auction site, since eBay neglected the market for too many years).

The laptop is an Acer Ferrari 3000, i.e. a rather high-end AMD Athlon story. The motherboard is dead. The bluetooth and wlan accessories have been removed. No battery, no DVD, no HDD, no RAM, no TFT, arabic keyboard. All pieces of plastic and CPU cooler still remaining. A SD card reader and a license of Windows XP Home included. Sold as a parts machine, although I'm not sure which parts one can scavenge if most things have already been removed. Current bid 300 SEK ($40). I know someone who owns a such laptop, but I'm not sure if the remaining parts, whatever those are, would be worth the money. Maybe the XP license and the card reader are the most valuable ones in the offer..
 
carlsson said:
Ah, this was the 233 MHz ThinkPad 380XD on eBay, not the 300 MHz ThinkPad 600 with a dead battery on the swap list. The latter guy btw reduced his asking price to $50 plus $10 shipping.
Click to expand...

Oh, kewl! TNX for the heads-up, Anders...I just put my claim on it, if nobody else has yet. (I know, I have no shame)...

--T
 
carlsson said:
Heh. I thought that list (or page, or whatever it is) was something you followed regularly. Good luck anyway.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I usually check it several times a day, just that I was between looks when you posted here. Anyways, I got it for myself (I don't like running without a backup).

--T
 
i just got it today, and it works great!

thanks guys for helping me out!

my daughter is completely blown away.

it still had win98 on it, and not much else which is nice.

i installed corel suite 8, originally for win95, and man does it ever fly on this laptop.

it loads wordperfect in less than 2 seconds!!

plays audio cd's just fine, the screen is awesome, and the keys aren't too bad.

i had a bit of an issue getting it to accept the win95 drivers for my printer, but i kept at it, and i won the stubborn contest :)

i don't have a connection to a telephone jack for that darn little modem, so for now i am going to try and set up an external via the db9 port.

i hope i can get a connector for the modem to a phone jack though.

god, i am very envious of her computer.. i hope she gets sick of it quick :)

chris
 
just to show you how naive i am with these things, i had no idea all i had to do was push on a certain area of the modem card, and the darn phone jack popped out!

hahahaha!

chris
 
hey Nathan;

well, for some bizarre reason i can't seem to get the little modem card to work all the time.

win98se recognizes the modem, yet when i go to dial up, the connection box says that my modem is not functioning or in use.

i have no conflicts (i checked) i also ran a diagnostic on it and the modem checks out fine.

then, sometimes it works!

just pisses me off.

so i ended up buying her an external 56K modem :)

she has used the computer for one big school project so far, but isn't on the comp. every day, which surprised me. i guess she does not have the comp. affliction that i and others on this forum suffer from :)

cheers,
chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top