Cheap refurb laptop

[Kali]

Poll question: Cheap refurb laptop

[Ohio Joe]

1. I'm going with other

I would suggest checking out Best Buy, In the back of their computer section you can usually find older and discontinued models that they are trying to get rid of from their stock. They are still sold new and have warranties and such.

[Kali]

3. BB is 60 miles away, looking online for.delivery.

[obxhead]

2. I wouldn't waste my time with any XP laptop.

XP is an outdated OS that is no longer truly supported by microshit.

I just upgraded to W7 from vista myself. It's far, far superior.

[Kali]

4. So, the HP?

[Electric Monk]

5. Really depends what you want to use it for. Web surfing and e-mail? Gaming? Video editing? etc

nt

[Kali]

6. Web, email, recordkeeping, light office work

[hobbit709]

8. XP works just fine for 99% of what people use a laptop for.

not everyone needs bleeding edge.

[obxhead]

14. That's is true, but

it is also a dying OS. MS no longer truly supports XP and as time rolls on there will be more software and hardware conflicts that MS will not address. As of 2014 XP support will completely end.

Laptops have also gotten so cheap (if you shop them right) that it makes no sense to buy a 4 year old refurb designed for XP. It's just asking for trouble.

[hobbit709]

15. 98 and 2000 are no longer supported either.

but I know people that still use them. And just because M$ no longer supports something doesn't mean it will stop working. I have a program I use that was originally written for 3.1. It works in every system from 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, XP, XP X64, Vista and 7 X64

[obxhead]

16. It's simply my opinion.

When I make a PC purchase I tend to go for as new a system design I can afford. An XP based refurb just simply wouldn't be my first choice.

Just my opinion.

[Old and In the Way]

7. I've been looking on Tiger Direct at their refurbished laptops

Wife's lappy is on it's last legs, due to busted hinges. I've had great luck/service with tiger Direct. You can find lots of comments left on the various models, but this Compaq CQ 56 looks like a pretty good deal for the price - $260.00. I really can't justify buying a tablet or netbook when these prices are so low.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=339045&Sku=P101-156200

For about a $100 more, they have a 17" Acer with 4GB of DDR3 memory, a dual core processor, and a bigger hard drive-

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=708826&Sku=S445-173301

[blogslut]

9. I vote for the Thinkpad

They are sturdy, reliable workhorses especially the T-series. The eraser mouse is just the sweetest thing ever.

EDIT ADD: The swappable UltraBay is pretty awesome too.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/UltraBay
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/UltraNav
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T60

[pintobean]

10. I would stay away from Dell

We've bought 3 laptops. 2 Dells and an HP. Both Dells had hardware failures right after the warranties expired. The HP is 2.5 years old and I've never had a problem with it. Other than that, I don't know shit.

[tabasco]

11. I got a Gateway on Tiger Direct for $400 on sale

and free shipping.

Powerful enough to do video editing and I'm very happy with it.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=55235&CatId=4938

[darkstar3]

12. I have a Dell, and it's OK,

but I want a thinkpad. Darkspouse has an R60 (which is the same tech as a T60, but the T usually is thinner, lighter, and includes a rollcage to help better protect the screen), and she loves it.

I wouldn't own an HP laptop if you paid for it, and I have a computer repair business.

[steve2470]

13. Lenovo one here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246162

ThinkPad T Series T60 Notebook Intel Core Duo T2400(1.83GHz) 15" 1GB Memory DDR2 60GB HDD 5400rpm DVD/CD-RW Combo W/Docking Station

$250

[struggle4progress]

17. Check online for manuals for machines you're considering

HP's been real good about this -- but I think they're dumping that end of the business, so if you go HP you might want to download copies of everything for that model pronto, so it doesn't cyber-evaporate

Dell support flat-out misinformed me once when I bought some upgrade ram -- and sold me more than I wanted by convincing me the machine wouldn't work with my smaller order

I bought an off-lease desktop from TigerDirect about a year ago. The one they shipped didn't even boot. I did return/replace and the second one works fine. My point: double and triple check a used machine pronto: it will probably have some cosmetic issues you can survive, but it may also have more important issues. Check the ram and hard disk, for example, and the various ports

[Kali]

18. Thanks!

Good advice. My defective, can't-connect-to-the-internet desktop is an hp, so I was a little leery, but the reviews on that are pretty good.

[johnnie]

19. How about this one?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1131543&CatId=4936

I had good experiences with Toshiba. Isn't HP getting out of the computer business? I thought I heard that. Right now I have a Lenovo and it has been pretty good.

[trud]

20. I have a refurbished Lenovo T60 running XP

I bought it on ebay from tsfsystems. I've bought other stuff from them in the past and they seem like upright folk. they have one for sale there now for $230 with a small ding in one corner.

Some of the T60 keys are a bit small (but not the letters and digits) and the fn key is to the left of the ctrl key. I also miss HP's one touch buttons. I used keytweak to get around most of the annoyances this causes and turn F11 into launch thunderbird.

Otherwise it is far superior to the HP pavilion laptops I used to use. Zero noise, for one thing, does not get hot if you use it for several hours, and the USB ports are on the side not the back.

I am happy with XP.

By the way, God help you if you have to call HP repair. I waited two hours once for a code to return a Pavilion with, meanwhile listening to Bombay's greatest hits.