Buying a used Laptop. PC Gurus offer any input?

[Canadbis]

I would find out if the wireless card is a linksys or Dlink and try to stick with the brand for a wireless router, not a huge concern but it does stop some of the newbie problems. when you get it and are hooking it up be sure to use some kind of WEP incription on the router to keep the loosers at bay. WEP will be built in and the manual will help with setting up
or PM ME
as already stated if it is for work related material then that laptop should do the job for you.

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by Canadbis

I would find out if the wireless card is a linksys or Dlink and try to stick with the brand for a wireless router, not a huge concern but it does stop some of the newbie problems. when you get it and are hooking it up be sure to use some kind of WEP incription on the router to keep the loosers at bay. WEP will be built in and the manual will help with setting up
or PM ME
as already stated if it is for work related material then that laptop should do the job for you.

How can I find out if my card is linksys or dlink? Can that be found through the device manager? I am not sure what WEP is but I am sure I'll know what it is soon enough.

It's not going to be for work, more for personal enjoyment... like I said, the main things it will be used for are watching DVD's, playing/downloading music, pictures, internet use and the odd game if it can handle it . It will be used for school as well (word, excel, yada yada) It's not really going to be used for work.

[DanG]

I couldn't justify spending that much on a used laptop. You can get a new dell laptop for 500 plus tax with a 1 year warranty.

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by DanG

I couldn't justify spending that much on a used laptop. You can get a new dell laptop for 500 plus tax with a 1 year warranty.

It's been used for a month (something I forgot to note) You can get a brand new dell for 500 but your not getting a good setup at all. You get the basics to get you by. I just looked into it, I have the ad at home.. 900$ brand new lap top (from Dell) and I'll get what I am getting right now in the used setup for 375$. 375$ Sounds damn good to me.. ? Does it to anyone else?? I am not a PC expert and I don't check prices very often, but this seems very reasonable to me.

I can't see how it being used will make too much of a difference in my case, I will be able to use it before I buy it as well, so if it runs poorly I obviously will not take it.

I can see where your coming from though, but Dell's laptop for 500$ is not that great, and the one for 900$ still isn't that great, the one for 375$ used (no warranty however) is pretty much what I am looking for and is close to the 900$ setup. I dunno, I guess it makes more sense to me to spend it on this laptop.

I'll let you know how it runs when I see it tonight, check out the condition it's in and all that.

[Canadbis]

If its buggie...windows bugs, that can be fixed-or not (windows does suck)
if you are happy with it then you should get it. if I needed one in a pinch that one sounds good to me.

To find out what brand of wireless card it is, it will be in device manager BUT it will also be on the card. the owner will know.(if they dont then it is probably hot)

I will glady help you set up the wireless if you like.(do that for a living)

As for download speed...wireless is not all that bad. I believe in the good ole wired way but it's not always easy to do. ssoooooo lets get this thing setup and when I do it I will make you a cable and you can test for yourself the difference in speeds. Remember speed depends on the site/p2p user, more than you connection. if you are using highspeed.

If you want to talk to a live operator then please PM this user with your phone number.

OH..did I mention that a have to answer the phone when I am not at a customers place.

[DanG]

oh, if it's only a month or 2 old, then yeah, jump on it. Does it have warranty?

[OCDP]

Originally Posted by DanG

oh, if it's only a month or 2 old, then yeah, jump on it. Does it have warranty?

Ahh, nevermind.. the person that has the lap top has had it for a month, she bought it from someone else previously. I'll have to see if I can find out how long it was used before.

If it has a bit of usage, is it not worth taking??

[AndyL]

Originally Posted by Canadbis

To find out what brand of wireless card it is, it will be in device manager BUT it will also be on the card. the owner will know.(if they dont then it is probably hot)

It's a laptop... Very few actually have a card anymore - it's built onboard into the computer these days - likely a broadcom (used by dell, gateway, compaq, etc etc etc) chipset. So you wont get a name off the exterior of the laptop.

And linksys routers definitely aren't what they used to be... Buggier than heck they are.

[midgetwaiter]

Nobody has brought a celeron based laptop to market in at least 18 months, I'd bet it is about 2 years old.

375 is fair, not really a deal IMO. Only thing I would make sure of is the battery, if it still provides 2+ hours of run time then it's worth it. If you have to buy a new battery right away then pass.

[Canadbis]

It was stated as being a card so thats why I explained it this way. If it is newer of any kind it will be built in.
Still would like a model # tho