suggestions on these 2 EBAY items

Any suggestions? I'm looking for an XP Dell.
These have recently been listed.
What would be a decent price? Are these both decent machines? My needs
are web surfing and some Office applications

Inspiron 6000

Item specifics - PC Laptops
Brand: Dell Processor Type: --
Type: Laptop/Notebook Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Screen Size: 15.4 inch Processor Configuration: Single Core
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Memory (RAM): 2 GB
Primary Drive: DVD+/-RW Hard Drive Capacity: 60 GB



Inspiron E 1705

Brand: Dell Processor Type: Intel Centrino
Type: Laptop/Notebook Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Screen Size: 17 inch Processor Configuration: --
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Memory (RAM): 2 GB
Primary Drive: CD-RW/DVD Combo Hard Drive Capacity: 106 GB

Hi!

Well I don't know about you...but I'm loathe to buy a laptop computer
from eBay. I'm of the belief that you cannot really know what you're
getting--case in point being a machine that looks like hell because it
was frequently used but works fine, while a nice looking machine was
shelved early because it had problems. You also won't know how the
battery was treated.

I'd value both machines somewhere in the neighborhood of $150-235 with
some preference to the Centrino platform system if battery life is
important. (Not that I think the Celeron is bad, it's just not going
to have the power efficiency of a system with Centrino platform parts.
Note that Centrino refers not only to a processor but a specific
package of Intel chipset, wireless and mobile CPU.)

William

Mel wrote:
Any suggestions? I'm looking for an XP Dell.
These have recently been listed.
What would be a decent price? Are these both decent machines? My needs
are web surfing and some Office applications

Inspiron 6000

Item specifics - PC Laptops
Brand: Dell Processor Type: --
Type: Laptop/Notebook Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Screen Size: 15.4 inch Processor Configuration: Single Core
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Memory (RAM): 2 GB
Primary Drive: DVD+/-RW Hard Drive Capacity: 60 GB



Inspiron E 1705

Brand: Dell Processor Type: Intel Centrino
Type: Laptop/Notebook Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Screen Size: 17 inch Processor Configuration: --
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Memory (RAM): 2 GB
Primary Drive: CD-RW/DVD Combo Hard Drive Capacity: 106 GB



used laptops that do not have any time left on the manufacturers
warranty are generally worthless. sellers often feel they deserve a
certain priced based on what they paid for the system but the used price
is more honestly something an educated buyer would compare to the price
of a new machine. a decent new laptop and fully warranted can be had
for as little $400* and would far exceed the performance of either of
the above systems in just about every way. an unexpected out of
warranty repair would be costly, and likely would far exceed the value
of a used machine. a replacement battery which is likely needed for a
used machine is at least a quarter of the price of a new machine and it
would not even provide as long of a run time that a new machine would
have. if the used machine is advertised as still being under warranty
then the warranty should be verified by calling dell before the sale -
stolen machines, or those that lack the correct information about the
current owner of record for whatever reason, will not have their
warranty honored by dell. good luck.

* as regularly on sale at staples and the like... this week staples has
a 15.6" compaq with anthlon ii dual core, 3gb ram, 250gb disk, dvd-rw,
wireless n, 4.5 hour battery, 1 year warranty for $398. this machine
all around better than the two you described and i suspect it is not
much more. load xp on it if you must have it.

William R. Walsh wrote:
Hi!

Well I don't know about you...but I'm loathe to buy a laptop computer
from eBay. I'm of the belief that you cannot really know what you're
getting--case in point being a machine that looks like hell because it
was frequently used but works fine, while a nice looking machine was
shelved early because it had problems. You also won't know how the
battery was treated.

I'd value both machines somewhere in the neighborhood of $150-235 with
some preference to the Centrino platform system if battery life is
important. (Not that I think the Celeron is bad, it's just not going
to have the power efficiency of a system with Centrino platform parts.
Note that Centrino refers not only to a processor but a specific
package of Intel chipset, wireless and mobile CPU.)

William

Agreed. I'd sooner buy a computer from some guy in an alley before I'd
buy one on Ebay (or Craigslist.) In an alley, at least you can see the
person who's fleecing you.

Daddy

In article ,
says...

Be very careful about the seller.

I once bid on a new EEEpc netbook from a seller on Ebay who was offering
three of them. Fortunately, I got outbid because looking at ratings
afterwards, that seller took the money and never delivered any of the
computers.

I now suspect that he had hijacked someone else s account.

I concur with the other statements made with respect to getting an
inexpensive laptop from a reputable store new. Do some online shopping
as well (CompUSA, Buy.com, newegg.com etc.).

A good site to look at is:
http://dealnews.com

--
R. Dale Shipp
spam_catcher3 (at) _delete_this_comcast (dot) net

On Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:58:25 -0400, "Mel"
wrote:

Any suggestions? I'm looking for an XP Dell.
These have recently been listed.
What would be a decent price? Are these both decent machines? My needs
are web surfing and some Office applications

Inspiron 6000

Item specifics - PC Laptops
Brand: Dell Processor Type: --
Type: Laptop/Notebook Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Screen Size: 15.4 inch Processor Configuration: Single Core
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Memory (RAM): 2 GB
Primary Drive: DVD+/-RW Hard Drive Capacity: 60 GB



Inspiron E 1705

Brand: Dell Processor Type: Intel Centrino
Type: Laptop/Notebook Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Screen Size: 17 inch Processor Configuration: --
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Memory (RAM): 2 GB
Primary Drive: CD-RW/DVD Combo Hard Drive Capacity: 106 GB




I can't help you with Ebay computers since I never bought one from
them. Is the Dell outlet out of your price range? I suppose it's
higher because the models are more recent but it would give you some
assurance in case of a return. Well maybe you already knew this so
perhaps ths post is not helping but unless the outlet was definitely
out of the question, I'd go to the outlet and be patient because if
you follow it over 2 or 3 weeks, you will once in a while find a
bargain. I used to think it was a typo but I guess they are just
testing to see if anyone is paying attention... ie: I'd see constant
laptops equally equipped for say $600 for a week or two then as if one
fell thru the cracks, one would be $500 equally equipped and then the
next one went back to $600. First time I noticed it, I missed out
but I stayed calm and after a few days, saw another one.

On Apr 28, 8:58*am, "Mel" wrote:
* * * Any suggestions? I'm looking for an XP Dell.
* * * These have recently been listed.
* * * What would be a decent price? Are these both decent machines? My needs
are web surfing and some Office applications

* * * Inspiron 6000
My own experience with buy a computer off ebay was not with a dell,
but rather an ancient Radio Shack Model T100, the very first laptop I
think. I had to buy three of them just to get one that worked. No
more ebay for me...Larry



* * * Item specifics - PC Laptops
* * * * * * Brand: *Dell Processor Type: *--
* * * * * * Type: *Laptop/Notebook Processor Speed: *1.6 GHz
* * * * * * Screen Size: *15.4 inch Processor Configuration: *Single Core
* * * * * * Operating System: *Windows XP Professional Memory (RAM): *2 GB
* * * * * * Primary Drive: *DVD+/-RW Hard Drive Capacity: *60 GB

* * * Inspiron E 1705

* * * * * * Brand: *Dell Processor Type: *Intel Centrino
* * * * * * Type: *Laptop/Notebook Processor Speed: *1.6 GHz
* * * * * * Screen Size: *17 inch Processor Configuration: *--
* * * * * * Operating System: *Windows XP Professional Memory (RAM): *2 GB
* * * * * * Primary Drive: *CD-RW/DVD Combo Hard Drive Capacity: *106 GB