Cheap laptop for a friend

dleinbach · 07-05-2002, 08:53 AM

My wife's employer is looking for a laptop. His specs are pretty simple: 40GB hard drive, keep it around $500. No real concern about processor, RAM, etc.

From a manufacturer or reseller, it appears it would run between $1000-$1500 to get a 40GB drive in a new machine (with typical stuff for a current PC - 1 GHz processor, significant amount of RAM, etc).

That led me to eBay.
Dell Latitude CPI: PII MMX 366; 13.3" screen, 128MB RAM, 6.5GB hard drive, Win98. Guessing reserve at about $350, so it'd be $378 delivered.
+ IBM Travelstar 40GB 2.5" hard drive for Latitude, buy it now price of $192, but I think it can be had for about $180. $10 shipping, so $190 delievered.
= final price of $568.

Any suggestions or opinions? Thanks.

Jeffbx · 07-08-2002, 06:00 AM

The Latitude is a solid machine - I'd go for that or a Thinkpad (600) if you can get it in the same price range. See if you can find a 400MHz CPi or even a CPx - if the original purchaser got the 3-year warranty, those may actually still be covered for a while.

johnnymk · 07-08-2002, 11:57 AM

Also try http://www.half.com and go to the Computers section. Howevr, a 40 GB HD on an older machine may be hard to find. I don't know if USB 1 supports the newer external hard drives or not.

Jeffbx · 07-08-2002, 12:31 PM

You won't have any problems putting a 40GB into a CPi - I've done it before. Just update the BIOS first, and you'll be ok.

dleinbach · 07-08-2002, 12:58 PM

Thanks for the guidance. I'll recommend that he follow that route to a machine meeting his specs, and right about within budget.

07-05-2002, 08:53 AM	#1
dleinbach Ensign Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Apex, NC Posts: 33	Cheap laptop for a friend My wife's employer is looking for a laptop. His specs are pretty simple: 40GB hard drive, keep it around $500. No real concern about processor, RAM, etc. From a manufacturer or reseller, it appears it would run between $1000-$1500 to get a 40GB drive in a new machine (with typical stuff for a current PC - 1 GHz processor, significant amount of RAM, etc). That led me to eBay. Dell Latitude CPI: PII MMX 366; 13.3" screen, 128MB RAM, 6.5GB hard drive, Win98. Guessing reserve at about $350, so it'd be $378 delivered. + IBM Travelstar 40GB 2.5" hard drive for Latitude, buy it now price of $192, but I think it can be had for about $180. $10 shipping, so $190 delievered. = final price of $568. Any suggestions or opinions? Thanks.

07-08-2002, 12:58 PM	#5
dleinbach Ensign Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Apex, NC Posts: 33	Great - thanks for the input Thanks for the guidance. I'll recommend that he follow that route to a machine meeting his specs, and right about within budget.

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07-08-2002, 06:00 AM	#2
Jeffbx Fleet Admiral Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Michigan Posts: 9,390	The Latitude is a solid machine - I'd go for that or a Thinkpad (600) if you can get it in the same price range. See if you can find a 400MHz CPi or even a CPx - if the original purchaser got the 3-year warranty, those may actually still be covered for a while.

07-08-2002, 11:57 AM	#3
johnnymk Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: May 2000 Location: LEVITTOWN< PA> USA Posts: 13,621	Also try http://www.half.com and go to the Computers section. Howevr, a 40 GB HD on an older machine may be hard to find. I don't know if USB 1 supports the newer external hard drives or not.

07-08-2002, 12:31 PM	#4
Jeffbx Fleet Admiral Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Michigan Posts: 9,390	You won't have any problems putting a 40GB into a CPi - I've done it before. Just update the BIOS first, and you'll be ok.

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