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Post by Freak93 on Jul 12, 2009 20:09:04 GMT -5
Let's say I wanted to sell my laptop. Can I get some tips from you guys on this (assuming some of you have done this)? I want to sell my current one because it is just not doing it for me. It's not what I really need out of a laptop. I think it may be a little much for me. Want to get one of those fancy Dell Mini's so if I could get a hundred or two for this it would easily help with the cost.
Here are the specs:
Windows Vista Home Basic (Service Pack 1)
Intel Celeron Processor (440 @ 1.86GHz)
1 GB of RAM
120 GB HD (Roughly 105 GB usable)
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Post by robino2001 on Jul 12, 2009 21:17:23 GMT -5
Are you thinking ebay, Craigslist, what? Pricing totally depends on what method you're using. My initial guess is to say you could expect $100-200 depending on tons of factors. How old is it? How well does it work? I've been using ebay for the past month, selling one item a week since you can now list 5 items for free every 30 days - so I just put a new thing up each week.
Have you played with a netbook before? It's not really something you want to transition to as your only computer. I bought one for the wife for her birthday to use in class but she still uses her old piece of crap at home (I think because she is too lazy to transfer the files to the netbook). The HP one I got her works like a charm though. You just need to trick it out to utilize it as a full pc instead of the intended use.
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Post by Freak93 on Jul 12, 2009 21:58:30 GMT -5
The laptop is about two years old now and it works fairly well. If you were expecting to get a ton out of it, I wouldn't be too sure. Although, I usually can run several applications easily. Mainly AIM, Firefox, and music going. Then occasionally other programs such as Word or something. Photoshop runs well on it and the few games I have ever played on here ran fine (considering it was the original Roller Coaster Tycoon or something of that nature).
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Post by robino2001 on Jul 12, 2009 22:14:35 GMT -5
This is solely my opinion and you may think differently - so that won't upset me if you think I'm completely wrong. It sounds to me like you should be able to get someone to bite at $150, if not higher. Personally - I'd probably go through craigslist and start at either $300 or $250. Post it at that price a couple of times, then start slowly backing off, never going past a certain price you have in your head (more than likely $150ish). That way if you end up selling it for above that point you'd be happy with, it's even better.
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Post by Freak93 on Jul 12, 2009 22:24:22 GMT -5
That is the area I expected it to go in actually. If I can land that price for it I will be extremely happy to say the least. $150 is good enough for this thing, but like you said some others may be willing to bite at a higher rate. I am going to talk around to some people I know who may be the type to overpay. If you put a little RAM and perhaps an operating system that wasn't as rough as Vista you may get a lot out of this old beast.
Frankly, if it wasn't for the mediocre battery times this model has had I would be willing to keep it. However, if I can land something to do the simple tasks I use a computer for that will be able to run without a charge I am going to go for it. If I really get pestered to do more there is an older desktop at my house that can easily handle larger tasks. I figure while at college though, a simple thing like a Dell mini will be just fine for me.
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Post by robino2001 on Jul 13, 2009 9:41:54 GMT -5
The mini's are great for classes and stuff, but I don't know if I'd want to use it as my 24/7 pc. I upgraded our mini to most RAM possible, took off a bunch of BS programs and added office 07 (uses less memory than 03... imagine that) and firefox (again, less memory than IE). That's about as lean and quick as you can get those things. Don't forget you'll need an external dvd drive to connect to it to install office. I assume/believe that all netbooks come loaded with XP... if for some reason the new dell's have vista, you'll want to roll back to XP.
Also, I'm not up-to-date on the dell ones (we bought an HP), but I believe the ones with the actual hard drives are slower (processing-wise) than the ones with the new solid state drives.
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Post by Freak93 on Jul 13, 2009 11:02:20 GMT -5
The Dells come with either XP or Ubuntu. With those options I would probably go with Ubuntu simply to know that I will still have support and such. XP leaves me wondering considering Windows 7 is upcoming soon. I figure I could get by with Open Office if I have trouble getting Office on Ubuntu (although it seems there are a few methods to get it done).
The actual hard drives have been slower that is for sure. I think it ultimately comes down to what your doing and whose drive you have to get honest results. I will have to look and see if I am better off getting a traditional, larger HD or a Solid State drive and an external drive.
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Post by robino2001 on Jul 23, 2009 7:45:35 GMT -5
You make any progress on this or are you slow playing it?
On a side note... I washed my cell phone in the washing machine (I know) - was able to revive it and sold it on ebay for $30... great success!
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Post by Freak93 on Jul 23, 2009 20:56:25 GMT -5
I am unloading my current laptop for $100 and picking up a Dell Mini 10v.
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Post by Freak93 on Jul 24, 2009 21:23:50 GMT -5
Kind of surprised but the mini was here when I got home from work. Not too bad actually. Runs well. The keyboard is a little tricky to get used to for special functions. When you are trying to backspace or shift it is kind of tricky but overall fairly easy transition. The only other gripe is the right click which is getting annoying but most likely something to get used to. We shall see.
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JackTheRipper
All-American
I farted my way out of an elevator..
Posts: 5,476
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Post by JackTheRipper on Jul 25, 2009 14:19:04 GMT -5
I give you about tree fiddy.
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Post by Freak93 on Jul 26, 2009 18:20:20 GMT -5
I give you about tree fiddy. Sold! God I love that episode of South Park. |
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Post by robino2001 on Jul 26, 2009 19:04:12 GMT -5
I used my wife's mini today while at the in-laws for the weekend... the backspace always gets me and the smaller touch pad for the mouse... I always use the right part of it that has the scroll deal to scroll the webpage. As with anything, the more you use it, the more you get used to it. And as I said before, it's worth it to upgrade the RAM to the highest possible. www.crucial.com |
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Post by Freak93 on Jul 26, 2009 19:23:17 GMT -5
The backspace has grown on me already. I don't have much of a problem hitting it now. The same goes for the shift key. While the left shift key was primarily the problem I have overcome that already.
I am enjoying how well it has been running. I mean, I don't run huge things, but it is extremely better than my old laptop. Booting up could be a little faster but as soon as I am logged on I can get what I need right away. That is more than I can say for my old laptop which took several minutes to get what I needed to.
However, the biggest sell for me has been the battery life. It has been running so well the past few days. I can get several hours easily out of it as is, but when I turn down the brightness that increases even more (which is what I need because it is irritating to my eyes when it is so bright).
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