sabra wood on sun 23 nov 03
hi.
if you want a non-mac...
you may want to look at dell refurb.
i did this when i bought my computer.
first, i did the research, deciding what features i wanted & pricing out
systems.
i also checked on dell's reliability & service rep - great at the
time... don't know about now.
then i went to the dell website & looked at their refurb section.
these are computers that are sold at a discount. they may have been
used as demo units at trade shows, been returned for a service issue &
repaired, or been a special order that was never even shipped.
you can call the folks in the refurb dept, tell them what you want &
they'll let you know what refurb units are in stock that meet your
needs.
when i bought mine, the warrantee was the same, new or refurb.
also - several of my tech-y friends have gone this route & be happy.
the usual disclaimers... i have no job, i have no friends with jobs, no
one compensates me for my worthless opinions, etc.
sabra wood
Steve Slatin on mon 24 nov 03
There isn't much skill involved in swapping parts until something works,
but if you're uncomfortable with it and don't have much to spend, find
someone who's upgrading and buy the cast-off, cheap. Put a notice on a
bulletin board at a grocery or equivalent, with your specs; don't be
surprised if someone calls and tries to get you to take a whole
closet-full of used but working computers cheap. This, of course,
doesn't get you up-to-date equipment, but depending on your needs, may
be quite sufficient.
Refurb's suffer from the same problem as upgraded models -- you're
paying to have things done one-off to get them up to snuff. They often
don't end up at reasonable prices.
Example -- I checked Dell's refurb page a few minutes ago -- the least
expensive desktop unit was $509, with no monitor. Not an exceptional
price.
If you want to go through the trouble of tracking the sales, You can
check into www.bargainblog.com; www.thedealman.com, And
http://www.xpbargains.com.
Checking there today, I found that same Dell Dimension 2400 desktop
P4-2.2GHz +17in Monitor + Free Printer + 2MP digicam $424 shipped.
It is not unusual for HP, Dell and the other big producers to have
competing deals at the same time that make no economic 'sense.'
(DISCLAIMERS. I do not work for, own stock in, or obtain any income
from Dell or any other computer manufacturer or vendor. I do not
believe Dell is better, or worse, than Gateway, HP, Toshiba, Fujitsa,
Sony or any other major manufacturer. Neither do I challenge the
pricing policies of these or other companies. Make sure any computer
you buy runs the software you want. Many computers are spec'ed with
inadequate RAM. Adding RAM is simple enough for a teenager to do. If
you're not comfortable with the task, ask a teenager to do it for you.
Find cheap RAM through the links, above. Many computers, including the
Dell 2400 ref'd above, have integrated video. For games, this is
inferior too, but much less expensive than, a separate video card. Some
can be upgraded by adding a video card. The 2400 lacks an AGP video
slot, so you can only add a PCI video card to boost performance. If
you're not a serious gamer, you probably don't need a higher-powered
graphics card anyway.)
Disclaimfully yours -- Steve Slatin
-----Original Message-----
hi.
if you want a non-mac...
you may want to look at dell refurb.
i did this when i bought my computer.
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