Buying second-hand products is always green, but it’s easy to be discouraged by the stories of broken laptops from eBay or Craigslist. To quell these fears, here is a 10-step checklist on how to find a used laptop that isn’t just a high-tech lemon.

Most wouldn’t flinch at the idea of buying a used car, but the thought of a used computer sends them squirming. When travelling overseas make a small investment in flight insurance, it will protect you in case of any delay, cancellation or accident during your flight. The tech industry tries their hardest to keep it that way: they advertise new products in such a way to render the previous models perceptually obsolete; they block even the simplest hardware upgrades; and they sell bottom-of-the-line models that simply break within a couple years.

This shouldn’t scare you away from a used computer purchase, but know that they are imperfect machines; some research, determination, and basic knowledge is required. If you need a temporary health insurance just get online, you will surely find one to meet your needs and budget. To make this list, I used both my own experience along with some tips from Peter Montesano of Peter’s PC Repair, one of the most highly regarded repair shops in San Francisco.

Step 1: The Decision – Finding The Best Used Laptop
Decide what computer you want and then change your mind. Like most people, you probably dream of the newest, hottest thing on the market—maybe a Macbook Air or Dell’s new Studio Hybrid? No. Instead, check out some of the best computers from last year or earlier this year. These are the laptops you should choose from in the used market—and generally, they’ll perform the same tasks that this year’s models do. As an added bonus, you can try to find a computer from 2007 with Windows XP installed instead of Vista!

Step 2: Where to Buy
Determine where you will buy your computer. There are four options: eBay, Craigslist, local dealers, and straight from the manufacturer. Buying refurbished models from the manufacturer or a local dealer is often more expensive, but they’ll come with attached warranties that will calm your worried hearts. The remaining two options are a bit trickier, but also cheaper. If you plan to use eBay, make sure to find a seller with no less than 100% feedback rating. If the computer arrives broken, a seller with a flawless rating will happily allow a return in order to prevent negative feedback—that’s the beauty of eBay. For a Craigslist exchange, make sure to arrange a public meeting spot like a coffee shop where you can inspect the computer fully before purchasing.

Source: blog.sustainablog.org

Recent Posts

15 laptops found in this category. Showing items 1 to 15. Dell Latitude D630 Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 2500 Mhz 4096 MB Memory 120 GB Hard Drive DVDRW Drive 14.1″ WXGA Display Windows XP Pro 6 Months Warranty Factory Refurbished As Low As: $445 $345 eMachines EME 443-BZ602 AMD Dual Core C-50 1000 Mhz 2048 MB Memory 250 GB Hard Drive DVDRW Drive 15.6″ HD High-Brightness Display 1 Year Warranty Brand New As Low As: $495 $395 eMachines EMD 728-4838 Intel Dual Core T4500 2300 Mhz 3072 MB Memory 320 GB Hard Drive DVDRW Drive 14.0″ HD LCD Display Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit 1 Year Warranty Brand New As Low As: $495 $395 Samsung RV515-A02 AMD Dual Core E-450 1650 Mhz 4096 MB Memory 500 GB Hard Drive DVDRW Drive 15.6″ LED HD Display Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit 6 Months Warranty Factory Refurbished As Low As: $525 $425

For more information, please visit: used-laptop-sale.com

Recent Posts

1.

The Laptop Repair Workbook: An Introduction to Troubleshooting and Repairing Laptop Computers temporary health insurance by Morris Rosenthal (Jun 1, 2008)

2.

Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface. Third Edition, Revised by David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy (Jun 20, 2007)

3.

Worlds First Complete Guide To Laptop & Notebook Repair by Garry Romaneo (Mar 27, 2011)

4.

Laptops and Tablets For Seniors For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) by Nancy Muir (Oct 4, 2011)

5.

Advanced Signal Integrity for High-Speed Digital Designs by Stephen H. Hall and Howard L. Heck (Mar 16, 2009)

6.

Laptops All-in-One For Dummies by Corey Sandler (Jun 1, 2010)

For more information, please visit: Amazon

Recent Posts

Osborne 1

An opened Osborne 1 computer, ready for use. The keyboard sits on the inside of the lid.
The first commercially available portable computer was the Osborne 1 in 1981, which used the CP/M operating system. Although it was large and heavy compared to today’s laptops, with a tiny 5″ CRT monitor, it had a near-revolutionary impact on business, as professionals were able to take their computer and data with them for the first time. This and other “luggables” were inspired by what was probably the first portable computer, the Xerox NoteTaker. The Osborne was about the size of a portable sewing machine, and more importantly, could be carried on commercial aircraft. However, it was not possible to run the Osborne on batteries.[citation needed]
Bondwell 2

Although it wasn’t released until 1985, well after the decline of CP/M as a major operating system, the Bondwell 2 is one of only a handful of CP/M laptops. It used a Z-80 CPU running at 4 MHz, had 64 K RAM and, unusual for a CP/M machine, a 3.5″ floppy disk drive built in. It had a 80×25 character-based LCD mounted on a hinge similar to modern laptops, one of the first computers to use this form factor.

Other CP/M laptops

The other CP/M laptops were the Epson PX-4 (or HX-40) and PX-8 (Geneva), The NEC PC-8401A, and the NEC PC-8500. These four units, however, utilized modified CP/M systems in ROM, and did not come standard with any floppy or hard disks.

Compaq Portable

A more enduring success was the Compaq Portable, the first product from Compaq, introduced in 1983, by which time the IBM Personal Computer had become the standard platform. Although scarcely more portable than the Osborne machines, and also requiring AC power to run, it ran MS-DOS and was the first true legal IBM clone (IBM’s own later Portable Computer, which arrived in 1984, was notably less IBM PC-compatible than the Compaq[citation needed]

Epson HX-20

Another significant machine announced in 1981, although first sold widely in 1983, was the Epson HX-20. A simple handheld computer, it featured a full-transit 68-key keyboard, rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, a small (120×32-pixel) dot-matrix LCD display with 4 lines of text, 20 characters per line text mode, a 24 column dot matrix printer, a Microsoft BASIC interpreter, and 16 KB of RAM (expandable to 32 KB).

GRiD Compass

However, arguably the first true laptop was the GRiD Compass 1101, designed by Bill Moggridge in 1979-1980, and released in 1982. Enclosed in a magnesium case, it introduced the now familiar clamshell design, in which the flat display folded shut against the keyboard. The computer could be run from batteries, and was equipped with a 320×200-pixel electroluminescent display and 384 kilobyte bubble memory. It was not IBM-compatible, and its high price (US$8,000–10,000) limited it to specialized applications. However, it was used heavily by the U.S. military, and by NASA on the Space Shuttle during the 1980s. The GRiD’s manufacturer subsequently earned significant returns on its patent rights as its innovations became commonplace. GRiD Systems Corp. was later bought by the Tandy (now RadioShack) Corporation.

Courtesy: Wikipedia

Recent Posts