DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California M้xico
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Laptop For Baja Advice Solicited
Hi Y'All!
Everyone's advice was so invaluable for my medical disaster in Baja that I am going to ask again, but this time regarding how best to go about finding
a used laptop for around 150 dollars in the SF Bay Area. I am not a computer geek and basically I need something reliable with microsoft word, and an
ability to connect with wi-fi. Do I really need multiple cores? How do i know the battery is anygood with a used laptop?
My email is mexbungalows@gmail.com
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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Mood: Full Time Residents
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my 2 cents...do not buy used
you'll get screwed everytime
pay $380 out the door at walmart
satisfaction always
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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21152
Registered: 8-9-2009
Location: Mission Viejo
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Mood: Suicide Hot line ... please hold
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Check DELL on line ... they sell refurbished units ... not sure how low they go .. bought my sis one for $230 .. more than adequate ...
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Jaybo
Nomad
Posts: 240
Registered: 12-7-2009
Location: NW Oregon
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Mood: Praying for Baja!
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Just figure that a used laptop will have a battery that is totally fried and won't last for more than 30 minutes. ESPECIALLY in that price range.
Replacement batteries run in the $75-$100 range.
Laptops have gotten REALLY cheap over the past year - Take a look at my favorite deal site http://www.slickdeals.net - Keep an eye on their frontpage deals, and also look in the "hot deals" forum. You can filter your searches there to
look for just laptop deals. Figure on $300 for a decent laptop especially this time of year.
(Oh, and no, Not affiliated with Slickdeals - Just have found some great buys there!)
..Jay
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volcano
Nomad
Posts: 348
Registered: 3-5-2007
Location: Cave Junction, Oregon and Boca Del Salado area, Ea
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Mood: always pining to be there
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I recently asked for the same advice here...I believe on the question page: TigerDirect.com have refurbished netbooks by asus for $200 strong
battery and signal....which is what I purchased for use down there. It was suggested to not pay a fortune due to harsh baja living
conditions...equipment goes bad quickly. search the conversation as there were many other suggestions as well.
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Wally
Nomad
Posts: 182
Registered: 3-15-2006
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
my 2 cents...do not buy used
you'll get screwed everytime
pay $380 out the door at walmart
satisfaction always |
x2 or go the netbook route and use Google's word processing, spread sheet and email apps. Asus netbooks start in the low $200's. Microsoft Office is
going to cost as much as a new netbook.
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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21152
Registered: 8-9-2009
Location: Mission Viejo
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Mood: Suicide Hot line ... please hold
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buying a laptop and not looking at replacement costs on "its" battery .. is a bit like buying a color printer and not knowing what the replacement
cartridges costs... a good point .. when shopping for just about anything... imho ..
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mcfez
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8678
Registered: 12-2-2009
Location: aka BN yankeeirishman
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If you have to buy a used one...buy refurbished from a major manufacturer. DELL has them all the time. However...I would not risk buying off
Craigslist or a private party.
Ebay has refurbished LP at 170.00 currently
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 5006
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
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Mood: INTP-A
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| Quote: | Originally posted by volcano
I recently asked for the same advice here... |
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=54890
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
โ Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
โ John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
https://www.regionalinternet.com
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting - since 1999 |
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mulegejim
Nomad
Posts: 470
Registered: 9-4-2006
Location: San Clemente, CA/Mulege, BCS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Wally
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
my 2 cents...do not buy used
you'll get screwed everytime
pay $380 out the door at walmart
satisfaction always |
x2 or go the netbook route and use Google's word processing, spread sheet and email apps. Asus netbooks start in the low $200's. Microsoft Office is
going to cost as much as a new netbook. |
Good advice - Open Office is also a free package for download with word processing, spreadsheet, etc. Jim
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 5006
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
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Mood: INTP-A
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| Quote: | Originally posted by volcano
I recently asked for the same advice here...I believe on the question page: TigerDirect.com have refurbished netbooks by asus for $200 strong
battery and signal....which is what I purchased for use down there. |
These discount providers' inventory changes frequently. That particular Asus unit no longer appears to be available at TD.
Current sales that I was able to pull up include:
Acer Aspire ONE 10.1" Netbook, AMD C-50 Dual Core (1.0GHz), 1GB DDR3 Memory, 250GB HDD (Refurb); $200 including shipping:
http://www.buy.com/prod/acer-aspire-one-ao522-bz623-10-1-net...
The following "special" is for 9 more hours only....
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Blue 10.1" Netbook, Intel Atom n450 Processor (1.66GHz), 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD (Refurb); $202 including shipping:
http://www.all4cellular.com/dell-inspiron-mini-10-1012-netbo...
Both of the above units have 6-cell batteries - which can last 6-8 hours or more on a single charge.
If you don't have the Microsoft Office software, besides Google Docs, another quality option is Open Office (or Libre Office)... http://openoffice.org or http://libreoffice.org
You can create/open/edit/save documents in Open Office as Word format (.DOC / .XLS / .PPT / etc...).
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
โ Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
โ John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
https://www.regionalinternet.com
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting - since 1999 |
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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HP works for me!!!
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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Mood: Full Time Residents
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1 gig of memory is not enough these days...you need 4 gigs
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9011
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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So, will an Open Office program open Microsoft Word documents?
Word processing programs arent worth much if you cant open the documents that others send you. Or, if you can create a word processing document and no
one you know can open it.
I dont know the answer to the first question. Just wondrin'..........
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Full Time Residents
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hook...yes
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 5006
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
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Mood: INTP-A
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
1 gig of memory is not enough these days...you need 4 gigs |
Only if you're running one of the latest versions of Windows. Not sure about Mac. There are other "current" operating systems for PC that run great
on 1GB RAM.
Edit: (Disclosure: I state the above even though I'm running 4GB of RAM) 
[Edited on 12-1-2011 by BajaNomad]
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
โ Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
โ John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
https://www.regionalinternet.com
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting - since 1999 |
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
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Mood: Waiting
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I would sell you mine..but you would be getting screwed. Buy new.
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