Geekly opinions valued here...

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:30 pm

If I should decide to throw the Gateway tower out the window
(first having had to carry it upstairs to maximize the impact,) and then find that I'm feeling kindly enough to provide a new functional one for those who use that system, where might be the most affordable site to track down a cheap substitute?

I'm seeing refurbs for about $300 on Delloutlet.com.

We will most likely attempt a clean install first. Having trouble talking it into booting from the cd.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:44 pm

Throwing off the roof may be fun, but I look forward to erasing the hard drive.

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:34 pm

I found my computer through techbargains.com. I figure I saved about $75 over the daily deals offered, and maybe $250 over what I might have paid at a local store on a $600 laptop.

Techbargains has paid staffers looking at all the popular sites, and ads from the big box retailers, including outlets and refurbs. If a person checks once a day, like checking for a good airfare, a clearly better deal usually emerges after a week or two of checking.

beowulf573 · Post by **beowulf573** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:49 pm

In addition to techbargains.com I also track slickdeals.net.

There's nothing wrong with a refurb as long as it has a decent warranty.

kkrell · Post by **kkrell** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:52 pm

emmline wrote: I'm seeing refurbs for about $300 on Delloutlet.com.

or Dell Business Lease Returns (USA):

http://www.dfsdirectsales.com/

Kevin Krell

BigDavy · Post by **BigDavy** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:10 pm

Hi emmline

Had a look at Dell Outlet and this looked like the best deal at $329.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSale ... =dfh&cs=22

After looking at the dfsdirectsales site - overpriced and underspecified.

david

Post by **Dale** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:32 pm

I think refurbs are a fine option. That "refurb" word actually can mean a lot of things. I always had in mind that it's a thing that goes back to the factory, for whatever reason, and has to be repaired or reconfigured or something. And it CAN mean that. But sometimes it's just a return or even a problem with packaging. Seems to me you can get some amazing bargains.

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:42 am

I'll second Dale; there are some awesome deals to be found under the "referb" category. My last laptop (before my new one that I bought last year) was an HP factory refurb, and it will turn five years old this august. Still runs like a charm apart from the battery being shot.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:06 pm

tanks.

I think the kid hangs out in too many anime and fanfic sites which double as the portals to hell.

So far, I've got things running semi-ok.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:13 pm

You might want to check out newegg.com, if you haven't already.

They have some machines at just a hair over $300 that look pretty sweet.

--James

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:56 pm

peeplj wrote:You might want to check out newegg.com, if you haven't already.

must commit that to memory, as it's bound to crash and burn, if not now, later.

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:43 pm

peeplj wrote:You might want to check out newegg.com, if you haven't already.

Good grief. They have a few under $300, too, with Vista preloaded.
It's cheaper to buy a new computer than to buy a stand-alone copy of Vista.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:07 pm

Vista running on 512M of DDR2 is anything but sweet. Add on the unincluded necessities and you're in the same ballpark as the rest of the retailers.

mukade · Post by **mukade** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:12 pm

crookedtune wrote:Vista running on 512M of DDR2 is anything but sweet. Add on the unincluded necessities and you're in the same ballpark as the rest of the retailers.

I agree. Vista on 512Mb = chugalug chugalug.

I have 4GB of DDR2, a fast core2 duo and a 8800GTX graphics card - all overclocked. I'm still on XP.

Mukade

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:52 am

crookedtune wrote:Vista running on 512M of DDR2 is anything but sweet. Add on the unincluded necessities and you're in the same ballpark as the rest of the retailers.

I was thinking more along the lines of using the Vista that came with the PC on
another machine, and loading the cheap box with Linux. Though, I don't know
if those newegg deals would even come with an install disc. These days, install
discs seem to come at a premium...

Speaking of which, I've got Vista installed on a PC, which is dying. I recently
bought a MacMini (awesome) and installed Windows XP on a Parallels Virtual
Machine. Is there any reason I can't install the copy of Vista on another VM,
since it's already been used on the PC? Do I have to inform Microsquish if I
want to move Vista to another machine? I think that was the M.O. for XP, but
maybe there was enough backlash to keep that from being a problem with
Vista...

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Geekly opinions valued here...

Geekly opinions valued here...

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