I am looking at a used lap top and need to know is it worth the money they are asking.?

Question

The computer I am looking at is a:
Compaq Presario 700
18.6 GB
240 MB of Ram
3 1/2 floppy drive
Mobile/Duron Processor
DVD/CD RW Drive
Amount: $320.00

Please let me know if its worth it or look for another brand name.
thanks

Scottie

Answer 1

scottie,

I wonder if you know you can buy a brand new laptop with warrenty for 600 dollars? Go to http://www.dell.com . I own three of them, they work fine. I know some people bad mouth dell, but I have had good experience with them.

The problems with buying used laptops are you don't know how it has been treated, older units are not current technology and laptop technology changes extremely rapidly, you may find you want a larger harddrive or more memory, or that something doesn't work. Any repairs or upgrades you make cost you additional money, but still leave you with an old, slow, used laptop. In addition, Compaq uses a closed system, so ;you're locked in to them and they can charge higher prices for any parts you might need.

My recommendation is: Don't buy it. And if you can afford it, buy a new one. Good luck

Answer 2

Yeah, that looks pretty good, and a presario should be a good computer. However, if you can sum up another $230, you might want to look at a new Toshiba Satellite directly from Toshiba.
If not, I would only buy the presario if it either comes with a money-back warranty, or if you can take a good look at it before buying it. Check things such as if there are any problems with the display (e.x. dark spots or intermittent functioning when you hinge it up and down) harddrive (run checkdisk) and CD/Floppy drives (try reading a CD/Floppy).
Good luck!

Answer 3

Laptops are made to be light and portable. They have 3 inherent weaknesses.

1. Keyboards can wear out easily.
2. Hard drives can easily break. (Not a problem with desktop models where they sit stationary. )
3. The display can easily break.

I've owned one Compaq, and it was junk. I had to get BBB involved to force Compaq to take it back. You never know how much wear and tear a used anything has had. I agree with Eddie (2nd answer). You'd be better off to get a new unit, and have one year of warranty and user support. But be warned, for $400 it is definitely an Intel Celeron. The Celeron didn't get its nickname of "crippled chip" for no reason.

I talked to a guy yesterday who has a Dell laptop with a Centrino and DVD burn capability. He said it cost $799, and he loves it. I've talked to many who have had Dell or Gateway, and all are impressed with the support/service they get.

In the long run, you'll be better off with a new laptop. Manufacturers have improved laptops immensely. Why not get the best hardware available? You'll get many more years of service with a new one.

Answer 4

No, I would recommend you go a local Best Buy. They have brand new laptops that are decent, starting at $400. BTW, the information you provided doesn't seem to be correct....18.6 GB, 240 RAM (than can't be). It is probably 20 GB hard drive, and 256 MB of RAM. If you have additional questions, let me know. Cheers!

Answer 5

$320 is too much for such an old laptop. the specs are really crappy and i would suggest to look for a new one.
a decent but much better laptop is this one, it's $498 but new and the specs are twice as good (twice in hard disk space and twice in ram and even the celeron M with dothan core and 1MB of L2 cache is faster than the old AMD duron processor).
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5014000
i think you won't regret the +$180.

Answer 6

That's a good price, but a crap laptop.

I wouldn't buy it because upgrading it would cost more then buying a new laptop, and with only 240 MB of RAM (and I'm guessing it has a very slow processor) You won't be able to do much.

Answer 7

Decent price, but you wont be able to do much with it. Today's applications need more than that. My laptop (60 gb hard drive, 1.46ghz processor, 512mb ram, dvd burner, 15.4 in widescreen with brightview) was $460 with tax! Try a factory refurbished laptop as they cost much less and still have brand new performance.

Answer 8

If it comes already loaded with programs, plus a 1 year repair/replace warranty then sure. This is about half price of brand new with those features.

Answer 9

not worth it..

you pay double, you get more than double of the value.

80 gig
1 gig ram
dvd/cd rw drive
dell insprion 6400
less than $800!