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General discussion

What notebook should I look for on e-Bay?

Feb 3, 2005 9:48PM PST

The old Dell Inspiron is getting impossible. The new battery takes a week to fully charge (Seven days! Really!) and it only lasts an hour an half when it does. Pointer is getting worse and worse about running wild. Windows Me just doesn't get it done. Not cost-effective to repair and upgrade, but I don't want to shell out for a brand new one, so I'm thinking e-Bay. One of my daughters got a pretty good Sony Vaio that way, so I figure it's worth a shot.

I want the notebook mostly for word processing away from a desk. Blinding speed isn't terribly important. (The Dell is a 533 Mhz Pentium and it gets the job done just fine. When it's working.) Performance in general is not a serious issue. Reliability, on the other hand, is. And battery life is near the top of the list of desired features. I understand that a Pentium M chip is good for battery life. Have they been around long enough to be available used? If not, what's the next best bet? Cheap is not that high a priority. Any reasonably priced used machine should be OK. Maybe $400, maybe $700. . .but not $1000+.

For that money I would want at least a good-quality 15" TFT display. Maybe 17", but not if it will play havoc with battery life. A second battery bay would be nice, but not absolutely necessary if it gets four or more hours with one battery.

So what brand should I look for? What model?

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Discussion is locked

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Notebooks
Feb 4, 2005 2:01AM PST

Not to be advertising but weve sold a ton of Vaios on E-bay and after the typical problems are repaired on them they are an Xl'nt machine.. IE: RAM slots solder joints, Power supply issues, Thermal related issues.. We sold a nice VAIO FX-370 last week to a gal in Alabama for instance.. 900 Mhz Mobile, 512 RAM 20 gig hdd, 15" screen, DVD/CDRW. All around great little notebook for 600.00 shipped to her door. We are starting to get too busy with the repair busines that weve prety much quit selling on E-bay but we still build and sell units if sombody needs them. If you do buy off E-bay just be sure they have an excellent rep. and theyre in good standing.. (High positive number of feedbacks) If they are down around say 96%? I'd steer clear.. (Weve been burned and getting your cash back is like pulling teeth).. If you need a notebook and we can help we'd be glad to accomidate your needs. our e-bay id is wwwikenfixitcom (no dots) website is the same with the dots.. There are a ton of excellent and reputable sellers on the web and our business got a boost through online auctions! Ken
www.ikenfixit.com

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10 star rating for Vaio problem repair
Feb 15, 2005 7:30AM PST

My Vaio F690 was a lost cause and I was seeking ways to sell off the working parts when I came across the CNET notebook forum and messages by ikenfixit. Sony wanted huge bucks to replace the mobo. Instead of parting it out, and after checking out ikenfixit, including conversations with Ken LaDere, off the Vaio went via UPS box. A week later it was returned, fully repaired. And it's still an excellent machine in spite of being long in the tooth. Thanks to Ken. Moreover, the price for repair was only about 20% of the quote from Sony.

I've got a newer Dell Inspiron 8600 and the Sony runs circles around it when it comes to surfing and getting mail off my ISP server. Thanks to Ken, my Vaio is now a sleek gray cat on its second life. 10 stars to this guy.

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Thanx
Mar 7, 2005 8:28PM PST

Many Thanx to you Murry and glad we could help. I love the Sonys and yours was in excellent condition.. Hope it lasts you for many years to come.
Ken LaDere
www.ikenfixit.com

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The heck with EBay
Mar 8, 2005 12:25AM PST

Why go to EBay, check your local Sunday paper for ads from Circuit City, Best Buy, CompUSA and Staples. They all seem to be dumping last year's laptops at some great prices. You can find some name brands, HP, Toshiba, Compaq, with 15 inch screens, 40 gigs or better hard drives, 256MB or more RAM and 1.4GHz Celeron Ms for $500 to $600.

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Except you don't want Celeron M
Mar 8, 2005 5:30AM PST
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Not all Bad
Mar 8, 2005 8:18PM PST

Ebay can be a good source for laptops but with the Dells so low in price I am now noticing a drop in repairs and service. (Cant blame people as these are most likely the way to go)..There are still people like Murry Shohat and his old Sony. Seems some become attached to their old lappys and will do what needs to be done to have these functional. On another note I've talked to 5 people recently who have bought new Dells and they had to send these back. Some issue with the wireless being inoperable.. Anyone else yet to see this?