I have been down this "used p.c. road" to a very great extent. In fact, I spent several days in the Chicago area with a first class outfit that supplies good used p.c.'s to the Illinois school system. They come licensed by Microsoft with a later Windows 2000 o.s. and a monitor for about $150. FOB Chicago. For some small amounts they will load some browsers and some free stuff (real audio, Star office.)
All that sounds good until arrival when the units have the usual problems - plus. Each one is slightly different that the other, so when there is a problem it is hard to diagnose a solution. We decided that the only way these could be "cheaper" than some new alternatives was if the original shipments went to a technical training school which already was set up to handle a variety of problems. That part of their training was to give each computer to a student and have him or her work on it, make it run, load some software, etc. etc...even "break it down" and put it back together again. So, if on arrival these come into a facility where there are parts, inventory controls, skilled individuals who will work as "part of their education", then used p.c.'s may well be a good solution. But just because the starting price is $300. less than "new", doesn't mean, in the end, the $150. unit is cheaper. (Oh, they would ship you "as is" computers for about $30. each...we had long discussions about that and absolutely decided the $120. of value they added was "cheap". They are real nice guys by the way. You can contact Willie Cade <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or Frank Goetz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Shucks...I can't get their URL to work. John Hibbs [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.bfranklin.edu ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>