> Perhaps a reasonable spec second hand > one might be better value, but I'm just unsure > of ex lease laptops > (battery life?? and limited guarantees cf desktops which I can fix myself)
I have had a couple of s/h IBM ThinkPads. An R40 & now a T41. They have both run Gentoo Linux very well, if not exactly faultlessly. Be sure to have a CPU speed controller module installed , the latest X-11 server and enable "DynamicClocks" in xorg.conf so the machine runs as cool as possible. Battery life is reduced. I get about an hour's use out of the T41, whereas a new battery is supposed to give about 3 hours. The battery is replaceable from 3rd. party vendors if that's what you desire. The firm Computer Future guarantee their ex-lease laptops for 3 months. They honour the guarantee too. The first T41 was replaced just before the end of the 3 months because the keyboard stopped working properly. The T41 cost approximately $700. The usual HTH & YMMV apply to the above. On 4/7/08, stringer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi guys 'n gals, > > I've got a little money spare at the moment so am looking at a cheap laptop. > > Is there anything I should steer clear of? > > Mostly I do word processing and a little spreadsheeting (Open Office will > do) as well as email and browsing. > > I'm not sure whether to go wholly linux, or keep the Vista licence for > sundrys (like the multifuncion in the office which might not work under > linux). Can one still get a refund on an unused MS licence? > > Dick SMith advertised an Acer Aspire AS5315 for $798 less $149 cashback, > but none left at Riccarton yesterday (Celeron processor, 512 MB ram, 80 Gig > HDD, 15.4" display, DVD multi drive Visto Home licence) > The guy tried to sell me the next model up for $1099 less $99 which had 1 > gig ram, twice the hard drive and a dual core processor. > They also had an Asus Z99LE at $999. Dual core 1 gig etc etc > > Dell have an Inspiron 1525 for $999 Dual core, 1 gig etc etc > > I don't need it for gaming or watching videos (though that would be nice > :-|) > > Perhaps a reasonable spec second hand one might be better value, but I'm > just unsure of ex lease laptops (battery life?? and limited guarantees cf > desktops which I can fix myself) > > Thoughts anyone? > D J H STRINGER > Barrister > > For all your legal work; > > P O Box 1386 > CHRISTCHURCH > NEW ZEALAND > > Phone 64 - 3 - 366 1152 > FAX 64 - 3 - 366 1151 > > -- Sincerely etc. Christopher Sawtell
