Or more specifically, Used netbook buying. I want to stay around $150. I am not too terribly interested in the hardware, but a SSD and bluetooth would be nice, Wifi is a must . Im more concerned with whats gonna offer the best bang for the buck like battery life and processor speed? I see a lot of Dell mini 9 and 10s out there around that price point on fleabay. What are some red flags I need to look out for? Ive never owned a laptop, so this will be my giant leap in. Thanks for your help!!
In my experience, the batteries on older used laptops are usually DOA. New batteries cost about a hunnerd bucks, so budget for that. You might be considering a newer machine and that hopefully won't be an issue for you.
...search Cl and watch it... email when you see something...
I don't see much advantage on the SSD... the 1.6 atom does nicely (i'm typing this on a acer aspire one d250 I got for $130... a short time doing a system restore (alt + f10) and spent another $35 for a 9 cell battery (10-12hrs of battery life depending on use) and I have a great travel laptop
the 1.6atom + XP and the 10" screen = a great little tool... hook it up to an external monitor and keyboard/mouse and it does nicely for papers and such...
netbooks tend to be easy to find used... the small nature people either love em or hate em... IMHO they have their place but doesn't work for everyone... but the price people think they can make due with only a netbook... few months later they figure out not so much...
Yeah, I really just want a music/Email/Surfing/mobile entertainment machine. No database manipulation or video editing. I just want to be able to watch Empire Strikes Back when Im laying over in Albuquerque, and check my email while Im on the can.
Most netbooks I've seen don't have a DVD drive. You might keep that in mind. I'm typing this on a Asus EEE 1000HE. I bought an external DVD for it and almost never use my big laptop anymore. For web and word processing and photo storage it works great. I have even gotten to where I prefer the smaller keyboard. Battery life is in the 7-9 hour range. I want to say it was $250 new so finding something similar at your price point shouldn't be too hard.
Thanks Toyman - I am thinking I really like the Dell 10" books. I can get one off their website for right at $300 new, and about 270 scratch and dent/refurb. I may just save a few more duckets and buy new. Those prices dont include office software though, so I will have to keep that in mind, but that software isnt too hard to come by - I have cousins in college 
Really, used, this time of year?
The last two netbooks I bought were $199 for Acer. I found them at Target around Thanksgiving/Christmas.
My advise would be to get up early on the next few Sunday mornings to read the Sunday paper advertisements then hit the stores early to get your hands on the limited supply offer.
You may also want to search through www.slickdeals.com
Here is radio shack black friday at $180
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2333885
I dont think id pay $150 for a used one with how cheap new ones are.
Travis_K wrote: I dont think id pay $150 for a used one with how cheap new ones are.
This. ^
I bought a used laptop about 7 years back when there was more of a price differential. (I'm posting on it right now!) I wouldn't make the same choice in today's market - the OEMs are practically giving them away now.
Pumpkin Escobar wrote: Those prices dont include office software though...
Mine didn't come with office software either. Open Office has done everything I need. Free is always a good thing.
my dad works at a repair shop... he highly recommends acer netbooks... they sell tons of em and rarely see them come back...
again my big thing... XP and 6 cell battery... beyond that it's not a big deal... win7 seems to run well (especialy with an extra gig of ram) but win7 limits you (no changing backgrounds on desktop for one)...
people have mentioned this is a good time to buy new... add to the fact that the new ones have better (larger) keyboards and larger touchpads... so new would be a good way to go...
I picked up a USB dvd multi burner for less then $20 (waited for a refurb)... for movies you'll def want headphones... or speakers (USB powered ones would be a good addition) as netbooks spks tend to suck)
oh ya... and google chrome is where it's at on netbooks... still prefer firefox on the big screen though...
The netbooks are much more cheaply built than most "normal laptops" so be aware of parts like the hinges getting sloppy on a used one.
I went with an ultraportable over a standard size laptop or netbook: 13" screen, dual core turion, ATI video, ~4 hour battery life, ~$500 new. I didn't like the cheapness or performance of the netbooks; it runs SolidWorks + Matlab apps without a hitch and can play HD video at <30% throttle. 
Also note that SSD's don't increase battery life. I did a bunch of research on them thinking one in a laptop would be more power efficient than a typical hard drive, but the current technology actually draws more power.
Yep, I am thinking about just waiting on the good day after thanksgiving type of deals, saving a few extra bucks before I buy, and get something I will be happy with that also comes with backup discs and a warranty. I am Dell Biased, so I have been looking at their offerings. They have some stuff available with XP still, so that helps. I see a lot of people who push Acer stuff too. Im guessing that as minimalist as these systems are, theres not a whole lot to differentiate the companies offerings. I do plan on purchasing an external CD/DVD drive. And now that I see what a large capacity SS drive will set me back, I am OK with what an oem 100+ gig normal drive offers/$.
donalson wrote: oh ya... and google chrome is where it's at on netbooks... still prefer firefox on the big screen though...
On this Acer Netbook I run Foxfire. I highly recommend the add-on known as Classic Compact which makes Foxfire look good on the little screen.
pumpkin... I don't know of any new computer that comes with a disc anymore... you have to burn em...
as for as reliability... I figured the same... they all have basically the same parts... but dad still pushes the acer... but i'd go with whatever was cheapest lol...
JRW... i've got firefox on all my computers... just installed that plugin and it looks pretty good... but uses a little more real estate of the screen even with removing the menu bar... but using the f11 full screen is better with FF (lets you get to the tabs easily)... but chrome seems to run better on the netbook... in the end it's all choice though :)... and thanks for that plugin tip
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