Help buying a dirt-cheap notebook computer

April 10, 2008 1:55 PM

I'm looking for an inexpensive, used notebook computer for a 10 year old. It needs to be able to run >= Windows XP, but it will be used mostly for word processing and wireless internet access. No games (at least not as a hardware requirement spec). Ideally something around $100-150

My kid asked for a notebook for their birthday the other day, and my initial reaction was 'no way, too expensive'. But I got to thinking that this is something that they will use quite a bit, and I want to encourage their embracing of useful technologies. They are homeschooled, so I can see it being quite useful for projects they are working on.

However, I don't want to break the bank on it.

Are there reputable places online to make such a purchase? Is it better to go to a local shop? What should I be looking for?

Thank you.

posted by GernBlandston to computers & internet (17 comments total)

First let me say you probably want to spend a little more than that on an item your kid will be using for a few years. $300 would be more reasonable.

Overstock has some good deals, but your best bet is likely eBay if you want to go really dirt cheap on quality items, although you have to do your homework before you buy.

A nice kid-friendly Eee might do it for you at $300 from Tiger.

You are almost guaranteed to pay much, much more at a local shop than online for comparable products.
posted by ostranenie at 2:08 PM on April 10, 2008

If you're not hung up on something new, an old IBM ThinkPad would work just great. I have an X31 running XP and Ubuntu and it's a nice solid machine. I think I got it used on EBay for $200-ish.
posted by jessamyn at 2:16 PM on April 10, 2008

Look on craigslist. I recently sold a 2 year old laptop there for $200. (an 1.6ghz Turion acer)

I'm sure you can find lots of used laptops for your budget. Also keep in mind that XP will easily run on a P3 800.
posted by mphuie at 2:19 PM on April 10, 2008

How old is your kid? Is he/she likely to be interested in the visual aspects of computing, for example photos or creating art? If so, then you might want to pay attention to how much memory the computer has.
posted by amtho at 2:28 PM on April 10, 2008

I got a used, off-lease laptop from geeks.com a couple years ago. Look for "refurbished." If you go to ebay, you can configure the search and only look for laptops in your price range.
posted by theora55 at 2:48 PM on April 10, 2008

I would get a cheap older computer with a dead battery on eBay and then just get a new replacement battery. The batteries are usually only good for a few years anyway, and sticking your son with a laptop that only lasts 15 or 30 minutes when unplugged will be an annoyance.
posted by lockle at 3:08 PM on April 10, 2008

What about a powerbook? You can pick up a used aluminium powerbook for pretty darn cheep. Under $300 for a 12" and less if you want to get one with a dead HDD, battery or other parts...
posted by subaruwrx at 3:15 PM on April 10, 2008

Be careful about used and older laptops. I have found that laptops have a life of about 3-5 years. Typically 3 years. That being said, I'm using a Dell Inspiron 8600 (1.6GHz Centrino) that was a hand-me-down at work and probably about 5 years old now. I'm able to play World of Warcraft just fine on it (it has dedicated video) and I see on eBay there two of them for less than 100. Which is funny because I think my company paid something like $6000 for the one I'm currently using. Surely you can find a good deal on yesteryears models.
posted by nickerbocker at 3:26 PM on April 10, 2008

Nickerbocker is correct, in my experience. Laptops self-destruct after a few years. Some part of the power controller gives out, or the LCD stops working, or mysterious intermittent compoent failures make windows crash at random. It doesn't matter much what brand it is; they all die, and they're never economical to fix.

There are very few fully-working five-year-old laptops. If you do happen to find one, you're setting your kid up for disapointment when it kicks the bucket after a few months.

So why get one? There are *plenty* of working five-year-old desktop PCs, and there are bargains to be had. You'll easily get a 1.0+ GHz machine with 512MB of RAM, XP, and a decent CRT monitor for $200.

Even if you do have a fault in a desktop machine, they are all based on generic, replacable components, and any computer store, or the geeky kid next door, or even you yourself can generally restore them to functionality for minimal cost.
posted by thparkth at 3:48 PM on April 10, 2008

Secondhand laptops tend to have dead or dying batteries. If you scope out the price of a new battery and pay accordingly when you buy the laptop you should be okay.

Many brands of laptops find some way to completely fail way sooner than they should, but not all. Avoid: Dell, Sony, Acer, Twinhead, HP/Compaq. Look for: Fujitsu, Asus, Toshiba, IBM/Lenovo.
posted by krisjohn at 4:01 PM on April 10, 2008

I second the craigslist option. There are deals all over the place. In fact, I'm shopping around for a 2nd laptop for myself, and I check craigslist every day. For 200 bucks, you should be able to find something halfway decent that your kid will be able to use.
posted by Geppp at 4:11 PM on April 10, 2008

I have an excellent IBM Thinkpad T23 that's probably at least five years old... It still runs great (with linux of course)
posted by majikstreet at 4:13 PM on April 10, 2008

The battery issue is a non-issue of you, uh, plug it into the wall.

The kid does not need a laptop so he can park his ass in a seat at TED and live blog for Wired. He lives in a house, he goes to school in a house, and the house presumably has outlets in every room in which he would care to compute.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:46 PM on April 10, 2008

Old 2nd hand Thinkpad + new battery.

Those things are tanks and last forever. I ended up with a Lenovo Thinkpad this year and I highly doubt I'll ever buy anything other than a Thinkpad. The old IBMs are reputedly even more reliable.
posted by porpoise at 7:29 PM on April 10, 2008

Contrary to krisjohn's experience, I've always had good luck with older Compaqs (pre-HP merger). I have an m700 (P3-650) which is over 7 years old and is still running fine - it runs XP well. At work I've had Compaq laptops (well , the first one I had was the original lugable) for over 20 years now.
posted by rfs at 7:44 PM on April 10, 2008

Why does it need to be a laptop?

Also, if you're scouring CL, it's easy to set up RSS feeds of the posts in, say, the computer listings. Makes for easy updates and early catches.
posted by craven_morhead at 10:48 AM on April 11, 2008

Just chiming in that I have always had good luck with 2nd hand laptops. I am typing this on a 6yro model, and the two before it have been handed down to my kids and still work.
Admittedly, the one prior to those now has a flaky keyboard, but it is getting on for 13 yro.
All mine have been Apples or Toshibas.
posted by bystander at 6:18 AM on April 13, 2008