Laptop - buying from auction

wazza

Friend wants to buy a laptop from auctions. has a budget of £150 max. Is there anything to look out for?

paddyrg

What kind of auction? Police recovery, government surplus, etc? Remember it is all sold as seen at those things, he may spend his money and get a doorstop, and typically secondhand laptops are overvalued by their settlers in my opinion!

Instead, how about a new Linux netbook with a warranty?

wazza

According to him the auction deals with office equipment and that the laptop will be on display and will be switched on.

paddyrg

Great, but beyond that, no warranty. Maybe he'll get a bargain, maybe not, but you will find savvy trade buyers might mean he pays closer to market rates than he's hoping. Personally, I probably wouldn't, too much to go wrong on a lappy and too many variables like memory type/ speed, processor specs graphics specs, etc - but at the very least, check for shiny keys indicating heavy use! Oh, and the battery will probably be shot away, so plan to use it on the charger only, or budget another £80 ish for a replacement depending on capacity and age.

wazza

Thanks, am aware of the battery life and checking for condition of the laptop. He plans to use it on the mains anyway.

Adviced him to take a cd along to make sure the cd drive works. Check operating software, any missing drivers, if it has wi-fi etc etc

Did advice him to buy new with guarantee. Any idea where he can get a cheap laptop just for university work?

paddyrg

http://www.expansys.com/asus-eeepc-700sdx-netbook-linux-white-800mhz-512mb-4gb-ssd-7-205456/ that will do for essays etc, anything else is icing. £99 inc VAT and warranty and working battery.