Ebay shopping for a new Laptop

[Braveheart]

I have never shopped Ebay and it makes me really nervous but I found a laptop that looks like a great deal. Its apparently brand new in the box at a really low price. How risky is this type of thing. I only have 12 hours to put a bid in and am nervous as hell. Any input? Good or bad?

[lindaetterlee]

I am a ebay queeen lol. If you provide the link. I will take a look.

First look at the seller. How is their rating? How long have they been selling? What is their other inventory like? What payment methods do they support? What shipping and handling charges?

Alot of little things. Also look at how long the auction has been open. If it seems too good to be true it just might.

[Hegelian]

If this is an auction and not Buy-It-Now only, all the bidding will come in the last minute, and the sale price will probably be much closer to normal discount prices.

Also, check the details, especially how much RAM and the size and speed of the hard drive. This is where most budget laptops cut their corners. That, and using "integrated" graphics like Intel's i915 chipset for laptops.

[Nova]

Just be careful not to end up like this dude:  http://www.amirtofangsazan.blogspot.com/

*Warning: adult material

[Brynne]

I am reading that blog right now. That is hilarious. Great revenge story! 

[Nova]

Great revenge, yup.   

I just read last night that Amir is going to sue the buyer for libel.  He also claims the blogger hacked into his email account and that the pictures were not his.  Hard to claim they are not his when he is in some of the photos!  The article says his family has been shamed and his father basically said Amir is not welcome back at home.  The trials and tribluations of a perv...dear oh dear.

[Mirelly]

Delicious revenge story. Much funnier, too, than the old fake powerbook scam tale at zug.com

[Braveheart]

Well, I bit the bullet. Scarey stuff this Ebay buying! Got myself a new,sealed in the box, Alienware Area51 m7700 for $1200US. 7 day return policy if its not to my liking. Specs are as follows:

Pentium 4 with Hyperthreading  3.4 ghz
100gb Hard Drive Windows XP Home SP2
2048 MB DDR RAM
256mb ATI Mobility Radeon 900x(?) I think
CD-RW DVD Combo Drive
2-9 Cell Lithium Batteries with charger
AC adapter
Floppy Drive
Built In Video Camera
Card Reader
Wireless Network Card
4 USB ports
Carrying Case

Not sure what else. Seems pretty loaded. Should run Sims2 pretty successfully.
So? Is this a decent deal if its really what I get? Freaking Scarey to have to trust a total stranger. His selling and buying history was very good. Very positive comments from others.We are working with an Ebay agent and the agent said he would hold back all payment until I receive the product and am satisfied.

[Brynne]

$1200.00???

My laptop was $1900.00 and doesn't have half that stuff. 

[nectere]

Admittedly I dont know a whole lot about laptops but is a 100gb HD standard for them? Seems kinda low...

[Brynne]

That's about right. Mine is only 80.

[Nova]

You got an excellent deal..good on ya    The hard drive isn't small at all for a laptop.
I'm jealous of all your ram...for me to upgrade would cost around $300. 

[Hegelian]

Admittedly I dont know a whole lot about laptops but is a 100gb HD standard for them? Seems kinda low...

I think it depends on where you are in the product range. For "budget" machines (under ~US$1200), 40GB is probaby "standard." Indeed; for this particular Alienware model, which is not a budget machine, the base hdd is 60 GB, 5400 RPM. But unless you're doing video editing, have a large number of hi-rez photos (or a massive collection of jpegs), or are hoarding MP3s on your laptop, 100GB should be more than plenty. I have three 36-GB hard drives in my desktop machine and I've got a total of 54 GB free—and I probably have more stuff installed than most people here (but the only MP3s I have are the ones I use for the game).

Larger-capacity drives can have a bit of a performance advantage due to the data being packed more tightly, but for most people the rotational speed will be a more important performance parameter. "Standard" laptop drives are still 4200 RPM, the midrange drives are 5400 RPM (the minimum you should accept, really), and high-end drives are 7200 RPM. By comparison, the standard for IDE/ATA and SATA desktop drives is 7200 RPM and the high-end is 10K; for SCSI drives, 10K is now standard and 15K is the high end.

If this machine really is new (and not a counterfeit), then it is certainly a good deal. In this configuration, the same machine direct from Alienware would be about $2800. The current model has a 17-inch display and nVidia graphics, and the 100-GB hard-drive option spins at 7200 RPM. Interestingly, Alienware declines to include the weight in the specs, but expect it to be heavy. Also expect it to be hot and loud (from the CPU fan or fans) because it uses a desktop CPU and not a low-power-consumption Pentium M (Centrino)—it will probably be too hot to actually use on your lap.   

You will probably want to verify the components once you have it in your posession. You can see most of this in Windows Device Manager, but a free utility like CPU-Z will show you the exact CPU model and RAM modules.

[nectere]

well I learn something new every day! Thanks! Excellent deal then!

I wanted a 10krpm drive, sadly I am still stuck with 7200. meh...but its a 250gb so I guess I will have to settle for now. (desktop)