posted on July 11, 2001 09:51:19 PM
Has anyone had any good deals with buying barebones computer systems off of ebay? My computer is about to die, and there seems to be pretty cheap prices on ebay. Are the prices to good to be true? Any suggestions?
posted on July 11, 2001 11:09:58 PM
Why? Are you looking for problems?
Lowend full systems with 17 inch monitors are less than $500 at traditional retail outlets. How much are you hoping to save?
[ edited by commentary on Jul 11, 2001 11:10 PM ]
posted on July 12, 2001 08:30:38 AM
Buying a clone from a company with high feedback is infinitely preferable to "the famous name brand". Even if you get a custom built PC locally, you're way ahead. There is no new leaps in technology here. The famous name brand is basically the winners of the "how cheap can we build them contests". PCs are commodity items. When you get the clone on Ebay or a local b&m store you get a machine which is infinitely more expandable, cheaper, more easily updated, and takes much less effort to repair. You will not save any $, but you'll get a better machine.
posted on July 12, 2001 09:13:45 AM
For a more positive opinion...
I've purchased the last half dozen computers for our business through eBay and Yahoo sellers and, with the exception of one questionable dealer on eBay, have gotten top notch products for a reasonable price....
On the questionable sale, I had a bad feeling about misreprestation, cornered the seller on it while the item was in transit, refused the shipment and charged-back the seller on my VISA...overall, a painless problem on my end...
One caveat...our business is completely run on Macs...
Personally, I've found users who sell their Macintosh stuff on eBay (I've sold a number of my machines there) to be of top drawer integrity...
Of course, this doesn't apply to 90+% of users out there who use Wintel stuff...the opinions above may indeed be accurate.
BTW, for users experiencing the latest AW/Half.com/realmedia pop-up and cookie assaults.... I didn't even notice the problems on our Macs...had to read about it here...
Check out your seller thoroughly and use a credit card to purchase whenever possible....
posted on July 12, 2001 09:30:46 AM
If you are looking for a current system with support, or more importantly a warranty, then you are talking about buying from a dealer (as opposed to the myriad of random individuals who also sell on ebay). Most dealer "prices" (starting bids, reserves, etc) on ebay tend to be the same as, or higher, than can often be found from other dealer sources such as web sites. Sometimes you get lucky and save some money from a dealer's auction, but there is fairly little profit margin on commodity barebones systems, so any dealer who is consistently selling them for much less on ebay than other venues is probably not going to be around very long.
If you don't need support/warranty, then perhaps you can find a deal here from an individual dumping their system for whatever they can get, but then you are likely to get whatever they are dumping, well-described and working...or not.
I'd be more tempted to buy an older/refurbished complete system from a known source (since these are often dumped for reasonably cheap prices), and if you feel the need to customize some of the components, sell the ones you don't want on ebay for the inflated prices you get there and use your own in place! At least then you get an operating system and guaranteed working system to start with.
good luck in any case.
[ edited by captainkirk on Jul 12, 2001 09:31 AM ]
posted on July 12, 2001 09:51:32 AM
I can't tell you the last time I bought something computer-related from a brick and mortar store. I put our new computer together with parts purchased from sellers on eBay and have had ZERO problems. I bought the case, motherboard, drive, video, sound, and RAM all from different sellers with the best prices. Our main PC is now a 1 ghz 384mb machine with two 30gig hard drives (mirrored) and a kick-butt GeForce video card and SBLive! sound. Where could you get all that for $800? And this was when 128mb DIMMS were still $70.
posted on July 12, 2001 10:26:59 AM
I purchased an old 486 just so I could play around with it (i.e. to learn how to upgrade myself) but that was a $50 investment. I would never buy a computer through ebay, because what if something went wrong? I like a warrantee.
My next computer may be purchased at Sears. I did that 7 years ago with a 486. They have an excellent warrantee. My cat chewed through the mouse cord (yeah, I know how funny that sounds) but you know what: they replaced the mouse! That is the kind of service I want when I buy an electronic product, too many things can go wrong. If people are writing about problems with a $2.50 video tape, imagine what can go wrong with something as complicated as a computer!
posted on July 12, 2001 10:29:10 AM
The cat chewing through your mouse cord???
That was above and beyond for Sears. I wouldn't expect that from anyone. Not because companies aren't accomodating, but because that would have been my fault, not theirs. I would never even think to go to them to ask to replace the mouse.
posted on July 12, 2001 10:38:40 AM
Yeah, pretty funny! When I purchased, they made it clear that this was covered for basically everything (they said that if I threw it off the roof, they would not cover it) - They were much more expensive, and even today the computer works well. Never had a problem except for the mouse (although I have now replaced it with several computers, I use it for a scanning station)
I think I brought in the mouse, mentioned I had the warrantee on the computer, but I thought I would have to pay for the mouse. They said it was covered, and I did not argue! Maybe they were trying to impress me? I don't know, it was a small town sears
posted on July 12, 2001 11:08:14 AM
The "warranty" is another reason to buy a clone.
1st of all, with any PC, if it arrives working it will run for years. If you buy a PC because you have the manufacturer's tech support, forget it. The first thing that went out with the price wars of years ago was tech support.
Assuming one wants to wait 30-60 min on the phone in the first place, you wind up with someone with a brain the size of a gerbil's whose only answer is usually "re-install everything". They know less than zero. In the event of a hardware failure they send Larry, Moe and Curly to the rescue.
So go to the corner "computer guys" (with good rep) and have them slap you together a computer. It may wind up the same price as a Dell, Gateway, etc., but it will have a power supply twice as big with double the available slots and drive bays and probably the ability to double it's performance in the future via an upgrade to faster CPU.
posted on July 12, 2001 11:15:08 AM
Oh, I know tech customer support is a real joke. I helped a friend by a computer package and the printer was bad - Had a defect and it needed to be replaced. She called them several times, they had her running around in circles, such as uninstall the driver, replace the cord, etc. I took the printer, and saw that there was a physical defect that prevented it from printing. Even knowing this, it took several tries to get through to them. I finally decided I could not play the nice guy anymore, and started playing the part of really irate customer. I demanded to speak to a couple of levels of supervisors, when finally they agreed they would send a replacement. I asked them how to send the current one back, and they said to not send it back, but to discard it.
I learned that since these are $50 printers anyway, they will try to frustrate you as much as possible so that you will go out an just buy a new one. For those few who get annoying enough, they will send out a new printer. I guess it can be used to take advantage of them, but it is not worth the trouble for a $50 printer to get one for free.
Still, I think most people would have given up with the clueless tech support.
The kind of support I am talking about is the seller, not the manufacturer. In this case, Sears stood behind the computer, I would never (as long as I had the Sears Warrantee) have to deal with Packard Bell. If they could not fix it, they would simply replace it. No hassle, unlike the manufacturer who trains their reps to hassle..
posted on July 12, 2001 12:00:02 PM
Sometimes they are refurbished by factory techs. The listings will normally say so. There's no reason why you'll have anymore problem then if you bought new.
posted on July 12, 2001 04:22:03 PM
It all depends on what you want the computer for. Basic email, and internet access? Then a basic ebay barebones system will do it for you. But keep in mind with those systems everything is usually hardwired to the motherboard. Modem craps out? Throw it in the trash.
For a few bucks more check out Falcon Northwest (do a Yahoo! search to get the URL) and look at a Talon system. You'll pay a few extra dollars for it but you'll have the best available built by folks with a passion for it.
posted on July 12, 2001 05:03:32 PM
I bought a used PowerMac 9500 on eBay awhile back. The seller was very nice, it was a personal machine with a new power supply and he graciously advised me how to go about installing more RAM in it (MACS are easy to use, but this particular deal was not--if you can do this, you qualify as an official computer techie--definitely not for the faint-hearted).
In general, you might save some money, but I don't think it's worth the hassle. You can save money on lots of computer related stuff, but I recommend buying from a local dealer or one of the better mail order places like Dell or Gateway.
posted on July 12, 2001 06:38:18 PM
I bought a IBM thinkpad off ebay it arrived stuffed in a priority mail box in fact it didn't fit and seller just used a bunch of tape to cover the part that didn't fit in the box. Absulutley no padding other than the case
It worked fine no damage..Says a lot about thinkpads.
I have bought several other computers from egghead.com they have 24 hour auctions just find what you want and bid the price you want daily and you usually can do pretty well and you do get a warranty.
If I were in the market for a pc today i would check egghead first
posted on July 12, 2001 08:53:50 PM
Who needs upgrade? Buy what you need today. Upgrade by buying a new computer in a couple of years. It always cost a fortune to upgrade an old machine and you still end up with capability of the new ones.
Also, when you buy new machines, you get the latest OS & bundled software already with it. Try upgrading your windows or office or whatever and see if you come out ahead.
Extra bay, extra power supply, disk drives, etc... who cares. You don't need them for the net, home or most business applcations. And if you are trying to setup servers, then you definitely should not be buying on ebay.
Don't forget to factor in shipping when buying off of ebay. Usually, shipping is higher than local sales tax. If buying for business use, you end up paying both the shipping and sales tax even with mail order.
Oh, by the way, when you buy computers on ebay, you never know if they monkey around to jack up the CPU.
Regarding local guys, how can they possibly be cheaper than the large resellers? Margins are so thin and the big boys can get the components cheaper than the little guy. Not to mention the big boys can assemble it more efficiently and cheaper.
Oh by the way, how many local guys are still in business? Good warranty there.
posted on July 12, 2001 09:02:32 PM
Compaq also sells refurbished pc on their website,search for compaq refurbished pc and some of them are just as good as new.
read the posts on how people got ripped on used laptops here,give yourself some peace of mind,give paypal.billpoint and your cc company a break!!!!!!!!!!!
Upgrades are always cheaper on clones. You buy that special price Duron 700 today and next year buy that Athlon 1.4k processor that dropped like a rock and plug it in for double the performance.
I upgrade dozens of OS monthly. 1 problem in a 100.
You don't need those extra slots or bays, except if maybe you buy that new scanner and then there is no slot for the card. Sure you could always add that ZIP as an external drive but then you have it floppng around on the desk and of course it's MUCH slower as an external.
Modern CPUs are automatically configured. You cannot "jack them up" unless you buy overclocker motherboards and modify the CPU. This is MORE expensive so nobody is doing this to rip you off.
The "big boys" can easily be beat because the local guy buys a power supply that is produced in the millions.
Then there are the endless "fun" stories that after the lightning storm, that blown p/s in that Buck Rogers in the 25th century looking IBM desktop is $265.00. The poor "local guy" fixes yours for $55.00.
Been there, done that HUNDREDS of TIMES.
Oh, and by the way, in 2 years IBM is going to tell you to go scratch in terms of fixing their little dog, but the "NEW" local guy replacing the one you got your machine from is still going to have that $55.00 p/s.
posted on July 12, 2001 09:38:08 PM
If you buy what you need, you don't need upgrades. Upgrades are for the suckers who thinks they are better off by saving a couple of dollars today or who thinks they need the latest and greatest gizmo.
So you do upgrades with no problems. So what. You drop a higher CPU in an older machine. So what. Not every component in that machine can take advantage of the new CPU speed.
Oh - by the way, how does upgrading the CPU upgrade all the software? Or you have some special bundle pricing there also?
Buy what you need. When you need something more powerful, buy a new computer. I do not sell computers and have no interest in pushing new machines or upgrades. However, I have never seen upgrades to be cost efficient on a long term basis.
You are WAY WAY over your head when discussing computers.
The external bus speeds in a PC are the same. Components are not "matched" to the CPU. The CPU speed is its' internal speed.
What does software have to do with the CPU??? You use the same Word in a 1.4k as you do in a 700. The document just loads, spellchecks etc, faster.
Dells, Compaqs, etc are made so as to force you to buy a new machine. They have limited upgradablilty and they charge you a fortune. This is called marketing. They make you buy a new machine if you are stupid enough to do it.
Upgrades are not for suckers they basically require half a brain to figure out that in buying a machine that last 10% of performance costs a third more. So you buy that 90% machine and when the curve moves again you spend $150 and bring it back to 90%
posted on July 12, 2001 10:01:57 PM
Well this is what I need. (I am the original poster) A network card because I use Road Runner cable modem. I don't need a dialup modem. A AMD chip between 500-1000mhz. No CD rom - I'll use my old CDR. 128 megs ram or 256. 10-20gb Hard Drive. And obviously everything else that is needed to get a computer booted up. Now are there any suggestions?
Bestbuy special - eMachine around $475+. Don't have ad in front of me but I think it was:
660+mhz Intel Celeron chip, 64meg ram, 30gig drive, 17 inch monitor, 48x CD Rom. You can upgrade to 128meg ram, slightly faster CPU and DVD for $100 more. I think Roadrunner will supply you with the NIC card. Also, I think you still want the modem in case Roadrunner cable is down and you can at least dial in. Anyway, it automatically comes with a modem.
I think this is a real lowend machine and some users do not care for the emachine line. I have used them before and they have been okay in the past.
Moderator - I will cease answering the other member's post and stay on topic here.
posted on July 12, 2001 10:24:30 PM
You can only get something like this custom built. HP, Compaq, etc sell AMD machines but even with minimum configs come with CD's, a garbage modem. Add'l most will package a really crappy monitor with it.
If you go to the local PC's r US, you could probably get something like this brand new for $400. Probably a Duron 800, 128 meg, floppy, 10gig, net card, kb/mouse.
Look around. If you go someplace and they see endless problems in what you want, go somewhere else. What you want is not unreasonable and is done every day.
posted on July 13, 2001 06:34:17 AM
Just a suggestions - but there are great deals out in the different so called 'big box' stores, and many have those 12 or even 18 months same as cash deals. I bought my laptop that way and couldn't be more pleased.
On top of that, 30 days after I bought the thing, my dog ripped it out of my hands while running toward the door (hubby coming home-he feeds the dogs...) and it yanked out of my hands and crashed to the floor. For a laptop I usually buy extended warranty, and I had. BUT they don't cover the screen and it was smashed - over 800$ of damage.
I went to the store, thinking what do I have to loose - and they simply replaced the whole computer for me - not their problem or obligation, but they did. And the new one I got was a better machine, worth $150 more and they gave it to me for the same price.
So the bottom line is sh...t happens and BM stores can help.
