buying a laptop

paddyc

hey

i am looking into buying a laptop, what questions should I be aksing.

Its 2nd hand.

thanks paddy


ps I know a bit about them so questions like RAM, battery life etc are covered already.

L5

How much of the warranty is left..

blorg

Check out the screen - move it through all the angles it will go and make sure that the picture remains stable. A damaged LCD cable (power or video) is one of the most common problems with old laptops (although it's also one of the easiest problems to fix).

You mention that you are aware of battery life - I don't know if you are aware that it substantially declines with laptop age, often to the point of being absolutely non-existent This depends on the battery type and useage - NiMh are worse than Li-ion.

Check all the keys on the keyboard - I've had laptops where keys have stopped working and it is much more difficult to change the keyboard on a laptop than on a desktop.

Check that all the ports are working; bring along a USB mouse, ideally plug into an external monitor, external keyboard, network, modem, etc. etc.

CyberGhost

asking him what's the closing price

also check that the screen doesn't have any dead pixels! they will annoy you!

blorg

Also check that all the manufacturer-specific system software is working, to change the screen brightness, manage power, etc. I saw a laptop recently where the OS had been upgraded, this software was gone, and so the screen was permanently set on the 'dark' setting.

HarryD

You might wanna check hardware compatability with Linux
(if yer interested)
especially built-in modem/NIC, and sound.

R