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Re: [LUG] Debian 7 and wifi

 

On 16/06/13 18:17, bad apple wrote:

Well, for the last gasp I would at least take off the bottom cover(s),
reseat the RAM and yank the HDD completely. Reboot from cold twice, once
normally and the second time with an external monitor attached (in case
it's the screen/inverter/GPU that's died). If you've still got nothing,
chuck it in the dead laptop pile and keep the HDD, which is the most
useful part of a dead laptop anyway. Maybe have a quick browse on Ebay
for your model to see how much the components might be worth to someone
else - the battery, charger and screen might all be worth a few quid if
you can be bothered taking it apart and packing up the bits for posting.

I really can't be bothered with all that now. As I said it was old when I was given it some years ago now and it had had a lot of use since I had it. There comes a time ....

The battery is long past its sell by date, in fact for a long time now I have used the machine permanently attached to the mains.

That website looks pretty good, but they seem expensive (as you'd expect
from a boutique type store). Barring specific requirements, I point all
my clients straight at the Dell refurb site personally when it comes to
buying laptops, and I buy a *lot* of laptops. The prices are pretty much
unbeatable and although it will come with an OS - Windows 7 or 8 - you
could go through the process of reclaiming the license cost if you can
be bothered. Approximately 50% of client laptops get immediately rebuilt
with Linux and in the cases where the existing Windows install isn't put
through a P2V conversion and dumped straight back onto the Linux
hypervisor, I back up the license keys and keep it in my rather large
store of valid Windows registrations. I think about 1% of my clients
have ever really given a shit about the few quids worth of "windows tax"
on their new Dell lappy and actually bother going through the effort of
getting a refund. Literally none of my business customers have ever
cared: we usually order business laptops for them and make sure they
come with the Pro or Enterprise versions they need in the first place
but even when they order a model that comes with Windows Home versions,
or they want an immediate Linux install, going through the effort and
added expense of dealing with a boutique reseller or no-OS provider just
isn't worth it.

Whatever you do, wait for a couple more weeks: the 4th gen Haswell chips
have just taken flight from Intel and although you might not be in the
market for something that new and expensive, the 3rd gen Ivy Bridge
chips will very shortly get a bit cheaper. Last thing: don't buy an
AMD-based laptop for any reason. In the workstation/server market, AMD
still have a lot going for them, mainly in the bang for buck category (I
have a quad socket, 64 core AMD 2U box in the garage rack that
absolutely destroys any comparable Intel system for value) but for
laptops, forget it. Get an Intel based laptop or regret it.

Cheers

Thanks for the advice. I have no intention of buying an AMD laptop. I have had a quick Google for Dell refurbs. I suppose you mean their own website? Anyway there are so many choices of so many different models, I wouldn't know where to start. Still looking,

Neil

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