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On 16/06/13 18:17, bad apple wrote:
You will almost certainly find that you can get a better spec'ed model with windows on it for a better price. My laptop from over a year ago was £50 cheaper with windows than the nearest equivalent os free. I hang my head in shame that I gave up trying to get the license money back after about ten hours of banging on a brick wall....On 16/06/13 17:41, Neil Winchurst wrote:The latter. It just sits there and the only light is the power light. It is just not worth bothering with it. One bit of luck at least, my wife was using it until recently. She had another laptop of her own which she had not used for some time. About a month ago I suggested that I set up her original laptop for her (it did have XP on it, no more). So she is using her original one which is still working fine. How lucky is that? It may be of interest to you, and others on the list. I am looking for a machine without an OS of course. I have come across a UK company which will let you configure your machine for them to build to your spec. And this includes no OS. Here is the URL http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk Have a look. I have never contacted them yet, so it is just for information. Some list members may know about them already. Regards NeilWell, 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. 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
Tom te tom te tom -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq