Tip for buying old hardware (was Re: [Techtalk] cross-platform, cross-browser testing)

[Conor Daly]

On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 01:39:07PM -0700 or so it is rumoured hereabouts, 
Andrea Landaker thought:
> 
> Failing that, a cheapo machine is always useful.  We were using my old Pentium 
> 120 for a DNS and mailserver and webserver for a long time, until one of its 
> 4 500K hard drives died, and we decided we didn't want to trust the other 3.  
> :-)  The biggest problem is *finding* a machine that is cheap enough to be 
> worth it, especially after shipping costs (that's why it's nice if you can 
> find a surplus computer store locally).  We found we could make a whole new 
> Duron 1 GHz system with decent parts for about $400, which was what most 
> people (locally) were trying to sell their old computers for.  

One way to get that _cheap_ secondhand PC is to watch the small ads for a
while:

o Take detailed note of machines that look interesting but overpriced.
o Possibly call and offer something realistic.
o Watch for the same machine appearing week after week in the small ads.
o When you judge it's been (unsuccessfully) on sale for long enough, call
  and make your offer.

That _should_ get you to the people who are starting to realise that their
PC's worth is what people are willing to _pay_ for it rather that some
figure based on what they _originally_ paid for it.

Conor (Who has _never_ bought a new PC (in one piece that is...))
-- 
Conor Daly <conor.daly at oceanfree.net>

Domestic Sysadmin :-)
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