null Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 At work, we have an old Gateway Solo laptop, with a 13.25" screen, touch pad, win98, PII-mmx, 160MB RAM, 4GB hard drive. We just bought a brand-new newfangled laptop, so my work wants to get rid of the old one. I was thinking of offering $80 for it. I know it is too old & slow to play newer games on. It looks like it has 2 usb ports - I assume they are 1.1 since it is an old computer. There is an external numeric keypad that can be plugged into a ps2 port. There's also a generic ps2 mouse that can be plugged into it, to avoid using the touchpad... It has a network PCMICI card also. I was thinking about buying it for my 8-yr old son. He loves a lot of the old win95 & 98 games (many that don't work right on our win2k machine at home). I was thinking he could use this old laptop to play roller coaster tycoon and some other old games.... And maybe I could put a lightweight linux distro on it and have it dual-boot. My son is always bugging me to use my linux box - he likes to play supertux.... What do you think, $80 for a PII laptop - don't bother, or good deal.... ?? BTW - can laptops be "upgraded" ? I mean, if I decided to use it myself, I would want a bigger HD - say 20GB and more RAM. Or is it not cost-efficient to upgrade old laptops? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
congdonb Posted December 8, 2005 Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 (edited) null, I think $80 is too much for such a low end laptop computer. $10-$20 is about right and that is only if it has a good power adapter, and a good battery. Used good batteries are normally not available from any source for old laptops and new ones are rather expensive (about $100). Additionally, some companies have to pay the get rid of old IT equipment due to environmental rules against just throwing it in the landfills, so if you give them anything at all they are making out. If you do some research on the Gateway brand and model, BIOS, motherboard chipset, etc. you may find out what upgrade posibilities exist. BIOS on that laptop may not support 20GB hard drive that you are thinking about? Don't overlook what BIOS upgrades may be available for download from Gateway or the systemboard manuafacture. It is probably NOT cost effective to upgrade with new parts, but if you can find some used memory modules or a larger hard drive for a reasonable price it may be worth the purchase and upgrade to have a personal computer for your son, Be warned that laptops generally are not as generic as desktops when it come to parts, and you just can not always slam any old small form factor hard drive in. Double check the specs on the existing drive and the potential upgrade to ensure voltage etc. and connectors and adaptors will work. Don't forget to ask for any manuals, install media disks, carry case etc. which may also influence you decision to buy. Good Luck! -Bill Edited December 8, 2005 by congdonb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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