Hardware question from "fly-over country"

[Cybe R. Wizard]

On Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:59:34 -0600
"Cybe R. Wizard" <cybe_r_wizard at earthlink.net> wrote:

> On Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:22:28 -0600
> Richard Owlett <rowlett at pcnetinc.com> wrote:
> 
> > I'm in RURAL SW Missouri. A local used/surplus computer 
> > store is offering a Dell Latitude D620 (4GB memory, 80GB 
> > hard drive, Intel Core Duo @ 2.4 GHz) for ~$500. It 
> > reportedly has the majority of manufacturer's warranty.
> > 
> > Any comments on how suitable a Linux platform this would be?
> > 
> > TIA
> > 
> Hiya, Richard, I'm in Jeff. County just south of St Louie.
> 
> I don't know about that particular box but...
> I bought Elder Daughter a top-of-the-line Dell laptop with all the
> goodies to take off to Rollins College in 2001.  Because she'd be a
> half-a-continent away I bought the on-site next-day service pack for
> the full four years.
> The box died before her second year completed.  A call got a service
> tech within a /week/.  He changed the hard drive.  No joy.  Numerous
> calls got a service tech (not the same one) within a week each
> time.  /NEVER/ was a tech there the next day.  He changed the hard
> drive and the screen (for some reason, the screen worked fine).  No
> joy.  She came home for summer break.  We called and called, got tech
> after tech, they all wanted to install a new hard drive.
> /After the whole summer break/ Dell finally admitted they should just
> give us a new box.  It came bare-bones without the extra DVD drive we
> originally ordered (that one would no longer fit the new box), the
> floppy drive (same problem of fit), the Zip drive (wouldn't fit the
> case), the extra battery (same fitting problem), the extra RAM and the
> large hard drive we had originally ordered.  
> 
> Their reason?  We were getting a CPU upgrade.
> 
> We didn't want a CPU upgrade; we wanted the functionality for which
> we had paid.  We wanted same-day, on-site service for which we'd paid.
> 
> We bought her a new Hewlett-Packard laptop in 2003 with which to
> finish college.
> 
> I'd never again sully my hands with a Dell.
> 
> The 2003 HP still works fine.
> 
> Of course, YMMV.  HTH.
> 
> Cybe R. Wizard

To be fair, the replacement Dell, although not suitable for her needs,
still works, too.  It just gets very little use.

Cybe R. Wizard
-- 
Strength through Unity.
Unity through faith.
	Adam Sutler