Hardware question from "fly-over country"
Cybe R. Wizard
cybe_r_wizard at earthlink.net
Tue Nov 29 04:03:46 UTC 2011
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
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