Is this a good deal on a notebook?

bachdog

Member
May 22, 2001
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On December 17th I was in Circuit City and saw an "open-box" Compaq Notebook on sale. It was a demo version that was put away for awhile until older demos sold and then put back out. The price was $839, but I talked the manager down to $739. There's also a $100 rebate for it, so the final price is $639 plus tax. It comes with a full one year warranty. Here are the specs:

Processor

Mobile AMD® Athlon? XP-M Processor 2200+ with PowerNow!? Technology1

Processor Cache

256KB (L2)

Memory

512MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 256MB) at 266MHz; Maximum Memory 1024MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB)5

Video Graphics

ATI® MOBILITY? RADEON? 4X AGP and 3D architecture

Video Memory

64MB DDR SDRAM (shared)5

Hard Drive

40GB enhanced-IDE2

Floppy Disk Drive

External USB Floppy Drive available for U.S. customers via hpshopping.com or local retailers for non-U.S. customers

Multimedia Drive

DVD+CD-RW Combo (CD-read 24x; CD-write 8x; CD-rewrite 8x; DVD-read 8x)3

Display

15.0" XGA TFT (1024 x 768) display

Fax/Modem

Integrated v.90/v.92 56KB modem (RJ-11 connector)4

Network Card

Integrated Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)

Sound

Internal stereo speakers

Keyboard

88-key

Pointing Device

Touch Pad with on/off and dedicated scroll up/down surface

PC Card Slots

1 Type I/II/III PC card slot
CardBus-enabled


Total External Ports

2 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 1.1
1 Parallel (25-pin)
1 Serial
1 PS/2 keyboard/mouse
1 headphone-out
1 microphone-in
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 TV-Out (S-video)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)
1 DC-in (AC adapter)


Dimensions

12.96" (L) x 10.72" (W) x 1.57" (H)

Weight

7.25 lb.6

Security

Kensington MicroSaver lock slot
User and system passwords


Power

75W AC adapter
8-Cell Lithium-Ion
low battery warning


Software

Operating System
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Microsoft Outlook® Express
Security and Support: Symantec Norton AntiVirus® 2002 90 days live update (on CD)
Multimedia
InterVideo® WinDVD® (DVD player)
Windows Media Player
Roxio Easy CD Creator
Productivity and Finance
Microsoft Works 6.0
Microsoft Money 2003
Internet Solutions7
Easy Internet Set-up
Microsoft Internet Explorer
MSN® dial-up
AOL® dial-up, cable, DSL
EarthLink dial-up, cable, DSL, satellite

I have until December 31st to return it, but it seems pretty nice. Do you think I got a good deal?
 

Winchester

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2003
4,965
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You might want to check on that rebate, most rebates are not valid with "Open Box" items.
 

axemanxt40

Senior member
May 13, 2003
488
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Best Buy has one by this company I have never heard before with fairly similiar specs to yours. I think the big points are 256 RAM in the Best Buy one, and a weaker video card.

Medion Notebook

It $ 849.99 with 250 bucks of rebates, however it is sold out at the moment. But you might wanna keep an eye out for it...while the rebates are good.
 

bachdog

Member
May 22, 2001
60
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The rebate printed out with the receipt which mentioned the open box, so I don't believe there will be a problem. It carries the full warranty, so it's different than a refurbished item. Hopefully I won't have a problem, but if I do then I will be raising hell at the CompUSA.