Renting a laptop?

[TangoJuliet]

I am starting a new job in about a month and I have to go to another state for about 2 months for training. I sold my desktop computer months ago to buy an apple computer but I am holding off on that until Leopard comes out and have been using my wife's notebook since.

I told my wife I was going to take the notebook and she could use the iMac (that I will buy before I leave) while I was gone but she didnt like that idea.

So now....is there any way I could lease/rent a notebook for the 2 months I am away or should I just buy a cheapo from Best Buy/Circuit City, a refurb from apple or dell or one off ATOT's FS/FT? If I was to buy one I really dont want to spend more then $300 or so.

 

[BigJ]

For $300, you're probably looking at used off of Craiglist/FS/Ebay. If you had the time, you could've waited for Black Friday, but you start the training in a month.

Try the Dell Outlet. I haven't paid attention to the laptops there, but you might be able to score something.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: BigJ
For $300, you're probably looking at used off of Craiglist/FS/Ebay. If you had the time, you could've waited for Black Friday, but you start the training in a month.

Try the Dell Outlet. I haven't paid attention to the laptops there, but you might be able to score something.

Yeah, I been looking there...nothing yet. Is there any way to lease a notebook thru dell or anything or is that just foolish?

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK

Originally posted by: BigJ
For $300, you're probably looking at used off of Craiglist/FS/Ebay. If you had the time, you could've waited for Black Friday, but you start the training in a month.

Try the Dell Outlet. I haven't paid attention to the laptops there, but you might be able to score something.

Yeah, I been looking there...nothing yet. Is there any way to lease a notebook thru dell or anything or is that just foolish?

I know they definitely lease to businesses, but I don't know anything about consumer leases.

I'd check out a local Rent-A-Center to see if they offer anything.

 

[pstylesss]

There may be a couple in FS/T forums. Look in the Dell outlet like he suggested. There are payment options, but not leasing. I know you can sell computers back to dell... may want to look into that. Just give Dell a call.

 

[compnovice]

Ask your wife if she will rent her laptop for $300

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK

Originally posted by: BigJ
For $300, you're probably looking at used off of Craiglist/FS/Ebay. If you had the time, you could've waited for Black Friday, but you start the training in a month.

Try the Dell Outlet. I haven't paid attention to the laptops there, but you might be able to score something.

Yeah, I been looking there...nothing yet. Is there any way to lease a notebook thru dell or anything or is that just foolish?

I know they definitely lease to businesses, but I don't know anything about consumer leases.

I'd check out a local Rent-A-Center to see if they offer anything.

I just went to RAC online and requested a quote. I'm going to guess that the prices are going to be pretty high but who knows.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: compnovice
Ask your wife if she will rent her laptop for $300

she'll probably charge me $350

just to make things clear....if I had to lease/rent a notebook I would prefer to pay about $40-50/month for the 2 months. If I had to buy then I wouldnt want to spend more then $300

 

[pstylesss]

I just looked in the Dell outlet, I tried to get a direct link but couldn't... There is an Inspiron in there for 369. A bit more than you were wanting to pay, but I believe they have payment options.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
I just looked in the Dell outlet, I tried to get a direct link but couldn't... There is an Inspiron in there for 369. A bit more than you were wanting to pay, but I believe they have payment options.

I dont really want to buy a notebook if I dont have to. Its not going to serve me any good after I return from out of state. I also checked out Dell's leasing but they have a $500 minimum purchase and I'm assuming that the lease has to be atleast a year and not a couple months.

I guess I'll just have to see what RAC has to offer or find a cheapo. Unless someone here has one to spare that I can rent from them.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK

Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
I just looked in the Dell outlet, I tried to get a direct link but couldn't... There is an Inspiron in there for 369. A bit more than you were wanting to pay, but I believe they have payment options.

I dont really want to buy a notebook if I dont have to. Its not going to serve me any good after I return from out of state. I also checked out Dell's leasing but they have a $500 minimum purchase and I'm assuming that the lease has to be atleast a year and not a couple months.

I guess I'll just have to see what RAC has to offer or find a cheapo. Unless someone here has one to spare that I can rent from them.

Have you considered purchasing from the Dell Outlet and then reselling on FS/FT?

I'm sure you could probably get rid of it fairly quickly if you knocked $100 off of your purchase price (as long as you got a good deal).

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK

Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
I just looked in the Dell outlet, I tried to get a direct link but couldn't... There is an Inspiron in there for 369. A bit more than you were wanting to pay, but I believe they have payment options.

I dont really want to buy a notebook if I dont have to. Its not going to serve me any good after I return from out of state. I also checked out Dell's leasing but they have a $500 minimum purchase and I'm assuming that the lease has to be atleast a year and not a couple months.

I guess I'll just have to see what RAC has to offer or find a cheapo. Unless someone here has one to spare that I can rent from them.

Have you considered purchasing from the Dell Outlet and then reselling on FS/FT?

I'm sure you could probably get rid of it fairly quickly if you knocked $100 off of your purchase price (as long as you got a good deal).

I really dont want to go through all that trouble. I just had an older notebook that I just sold ironically that would have worked perfectly but oh well. It was a little bit of a pain to sell the thing because I got a bunch of nigerian scams when I tried to sell it.

 

[MrBond]

I'd buy a used Thinkpad T-Series from eBay. Normally I'd suggest the IBM Certified Used Equipment store, but they're out of anything in your price range. A used T-Series Thinkpad will be in much better shape than most other used laptops and it should hold up fine for day to day computing. I used a T20 for two years as a grad student and wrote my thesis on it without an issue.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: MrBond
I'd buy a used Thinkpad T-Series from eBay. Normally I'd suggest the IBM Certified Used Equipment store, but they're out of anything in your price range. A used T-Series Thinkpad will be in much better shape than most other used laptops and it should hold up fine for day to day computing. I used a T20 for two years as a grad student and wrote my thesis on it without an issue.

I'll keep an eye out, thanks!

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK

Originally posted by: MrBond
I'd buy a used Thinkpad T-Series from eBay. Normally I'd suggest the IBM Certified Used Equipment store, but they're out of anything in your price range. A used T-Series Thinkpad will be in much better shape than most other used laptops and it should hold up fine for day to day computing. I used a T20 for two years as a grad student and wrote my thesis on it without an issue.

I'll keep an eye out, thanks!

I'll second the idea about buying a used T Series. Just so you know, this is what you should be looking out for:

Thinkpad T20,21,22,23: Good machines, but fairly old. All of them came with Pentium III mobile processors, and 802.11b wireless was an option on the T23. They originally had good battery life, but any original batteries would be dead by now.

Thinkpad T30: Avoid it! It came with a Pentium 4m, but it ran hot and had lousy battery life. It did come with built in 802.11b in some models.

Thinkpad T40,41,42p: Good machines, but probably still out of your price range. Pentium M processors, 802.11b/g wireless, and good battery life with the extended battery. These were the last of the IBM Thinkpads, and everything made after this point was a Lenovo product.

Thinkpad T60,T61: Great laptops, but WAY out of your price range. These come with Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors.

Edit: This was post 8,000, so I had to put a little extra work into it

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK

Originally posted by: MrBond
I'd buy a used Thinkpad T-Series from eBay. Normally I'd suggest the IBM Certified Used Equipment store, but they're out of anything in your price range. A used T-Series Thinkpad will be in much better shape than most other used laptops and it should hold up fine for day to day computing. I used a T20 for two years as a grad student and wrote my thesis on it without an issue.

I'll keep an eye out, thanks!

I'll second the idea about buying a used T Series. Just so you know, this is what you should be looking out for:

Thinkpad T20,21,22,23: Good machines, but fairly old. All of them came with Pentium III mobile processors, and 802.11b wireless was an option on the T23. They originally had good battery life, but any original batteries would be dead by now.

Thinkpad T30: Avoid it! It came with a Pentium 4m, but it ran hot and had lousy battery life. It did come with built in 802.11b in some models.

Thinkpad T40,41,42p: Good machines, but probably still out of your price range. Pentium M processors, 802.11b/g wireless, and good battery life with the extended battery. These were the last of the IBM Thinkpads, and everything made after this point was a Lenovo product.

Thinkpad T60,T61: Great laptops, but WAY out of your price range. These come with Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors.

Edit: This was post 8,000, so I had to put a little extra work into it

Congrats on #8000 and the great post. I'll keep an eye out. I just did a quick look on ebay and didnt see anything that really caught my eye. I kinda want to stay away from the PIIIs and was thinking about going with the 4m's....but since you say theyre no good - ill stay away.

I just sent some people PMs that had notebooks for sale here asking if they would take $100 for me to borrow it for 2 months and return it in the same condition. If they dont get it back in the same condition then I would buy it from them. I guess I'll see how that goes.

 

[Parasitic]

What about just sucking it up and getting that Mac you really wanted?
Has there been rumors (if at all) that the lineup will be refreshed as part of the Leopard launch? If not then really you can just upgrade to the new OS down the road.