From: TJ@noneofyour.business   
      
   On 12/02/2012 10:40 PM, Moe Trin wrote:   
   > On Sat, 01 Dec 2012, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in   
   article   
   > , Adam wrote:   
   >   
   >> Moe Trin wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   >>>> I /almost/ bought a laptop yesterday.  I could have gotten a   
   >>>> refurbished Thinkpad T60 from Staples for a little over $100   
   >>>> [...] but it was out of stock.   
   >   
   >>> Wacha gonna use it for?   ;-)   
   >   
   >> So I can bring it to LUG meetings and use it there while ignoring the   
   >> presentation, what else? :-)  Also to use while waiting for   
   >> appointments and such.  No urgent need, just thought it might be a   
   >> nice toy.   
   >   
   > Reasonable - don't forget to buy a carrying case for it.  I originally   
   > used a 'courier bag' but replaced it with a purpose designed bag that   
   > also holds extra stuff like the wall-wart and a network cable.   It's   
   > cushioned as well while the courier bag wasn't.   
   >   
   >>> Which one?   
   >   
   >> T60-2008, or if that was unavailable a T60-0020, not the T60-0019,   
   >> although all three were out of stock.   
   >   
   > Depending on the keyboard and pointing device, they look reasonable.   
   >   
   >> And for the refurbished ones, even the HD size.  I figured it would   
   >> be enough for basic Wi-Fi and office apps.  "eris" is five years old   
   >> too, and still can handle most tasks adequately as long as they   
   >> don't need too much RAM (everything except graphics and VMs).   
   >   
   > Seems to be able to hold 4 GB of DDR2 - I see ads for 4 GB (2x2)   
   > PC6400 for $45, which is close to the price of 16 GB of DDR3, so I'd   
   > suggest upgrading that as soon as you can spare the cash.  The hard   
   > disk looks to be standard, so that can also be upgraded if needed.   
   > Does it have a network port, or is it wireless only?   
   >   
   That brings back memories...   
      
   My brother bought a Thinkpad at a company surplus sale, back around   
   2001, I think. Paid $1 for it as I recall, and got taken. It worked OK   
   for what it was, kinda, but was pretty much worn out. It had Windows 98   
   on it but it could barely handle that, having been designed for Windows   
   95. You couldn't have the CD-ROM and floppy drives installed at the same   
   time, but there was an external floppy drive included. No such thing as   
   wi-fi available back then, but it had a little plug-in modem about the   
   size of a credit card. Worst thing was that the display backlight was   
   about shot, so you had to use it in a darkened room if you didn't have a   
   spare monitor. But it did have this cool case with a bunch of   
   compartments for stuff. I suppose that was worth the dollar by itself.   
      
   As the administrator of his estate, I "inherited" it after his death in   
   2004, like all his computer stuff. I thought for a while I might replace   
   the backlight and play with it, but eventually common sense prevailed   
   and I took it to Best Buy for recycling. I kept the fancy case, though.   
      
   To be brutally honest, none of his stuff really worked right or lasted   
   very long. Everything he had had been purchased used or refurbished, and   
   just didn't hold up. I think I put a value of $50 on the whole pile for   
   the estate. I don't blame him for that - I do it myself as a way to   
   afford things that I can't afford new. It's the way we grew up, the way   
   we learned to survive not being particularly well-off financially. Some   
   stuff works great, other stuff doesn't. You learn how to deal with it.   
      
   Still, it's a sad part of his legacy to think about.   
      
   TJ   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)