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Re: Computer life-span...\



Here's a note on buying used computer hardware. Regardless of obsolesence,
I like to buy well-made equipment that lasts as I use my old machines
for terminals and word-processing. I visited a HS last week where a physics
teacher is still using his Apple II to record and calculate grades; clearly
obsolesent machines still have considerable worth. The failures that I see
are poor workmanship/materials + hard handling-type combinations, and ESD
(static) susecptability to keyboard/modem connectors. Power surges are also
a problem; as machines takes spikes and power failures over time. Quality
machines endure these; Gateways don't in my limited experience (100% of my
Gateways have failed completely :^( ).

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
danmac@nau.edu http://www.phy.nau.edu/~danmac/homepage.html


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From itech-l-error@nauvax.ucc.nau.edu Mon Feb 24 15:28 MST 1997
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 15:25:41 -0700 (MST)
From: Daniel Eisenberg <Daniel.Eisenberg@NAU.EDU>
Subject: NY Times article on Used Computer Dealers
To: itech list <itech-l@lists.nau.edu>
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CyberTimes
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February 23, 1997


Just Drive a Used PC Off the Lot and Save

By LAURIE J. FLYNN



A s anyone who has ever bought a personal computer knows,
obsolescence occurs sometime between when you sign the sales slip
and when you load your new machine into the car.

But these days, instead of paying $2,000 to $3,000 at a computer
store for a new PC that could seem outdated within months, computer
shoppers are increasingly turning to a handful of companies that
sell used computers, or discontinued new models, at a fraction of
the cost of new ones.


[IMAGE]

"I don't buy new computers anymore," said Frederick C. Ford, a
stockbroker with Boors & Cabot Inc. in Boston. "They become old so
quickly."

Instead, Ford has outfitted both his office and his home with
computers from the Boston Computer Exchange, a large national seller
of used, overstocked and discontinued equipment. To Ford, last
year's machine is fast enough for his needs and will run all the
current software for several years -- and at big savings.

"I'm not an engineer," he said. "I don't need the latest and
greatest."

Ford's latest acquisition is a discontinued Toshiba laptop model
that had never been used; he bought it from the Computer Exchange
for $1,250. Just a month ago, before a new model came out, computer
stores were selling the same machine for about $1,900, he said.

Likewise, Steve Miller has switched to buying only used and
close-out computer equipment for his company, Far East Enterprises,
a circuit board importer in Westborough, Mass. He has bought at
least 20 such systems in the last two years, upgrading aging systems
with nearly new ones. "For basic accounting and word processing, you
don't need that big a hard drive or that fast a processor," he said.


Ford and Miller aren't the only shoppers fed up with trying to keep
up. Last year, the Boston Computer Exchange sold $36 million of
used, refurbished or discontinued equipment, much of it to small
businesses and start-ups. And several World Wide Web sites have
healthy businesses in matching sellers with eager buyers.

A popular Web site is Onsale, a two-year-old auctioneer of
everything from rare collector items and household appliances to
Pentium-based multimedia computers and color printers. Based in
Mountain View, Calif., it is considered the largest seller of
refurbished and close-out electronics on the Internet, with sales of
$4 million a month.

Onsale customers typically save 20 to 30 percent off the original
prices of the equipment, like a refurbished 100-megahertz or
166-megahertz Pentium multimedia personal computer, said Jerry
Kaplan, chief executive of Onsale. Usually, Kaplan said, customers
end up with machines that are only a generation behind the current
technology, although Onsale occasionally auctions off much older
machines. The company sold a load of used 386-based machines for
about $75 apiece, he said.

At a recent auction, Onsale sold eight factory-reconditioned
Hewlett-Packard Laserjet printers, each with a list price of nearly
$5,000, for just over $2,000 apiece. It sold 25 reconditioned
Hewlett-Packard Pentium-based multimedia computers -- list price,
$2,059 -- for less than $1,000 apiece.

In addition to the direct savings, there is the possibility of
trading in your old equipment. Ford said the Boston exchange gave
him $500 for his old NEC laptop when he bought the Toshiba, making
his total outlay just $750. The exchange plans to resell his old
laptop for $650.

Buying used or discontinued equipment is not for everyone. Customers
who are not computer-savvy are undoubtedly better off buying a
brand-name computer from a local store, where they can get help if
they need it. And some new low-end PC's now sell for less than
$1,000, providing an alternative for neophytes who may not need the
extra speed and features that often come with used computers at a
similar price.

"A typical first-time buyer would not want to buy from us," Kaplan
said. "Nor should anyone who wants to be able to go into a store and
return something, or anyone who needs it tomorrow."


[IMAGE] Kirsten Elstner for The New York Times

At the Boston Computer Exchange, a big seller of used, overstocked
and discontinued equipment.
_______________________________________________________________

Onsale, for example, cannot close a sale until the end of each
auction, and deliveries from manufacturers may take up to a week
after that. In fact, first-time buyers should steer clear of
Internet or mail orders altogether, and particularly from buying a
used computer that way -- "unless they have a very good friend who's
going to help them a lot" -- said John Hastings, president of the
American Computer Exchange of Atlanta, one of the largest computer
brokers.

That is not because used equipment is necessarily less reliable, but
it can be more daunting, Hastings said. To some extent, used
computers can be more reliable, he said, because PC's that break
down usually do so soon after purchase, indicating that they have
not been properly "burned in" by the manufacturer.

The Boston exchange says the used equipment it sells is reliable
because most of it comes from its parent company, a systems
integrator called Inacom Information Systems, which hands over its
customers' old equipment to the exchange when it replaces it with
newer technology. That usually means the old equipment has been
painstakingly maintained under corporate maintenance contracts, said
Gary Guhman, sales manager for the exchange.

For individuals, buying used or close-out equipment through a broker
or auction house can have advantages over buying through, say, the
classified ads. Most important, close-out and overstocked items are
usually covered by a warranty.

The Boston exchange and Onsale say that almost all the new equipment
they sell is covered by warranties of 90 days to a year, though
terms vary depending on the manufacturer and circumstances. For used
computers, the Boston company allows returns or exchanges for up to
seven days and has a 30-day parts and labor warranty.

The American Computer Exchange, which sells mostly used equipment
from individuals, offers no warranty but tests all equipment before
selling it, and then has a 48-hour inspection period during which
the buyer can return it for a refund. In the nine years the company
has been in business, few people have complained of problems,
Hastings said.

"It's not like an older computer doesn't have the power it once had,
like a car," he said. "Computers don't wear out -- they either run
or they don't."




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