I was reading a thread on phoronix where a student was sharing that it is or can be expensive to get even a used laptop and he shared his predicament and was hammered a bit for it to some going to the extent of questioning his life-choices.
While I’m not a student it still triggered something in me. I am not dirt poor but neither am I insanely rich. The same questions he has, similar questions I have had. While in his case he is probably in his early to late 20’s, I am pushing 40. Most of the money I make goes in for everyday purchases, veggies, house-rent, electricity, landline, broadband and cell phone bills. What little is left is most of the time kept for a rainy day as there is no Government pension.
From what I have heard and read on the web, in the west specifically in the States, if I buy a used laptop, I usually get a 6 months – 1 year warranty . Here, while you could get a used laptop for around INR 10k there is no warranty/guarantee, so I never get into that. It’s ‘buyer’s beware’ all the time.
For people who like/want FOSS or specifically something like Free DOS (like me), I had to wait for almost 6 years to get a model I was happy with, with the specs. I was ok with.
Was really lucky enough to get a Thinkpad T440 with 8 GB of RAM for around INR 80k/- with Free DOS.
The specs –
T440 Core I 5 (4300) / Dos (NEW MODEL)
20B7A1SD00
Intel Core i5 – 4300M (2.5 GHz / 3 MB / 5 GT/s) / Intel QM87 Chipset / Integrated 802.11 n WIFI LAN + Bluetooth 4.0 / 8GB DDR III Memory (2 DIMM SLOT) / 500 GB SATA HDD @ 7200 RPM / 14.0 HDy / FPR / Dos / 2 USB , VGA Port , RJ 45 Port /GB LAN /Track Point with 5 button Glass Touch Pad /Stereo Speakers with Dolby Enhanced Audio / 6 Cell Battery /Approx 2.14KG/
While it is/was actually pretty expensive but then wanted something which can take a beating, deal with all the heat, noise and dust (specifically where I live, right in the middle of the city).
The reason I used the word lucky is that now there is no model in the T-series range which has FreeDOS on it. Of course, I hopefully will use it for another 4-5 years at the very least depending on how much it cooperates with me, I have heard that Thinkpads function for a long period of time even in dusty environments so banking on that. 🙂
What probably pissed me is the condensing note in the comment, how does he know what pressures an another individual might be in. It’s almost like saying “You are refugee because you made a wrong life choice” or something to that effect which again is stupid.
I actually feel/felt embarrassed to bring this up as I truly am lucky to be safe, secure, have food on the table, am able to sleep on a bed at night, have a workstation AND a laptop, have somewhat of a sound mind 🙂 and a body which is able to move around without any hassles. Add to that, incredibly as it may sound, was also able to see another country for a few days
In relation to people being persecuted and having to run off to save their own lives or even people living on the streets, I am actually living in luxury. While I can’t go through life feeling guilty for all the good things that have happened with me, I do feel disgusted when I see some people put blinding statements like that.
One of the biggest reasons that GNU/Linux and Debian in particular gelled with me was that it’s incredibly flexible and generous. Nobody tells me which packages I should or shouldn’t have. I do right things, good, I do something wrong, an opportunity to learn and hopefully learn from my mistakes. In either case, one of the most forgiving kind of system to learn and hack on.
While speaking of mistakes, could somebody look at #849684 . It almost feels like a tennis match going between the maintainers concerned. While I don’t have the technical skills to ascertain who’s right and who is not, it would be nice if some cooler heads can make sense and see if a way could be found out. Can somebody help ?
Experiences in the community 
Hi,
I am a fan of desktops as they comes cheap and easy to maintain.
But when it comes with low mobility then buying a cheaper laptop + desktop might be an best station.
I like the point of using Free SW on the point when they break; you look that as an opportunity. Most will crib for sure. 🙂
Thanks
Yogesh
I’ve found a place where people take _pride_ in having an old, pre-owned laptop. It’s not just that they have less money to spend, but it fits with their principles too:
It means there is one less item of waste on the junk-pile, and one less item has been produced using raw materials and low-waged labour. It means less profit to the industry responsible for those things, and creates a market giving better value to those who come to sell their old laptop.
Ubuntu and Debian derivatives are popular here, as they perform well, and have particularly good support for 5+ years-old hardware. This also tends to be easier to repair, and to find replacement parts for; we have a weekly workshop where we exchange knowledge about such things.
steven, I would have no issues using a pre-owned laptop provided I get good after sales-service. A company could make excellent money in refurbished lappies provided they can provide after sales service. I have yet to see good after sales service after buying a new product, that buying a second-hand lappy just doesn’t work.
I have also been around schools, colleges, non-profits etc, where people did try their hand with second-hand lappies and almost all of them had issues with after-sales service.
There is also an expectations issue. Let’s say I buy a 5 year old lappy. Which version of GNU/Linux distribution should I use ? The one which was 5 years old or the one soon-to-be-released or already released.
The questions I raised tells that it’s not just price which is important but lot of other facts which go to determine if a new lappy will do or should I think of getting a hand-me-down.
There are always “DOS” models of ThinkPads for the (German) education market. They don’t usually seem to appear elsewhere, though. So yes, you probably got lucky 🙂