buying used laptops

[Logisoft]

hello

what are some things to look out for when buying used laptops?
also, sum tips to check the system as thoroughly as possible would help

thanks

[Gee]

Check for the hinges, make sure they are rigid when you open and close
Look for worn keys on the keyboard
Check the battery make sure it can hold a charge
Scan the hard drive for bad sectors

Also check all the ports PCMCIA, etc

[Igor01]

Stuck/dead pixels on the LCD, the condition of the backlight on the LCD (has to be bright and without any coloured hue)

Pressure marks and scuffs on the LCD.

Run checkdisk on the harddrive to make sure there are no bad/damaged sectors.

Test the battery, they have a limited life span, a laptop with a 30-minute battery is not much of a mobile option.

Make sure there is no damage on the power cord's wires, they tend to be banged around and run over by office chairs, stepped on etc. which often leads to exposed wires and/or short curcuits.

Test the keyboard, no keys should be sticking/unresponsive. Some keys could pop up wich sometimes results in having to buy a replacement keyboard.

Test the tracking device - touchpoint or touchpad, it should be comfortable to use, responsive and not make the cursor drift off by itself (some touchpoints do that especially on IBM's and Dell's.)

Don't forget to test all ports - printer, VGA, network, modem, USB etc. If the laptop supposed to have USB 2.0, test the transfer speed and make sure it's working at 2.0 speed.

Look for small stress cracks in the shell, many develop them around the keyboard area, or where the LCD attaches to the body, or near the PCMCI expantion slots, or where the Harddrive is located.

Good luck.

[rabbit]

If it is a ThinkPad, make sure there is no supervisor password. Even when a SVR PW is activated, you can still use the computer but it locks out all BIOS settings (meaning if you want to change the HDD, you are SOL).