I’m going to post a short ML exchange I just had…
First, the ad (note that it was today, August 27 2008):
i have a pentium 4 computer for sale its only 4 months old nothing
wrong with at all im just upgrading to something different. it has a 15
in 1 card reader, 1gig memory, amd 6400 motherboard, 6 usb ports, 160
gig hard drive, and more. 500.00 firm. comes with keyboard and tower
only as the monitor i have im just borrowing it from my sister.
My reply:
> i have a pentium 4 computer for sale its only 4 months old nothing
> wrong with at all im just upgrading to something different. it has a 15
> in 1 card reader, 1gig memory, amd 6400 motherboard, 6 usb ports, 160
> gig hard drive, and more.Who manufactured this computer? (e.g. a large OEM like HP, Dell, etc.
or was it made locally from parts?)
What speed does the processor run at? (e.g. in GHz)
What sort of video card/chip does it use (e.g. onboard ATI with shared RAM?)
What OS is currently installed? (e.g. Windows XP Home? Windows Vista
Home Basic?)> 500.00 firm. comes with keyboard and tower
> only as the monitor i have im just borrowing it from my sister.While $500 was probably an excellent price for this computer at one
time, you might want to rethink that; anyone can walk into a Source by
Circuit City (formerly Radio Shack) and get a similar tower NEW for
$300+tax, e.g.:http://www.thesource.ca/estore/Product.aspx?product=2511832
Manufacturer: Acer
Processor: 2.7 GHz AMD
RAM: 1 GB DDR2
HD: 160 GB
Optical Drive: DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW)
USB Ports: 8
Card Reader: “9 in 1″
OS: Windows Vista Home BasicThe sad rule-of-thumb about pricing used computers is that they lose
approximately half their value every year (e.g. a machine that was
bought new for $800 would only be worth about $400 after a year).
The punchline reply (in full) to that:
its a high end emachine so ya and its only 3-4months old.
Is it just me or is “high end emachine” something of an oxymoron? ;)
But seriously people! Your used computers are worth only a small fraction of what you paid for them! They *recycle* them at the same place here that takes your empty cans! That should give you an idea of how fast their value depreciates.
