Rant about eBay "store" ad copy.

Message

aarontring · #1 Post by **aarontring** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:40 pm

Is it just me, or are some of the folks selling laptops on eBay (and it's not just for TPs) just used car salesmen? How many folks out there have seen ads for "super fast" 233MHz PIIs with "HUGE" 13" LCD screens? It's like they know I'm sitting here in 1995 writing this on my OSBORNE-1! (After I've completely torn it down, cleaned all the contacts, put it back together, taken it back apart because I forgot to plug the monitor cable back in, and then plug the modem into my AOL account!)
Do only the stupid and the desperate use eBay, that these !#@$ things get sold?
But what do I know? I only joined eBay 2 a couple of months ago. I hear it might turn out to be something big. Someday.

#2 Post by **rkawakami** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:38 pm

Unfortunately there are those sellers who try to hype up the configuration of their systems (like most used car salesman; if there are any reading this, then I apologize for this sweeping generalization

... okay then, how about late-night infomercial spokesmen?). Certainly if you search the listings as much as I do, then you will see everything from multi-page listings of every possible specification or detail about the features (no matter how minor) that were designed into the system, leaving out any details about this particular unit, to a one-line description that simply says "broken IBM laptop" and (maybe) a fuzzy picture of said system.

A certain amount of pumping up the item is fine with me. I simply ignore the flashing animations, large type and filter the descriptions with an eye for factual information. I draw the line when there's an obvious error and have contacted sellers about them.

Yes, there are some buyers on eBay (and Craigslist and any other classified listing service) who don't do their homework and figure out what the "going rate" is for a particular item. But that's what the free enterprise system is all about.

aarontring · #3 Post by **aarontring** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:49 pm

I was a used car salesman. Sweep to your heart's content.
I know there's nothing to be done, and often, yes, the short descriptor with the fuzzy picture is just as informative, and more willing to check a specific when you tell them where it is. At first, I found the hyperbole insulting, but now it makes me chuckle.
And I'm not trying to inflame anyone. I've seen some rather heated anti-eBay sentiment, but when the local Nerd Herd doesn't have what you need...

zdriver · #4 Post by **zdriver** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:41 am

Nice story, made me laugh... I love the reference to the Osbourne, although by 1995, it would be 15yrs old. Kaypro put them out of business with their high tech screen & double density floppies.
My favorite ebay ads are "boots to bios, no further testing was done" (when they have multiple working units for sale at the same time) and ... "could not test because of no AC adapter" (when they sell hundreds of thinkpads and somehow they just don't have 1 $10 adapter right now)

dsigma6 · #5 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:57 am

Oh no, this again!!!

If only I was half the forum searcher Ray is...

#6 Post by **rkawakami** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:06 am

You mean this one:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=29886

(Up this early only to take the wife to the airport; SJC-BNA for a few days)

dsigma6 · #7 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:13 am

Yea Ray, go back to sleep!

I didn't realize I started the thread I was referring to, but that works! Now it's gonna get a 13 month bump.

aarontring · #8 Post by **aarontring** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:05 am

Sorry, but if you check the other posts I've made, mostly in haste, you'll notice I'm not even a quarter the forum searcher Ray is. And, I'm also new to eBay, since I've never had a use for it. And, I knew the Osborne is pushing 30, but many of the people on the forum are nursing "obsolete" hardware along as a labor of love, not that I ever actually had an OSBORNE. It was meant to be humorous.

I did happen to see a Compaq version in the window of a local repair shop. It was just given to the guy as a conversation piece, I found out by going in and striking up a conversation about it.

It did get me wondering how hard it would be to dig into it and make it "work," like with a modern MB, a cd-/dvd-rom in place of the 5 1/2" floppy drive, etc. Nevermind "why," anymore than why people are putting integrated wireless and DVD-ROMs into numbered series TPs.

#9 Post by **rkawakami** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:14 am

aarontring wrote:<snip>... not that I ever actually had an OSBORNE. It was meant to be humorous.

I certainly took it that way!

aarontring wrote:Nevermind "why," anymore than why people are putting integrated wireless and DVD-ROMs into numbered series TPs.

Hey! I resemble that remark: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=25953 . That was one of the first posts I made here. Oh, and that 600X also has a CDRW/DVD combo drive in it too, running Windows 2000

. I also have another 600X with an internal antenna but it doesn't have the range of a PCMCIA wireless card so I basically use it only in the same room as my access point.

dsigma6 · #10 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:43 pm

aarontring wrote:Sorry, but if you check the other posts I've made, mostly in haste, you'll notice I'm not even a quarter the forum searcher Ray is. And, I'm also new to eBay, since I've never had a use for it.

I wasn't saying you should've searched before posting, only that I designated Ray to find the thread I mentioned! He's too good...for his own good.

#11 Post by **rkawakami** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:12 pm

dsigma6 wrote:He's too good...for his own good.

Thanks!.... I think.... :puzzled:

dsigma6 · #12 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:13 pm

LOL Ray...you know I respect your authorita!

pianowizard · #13 Post by **pianowizard** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:33 pm

rkawakami wrote:http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=25953 . That was one of the first posts I made here.

That was a long time ago! christopher_wolf was still posting.

aarontring · #14 Post by **aarontring** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:30 am

Say, Ray, if you're still watching this, I liked the pictures of your internal wifi with the whip antenna, but I was hoping for something a bit more lo-pro. Can you point me to posts relating to an internal antenna setup? My Boolean search skills are bit rusty.
Maybe I'm out of luck on an 390X LOU (which, BTW, Lenovo "tech support" said did not exist; excuse me for assuming that <expletive deleted due to lack of creativity> tech support should have enough product knowledge to recognize their own equipment), but I'm not looking to use it in the mall. I sit either right above my router or in the next room, so I'm never more than 10 feet from it.

Trekk69 · #15 Post by **Trekk69** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:11 pm

I'll be honest and say I have never bought anything off of ebay....maybe spent a total of 1/2 hour browsing the site in my life.

But to comment, "a superfast 233mHz" computer does sound very enticing....!

#16 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:38 pm

Getting a little OT:

I don't believe that I ever documented the installation of the internal antenna setup in my 600X. Without opening it up again and verifying exactly where I routed the antenna, I'd have to say that it's somewhere up near the front/top edge of the lid. In hindsight it probably would have been better to place the antenna somewhere in the base, like the palmrest area, so as to avoid any metal shielding.

references:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=49270
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=35010
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=34959

And getting back OT:

I find it funny that a 366Mhz 600E system is "superfast", yet a T23 is only rated as "fast" (but the 1.13Ghz CPU in it is "superfast" ??? How can it be both???). From the same seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0227094659 SUPERFAST IBM 600E VERY CLEAN Wireless Net Wi-Fi CD
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0044037747 FAST IBM T23 SUPERFAST 1.13 GHZ HUGE 30 GB HD Wi-Fi CD

They both have 128MB of memory (which "Makes ALL your Applications RUN FAST") and are running Windows 2000. At least the T23 doesn't have Windows XP, which along with the 128MB of RAM would be greatly stretching the truth about how "fast" it is.

aarontring · #17 Post by **aarontring** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:24 pm

That's what I find bizarre, how in every aspect my 390X is superior, yet it can be frustratingly slow at times. I can't imagine using one of these ubermachines! But, what do i know. I'm sitting here on my wife's HP because some months are tighter than others, and this guy (these people, really) probably don't even get dressed, some days.
On a side note, I picked up a Presario "scraptop" with no power supply or OS at Goodwill, today, for $20, because it had a label on it claiming 187(killer?)MB RAM and a 6GB HDD. I figured even if nothing else worked but those two components, it's worth the money. So, I get it home, plug in my TP power supply, and the [censored] thing posts, goes into BIOS, and shows everything except the HDD, which I have out and will test tonight. That's 3 out of 4 good computers! I still have two 365Xs without HDDs, batteries, or power supplies, which is what I bought the Presario for, and a Toshiba Tecra that posts just fine and runs the CD-ROM (for memTest86) but has a bad display. That one's currently on eBay for 99 cents.

Miller88 · #18 Post by **Miller88** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:51 am

I hate when they list a PII laptop with 128mb of memory as being "SUPER FAST LAPTOP WIRELESS INTERNET FAST!!!!!!!!!". The worst part is, I've seen these laptops go for >$200.

aarontring · #19 Post by **aarontring** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:38 am

I just read the T23 ad Ray linked to above. "IBM Eraser Mouse?" ANd for another $20, he'll include an AC adapter? Does that also include the cord, or is THAT separate, too? One of his other items for sale is an "insanely fast" 2+GHz desktop PC. I think we need a scam-to-reality conversion table.
I really wish I had no scruples or moral character of any kind... I'd be rich, but I'd spend the afterlife with pedophiles and politicians.

dsigma6 · #20 Post by **dsigma6** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:37 pm

pianowizard wrote:That was a long time ago! christopher_wolf was still posting.

Who's he?

Lol...I do miss having him around. He was quite the wealth of knowledge, all wrapped up in an extra young package. Err.. What did I just say?

I bet he's Illuminati.

Speaking of "long time ago," tomorrow is 2 years for me!! Just noticed!

leoblob · #21 Post by **leoblob** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 5:30 pm

rkawakami wrote:
I find it funny that a 366Mhz 600E system is "superfast", yet a T23 is only rated as "fast" (but the 1.13Ghz CPU in it is "superfast" ??? How can it be both???). From the same seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0227094659 SUPERFAST IBM 600E VERY CLEAN Wireless Net Wi-Fi CD
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0044037747 FAST IBM T23 SUPERFAST 1.13 GHZ HUGE 30 GB HD Wi-Fi CD

Irony of ironies. I bought my Intellistation from these guys and it was a very good, very honest deal. I did drive over there to get it, and they had it all set up and running with a monitor so I could check it out all I wanted. Then, they even gave me a tour of the place (there's no retail there, just a warehouse and tech service area).

Life is funny...

#22 Post by **rkawakami** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 6:04 pm

And in the end that is all that really matters... that you get a system which is operating as it should, at a price that the buyer is happy to pay.

leoblob · #23 Post by **leoblob** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:44 pm

If they had "advertised" my Intellistation the way those Thinkpad ads are, I never would have even considered buying it from them ...

I do find that one Thinkpad ad to be quite misleading.

#24 Post by **rkawakami** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:57 pm

Earlier I wrote:<snip>... to a one-line description that simply says "broken IBM laptop" and (maybe) a fuzzy picture of said system.

IBM Thinkpad 600X power cord but no hard drive; Parts.

Well this one certainly complies with the one-line description ("Please email with questions!") but the picture is pretty good. Although they list the 600X with a 14" display

.

aarontring · #25 Post by **aarontring** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:48 pm

"Please email with question?" Yeah! I have a question, but I can't ask it with kids in the room!

aarontring · #26 Post by **aarontring** » Thu May 15, 2008 2:24 pm

Don't know if anyone's still watching this thread, but I picked up a 600E from Goodwill a couple of days ago (a little CMOS battery "surgery," a lot of patience, and the HDD, ironically, from a Tecra 8100 later, and it's now running XP and surfing with 366MHz and 160MB!). I now can understand why the internal wireless antenna would present problems, but the case/bezel on my 390X has a very different feel to it, which had lead me, until actually feeling the 600 chassis, to wonder where the titanium, or any metal, was.

I'd had the upper bezel completely apart numerous times and, aside from the case around the LCD itself and the hinges, I wasn't seeing a lot of metal. The chassis itself feels more like carbon fiber or some other fiber/epoxy mix, though those fibers could easily be metal. The 600, on the other hand, feels far more substantial, almost like a rubber skin over a metal shell. And the sound out of the speakers, even for being poorly placed, far out-performed my 390X. It's not as better, now that I'm running XP on the 390X, and a lot of other problems I was having went away with the upgrade, but the 600, for being "slower," is still a superior multimedia machine. My wife would call it a "mullet." Business in the front, party in the back!

All told, what started off as a sturdy school laptop for my temperamental 10 year old may end up being my toy, and he'll get the "clunky old" 390X!

(BTW, even in XP, the UltraNav, blue button, doesn't work with Firefox. Someone suggested an external mouse with a scroll wheel, but where's the fun in that?)

Rant about eBay "store" ad copy.

Rant about eBay "store" ad copy.

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