Checked out a craigslist T40 today.....wow.

[tgrevers]

I found a T40 (3473-4CU) in the Boston craigslist listings today, and went to check it out today. I thought $140 would be something I could negotiate on, depending on what it was... I was hoping that it was just a GPU T40. It was listed as not working, and when I emailed the seller he told me it wouldn't power on, and wouldn't light up when connected to a power source. It was pristine on the outside, everything looked really really good, almost like new. He said he wanted to keep the drive, which was fine with me.

Then, I noticed that it was corroded around the edges of the LPT port. I thought it was strange. Everything else looked good, but the printer port was corroded, almost like rusty. I asked him if I could open the machine, to take a look inside.. (it was his son's computer from college, and it'd "never been opened or serviced before") After taking the keyboard out, I found that the RAM was missing, and the bottom side of the keyboard was burned by what looked like a major fire. The modem was completely burned, and under the modem it looked like the fire was hot enough that you couldn't read the chips in the back left corner of the mother board. The ribon cable to the LCD was also melted. The bottom of the keyboard looked like something had been splilled into it too.

I offered him $60 for it, because I could use it for parts, and he said no. The keyboard was in bad shape under the power and volume controls, and the motherboard and modem were beyond salvage.

So, my advice to those who shop craigslist, is to bring a screwdriver with you when buying something that "doesn't power up". Something tells me that the seller knew more than he was sharing.. for a machine that had "never been opened", it was already missing parts.

-t

[Harryc]

Good advice, thanks for sharing. The sad part is that this guy will find a buyer who is not as technically astute as you to pay $140. Oh well, buyer beware.

[dr_st]

It's a double-edged sword... When selling to uneducated crowd, a cunning or a downright dishonest seller can really make big money.

On the other hand, when trying to sell a high-end Thinkpad, good luck explaining to non-Thinkpad-freaks why it's worth as much as you think it is... That's why this forum is great. I wish we had something like this where I live, but obviously the client base is not big enough.

[davidspalding]

at your story....

Slightly similar situation here at work. Fellow wanted to sell an X31, upgraded with a 2200 a/b/g card and an add'l 1GB installed, but HDD. People here told me to offer $125.

He showed up, and it was as described except for the MESS. It was grungy all over, scuffed like heck, screen dirty, keyboard filthy with cruft, cracked keyboard bezel at the HDD slot. I cleaned it off before even touching it to boot up with Fedora 10 (USB). He said it was his wife's, used in a home with a toddler ... looked more like the toddler used it.

I low-balled at $80, explaining that I'd have to invest at least $130 to refurbish (not counting the hour or so needed to clean the thing), someone else in the building offered more. No great loss, I got a newer, pristine machine for $271.

I wouldn't think of trying to sell a computer without some cleaning and preparing. I guess that's unusual. Some people are way too busy. But those who are hiding behind "I dunno," selling a computer that's not as described, should be caned.