Had a few questions for all of you, one on what stores may carry this and second, what price is fair for what I am looking for.

I am wanting a small basic laptop that will do the basics - Microsoft Office, surf the web with my home wireless router (b,g), Outlook Express, nothing fancy or demanding but not slow as heck either...

I was thinking something like a Pent 2 600 or better - with 256 or more ram, at least 10 gig hd, any size screen from 10-15inch and would be nice if it had built in wireless B at least.

At this point I don't even care who makes it just looking for something in GOOD shape (I take care of my stuff, so I am looking for something someone else also took care of) that works solid and isn't too expensive (say around or under $300?).

I had searched ebay a bit but I hate bidding against others, maybe I will review more buy it now auctions but didn't see anything that stood out as a great deal to me.

What stores if any online have a solid rep for selling used laptops and possibly has some sort of pre-testing before shipping and or warranty in terms of DOA and or major issues it may have without a generic HEFTY BS restock fee or something...

Also, am I dreaming in this price point for what I am looking for?

Thanks for any input on stores or models I should consider or possibly stay away from (prone for problems etc).

Bill

check out woot.com today (august 2nd) they have a laptop which you might want..but if you check it out after today it'll be gone..

ebay usually has a pretty good selection, but if you are worried about losing bids and need the laptop quickly, it would probably not be a good idea. if you can find any, ibm thinkpads are rock solid (i had a 600e PII-400 that i recently ebayed) and the support section on their website is first class.

Pentium 2 600? Why do you want to get a laptop 2 or three generations old? Talk about pennywise, pound foolish. You want to get some bang for your buck, raise your price point to $550-$800 , resign yourself to dealing with numerous rebates and get one of the ultra cheap NEW systems being sold presently. Sounds for your needs a sempron or celeron laptop would be more than enough; they are all over 1ghz, so they will be alot more useful than a P2 600?!?!? that is already like 4-5 years out of date, which is ANCIENT in computer terms.

Don't try to save an extra $2-300 on buying an obsolete used laptop(powerbooks being the exception, but that is mac and they are stylish), it is the worst price/performance point you could be looking at in laptops. You start getting much better VALUE raising the bar to about $800 and buying new, then trying to upgrade something OBSOLETE and 600mhz is OBSOLETE for modern usage. Hell there are like new 2.8ghz Pentium 4 15" with CD-R/DVD dell laptops on ebay right now with bids around $400 , about $500 under their true market value, why would you want to buy used and old? This aint bicycles we are talking about.