Used Lap top

[CoffeeGuy]

I am thinking of purchasing a used lap top pc for my mother, who is retired. Her only interest, so far with computers, are playing games, internet, budgeting and digital photo's. She has a desent set up at home, but when she and dad hit the road in the motor home, she has to use an old, slow lap top. I mean ooold. So I'm looking at "Retrobox" for a nice replacement. Most of their low end lap top's do not come with modems. How difficult is it to install an internal modem in a lap top pc ? I'm looking at Dell's and Toshiba's right now. What would I expect to pay for a good modem ? Also, the operating system is not included with any of their pc's. Is that as simple as dropping an xp disk in the cd reader and hit enter ? I guess I'm asking, what am I getting into by doing it all myself ?

[Craig Tucker]

Why no use a PCMCIA modem, most laptops even fairly old ones should have a PCMCIA slot. I would doubt you could retrofit an internal modem to an old laptop.

[rallynavvie]

It can be very diffisult to install depending on the manufacturer of the laptop, if not impossible. Why not just get a PCMCIA modem card? On my ThinkPad there's an expansion slot for a modem card so I'm guessing it either needs to be built-in or have room for it like mine, at least if you're "installing" one and not just using a card. Most laptops also allow hot-swapping of cards which is handy sometimes.

My grandparents picked up a nice new Sony laptop since they realized it was a far better choice for when they go between their summer and winter home and also when they visit their kids and grandkids. I was pretty impressed by the machine they bought as I didn't think they were all that computer-knowledgeable (though my grandfather used one of the first computers after the war when he worked at 1 Wall Street). The modem is indeed handy for dial-up access anywhere you've got a phone line. However when getting your parents a modem card you should also look into a wireless card as well since my grandparents use their onboard wireless when they stop at coffee shops and they said even some RV parks have a wireless AP antenna. If I were taking it to the country in a motor home I'd maybe even wire up the dish (I've seen RVs with them attached) for broadband wherever I stop. Technology is cool 8)

[CoffeeGuy]

Yes. Technology is cool. But it is running off and leaving too far behind. I can't keep up with it.
PCMCIA modem card? Is it a card that plugs into a slot ? All the way in, or is it sticking out a good bit ?
Whatever it is, it does sound easier.

[Craig Tucker]

Yes its a card that pushes al the way into a slot, its about the size of a credit card.

[ViRaL1]

DELETED.

[CoffeeGuy]

How much trouble is it to install the operating system, such as xp or 98 ?

[rallynavvie]

Recommend XP, but then you'll also want at least 128MB of RAM. I run pretty well with 192MB on my ThinkPad. Installing the OS takes a little longer than what it would on a desktop but is otherwise the same.

[Craig Tucker]

I have XP running on a PII 266 laptop with 80MB of ram, works fine as a basic office machine.

[Capmaster]

I have XP running on a PII 266 laptop with 80MB of ram, works fine as a basic office machine.

Wow. I thought glaciers passed me up when I was using my Libretto 233 (64MB RAM, 4.5GB HD) with Win98SE

You're a patient man Craig

[Craig Tucker]

Hey, I am not saying its blistering fast or anything , but it does run ok.

[Capmaster]

Hey, I am not saying its blistering fast or anything , but it does run ok.

You know, I think you're right Craig. They're perfectly serviceable machines ...they get the job done

The mistake we make is ever using a blisteringly fast PC ...then, of course, we want one, and every time we fire up our methuselah machines, we get mad at it. But just a day before, we were happy as clams. It hasn't gotten slower, but we have gotten more impatient with it.

We're fickle masters, eh?