At this price point I would buy new. I would think almost any Linux distro would install and find your hardware. I installed Mandrake on my Toshiba laptop about 4 years ago and it found almost everything. A Tucson Free Unix guy installed my PCMCIA card for me with little hassle. That was 4 years ago! - I would think a Linux install would find everything today. The printers are cheap. I think they make their money on the ink cart. I do not think you will be able to by the hardware w/o the O/S. Mike Schwartz wrote: Thanks; well then I guess it would be less for a used one, ...or else I would just buy a new one (right?) Do you happen to know if there are any [gnu/] Linux distro's that would run on this? (and have drivers for everything including the wifi); ? (and - if so - whether there is any way to buy the HW without the SW?) and Hmmmm.... what's this Free 725 Printer ? I already have [/slash, don't need] a printer. Maybe I could sell the printer? (or give it away to some worthy cause and at least, get a tax deduction for it)? ...how much is a ["725"] printer worth? -- Mike Schwartz Glendale AZ schwartz@acm.org Mike.L.Schwartz@gmail.com On 8/17/06, keith smith < klsmith2020@yahoo.com> wrote:You can get a Dell $659 Dell Inspiron E1505 Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core� Duo Proc T2050 (1.60GHz/533MHz/2 X 1MB L2 Cache) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive 512MB Shared3 Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHZ, 1 DIMM 60GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive Free 725 Printer Free Shipping & Handling http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/tv?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&keycode=6Vc94&DGVCode=TV Mike Schwartz < mike.l.schwartz@gmail.com> wrote: I am interested in buying a laptop PC, up to 3, 4 years old (maybe younger); as long as it has a working wifi, [mozilla] browser, and typical stuff such as a charger for the battery, a USB port, and a CD or DVD drive. Is that too much to ask? How much should I expect to pay? If I am not in a hurry, is it better to buy it over the net ("mail order"?). I will probably pay by credit card. ...it's needed to be able to access (web-based) e-mail when out of town. -- Mike Schwartz Glendale AZ schwartz@acm.org Mike.L.Schwartz@gmail.com - - - - - - - Keith Smith - - - - - - - http://travelingcheese.com/search_engine/increase-search-engine-traffic.html - - - - - - - --------------------------------- Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss - - - - - - - Keith Smith - - - - - - - http://travelingcheese.com/search_engine/increase-search-engine-traffic.html - - - - - - - --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.