New vs. Refurbished Gateway C-140XL

[geofftoons]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for awhile reading all your informative posts while I've been deciding on what TPC to get. I've pretty much decided on the Gateway C-140XL, but wanted to ask your opinions on buying new from Gateway website vs. a refurbished unit through the Gateway store on Ebay.

Are the refurbished units as good as the new TPC's?

Are they prone to have any more problems than you would get with a new TPC?

Are there major differences in the Warranty between a new and refurb?

As it is right now, I've got a quote for a new C-140XL, pretty loaded, with the 1.66GHz Core 2Duo processesor, 120GB HD, 3 year service plan, etc., the final quote estimate $1508.94. the total being about $1650 after taxes. After talking to the rep who was very helpful, he was able to trim the price down to $1499.99, tax and shipping included. Does this sound like a good deal?

Is there any big difference in performance between the 1.66MHz on the C-1410XL vs. the 2.0 or 2.2MHz precessors available on some of the refurbished business models? I forget the model # right now)

Any helpful input you have is appreciated, and if you think of anything that I didn't mention that would help, please let me know.

As far as my uses for the machine, cartooning, photoshop, dreamweaver, flash, etc. No 3D and most likely no gaming.

Thanks!
Geoff
http://www.geofftoons.com

[nikecar]

yes ther eis in terms of performance. If you are using processor intensive programs there will be in the long run. For normal activities, you might not notice a difference. I'd suggest if you can swing it get a T7xxx processor since you are doing Adobe Creative SuiteX.

Fro that price, go to http://pro.mpccorp.com and spec out the education and business models of it (E295 and S7235 i think). compare those pricing.

Sometimes the Ebay GW site is rejected deliveries so they are new. Sometimes it may be a refurbished unit. If you do the Gateway store at GW, you can drop the warranty and order it a few months later. You have 12 months to upgrade without penalty. Saves a few $$$ now that way, which is what I'm doing. Also, drop the memory to the minimum and order from Newegg for cheaper. They have a 2GB module for under $50. I think GW has it for over $100 that upgrade.

[geofftoons]

Thanks ****car! I went ahead and odered my C-140XL from Gateway this afternoon! Yay! I just didn't feel like messing around with all the business site and all, and it looked like the configuration I wanted would have ended up being more expensive anyway.

Thank you for your advice though, I appreciate it!

[nikecar]

welcome to the farm...

[key]

I was about to post the same thread. Search is useful.

Anyway, right now I'm seriously considering buying a refurbished c140xl from gateway auctions on ebay. The specs are generally maxed out (2GHZ or so, 7200rpm harddrive and so on) and the price is amazing. Too amazing, I dare say. 300$ for a tablet that would cost abou 1,5 grand on mpc is really, really low price. There are still few days untli the end of the auction so I have to decide quickly.

But really, isn't that quite risky? What are the opinions about refurbished laptops from gateway auctions? I really wouldn't mind saving about a grand but I don't want to get something that will break down after two days.

[quantum]

Despite being the cheapest around, Gateway has less of a 'defect' history than other manufacturers, so odds are the refurbished unit you buy is as good as new, or with minor cosmetic flaws at worst. $300 seems pretty cheap though, you sure you have the right e-bay seller? Then again, as you said there are still a few days for the auction end so it will probably go up to about under a grand.

[key]

yeah, I'm perfectly sure it's the right seller: link. Anyway, I'll also try negotiating with MPC for a lower price (1500$ when Gateway sells a tablet with the same specs, only with a weaker processor for 1099$), but first I have to find a password for my webcalldirect account. I don't live in USA and a long intercontinental discussion would probably heavily change my phone bill of I called directly. If I take the price down by, like 2 or 3 hundred dollars I wil consider buying a new one.
But I suppose it will end with a refurbished one.

EDIT:
Ah, what a failure, Gateway refuses to sell it the laptop will leave the States.

[quantum]

Is there anyone that you can have it delivered to in the U.S. who can then send it to you?

[key]

Yes, there is someone, altough with their help I won't be able to make it in time now anyway. I suppose I'll simply buy the c140xl version, even though it's quite underpowered.
Then simply wait for penryn processors and replace t5450 with a penryn.

[quantum]

Replacing CPUs in mobile devices is a daunting task and voids your warranty, so if you have the know how to do this, more power to you but if for any reason you have doubts, beware. Also, keep in mind not all chipsets support penryn out of the box, you may need a bios update which may also never surface.