On Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:42:34 -0800, Jeff Liebermann
<jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us> wrote in
<hm99t2pe0mudorkg2g8b27j47g2nb7cbdn@4ax.com>:

>I've bought laptops on eBay without difficulties. However, I simply
>assume that the included battery will be almost dead and need
>replacement.

Likewise.

>That's about $150 depending on source and vintage.

I get even OEM batteries for quite a bit less than that, and very good
non-OEM batteries for much less ($40-50 for ThinkPad T-series).

>For
>hard disks that are over 5 years old, assume that is also dead.

I disagree -- the hard disk is likely to outlast the rest of the laptop
if not abused. The usual reason for replacement is to increase
capacity.

>In
>most cases, RAM may also need to be added to run the latest bloatware.

Often, but RAM is cheap.

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