I have a chance to get a Compaq Armada E500 for about $200. Its a p3 600 with 128megs of ram. I'm looking to get a notebook to do basic word processing and wireless networking stuff for work (I plan on buying a USB card). I plan on using either slackware or suse. My question is has anyone ever had expirence with this brand of laptops? Am I getting a bad deal? Is it going to have enough power all around to run KDE and do the basic stuff?



Thanks

I've had excellent results with a compaq (presario xl) and Slackware for several years. No hardware issues everything works great. As far as the price, sounds like a good deal but I'd google
to see current prices. You might also check Ebay. Good luck.

Not a big fan of ebay. I have heard too many stories. Since I live 40 mins from the building I can go look at it personally. I'm a bit heistant to buy a used laptop. But for what I want to use it for I cant see dropping $700 for a new one.

Don't blame you as far as ebay goes. Here's a few things to look for in a used laptop:
Look the screen over thoroughly for missing pixels and blank spots around the edges. Listen to the hard drive closely. It should be almost inaudible , same with cd/dvd drives. Check the power input jack. This is a common point of faiure. Do a cold reboot of the machine to ensure cmos is working properly .Check all keys, mouse buttons etc. for proper function. Check the lid hinges and associated hardware. This is another common problem with laptops. If it is currently running windows, you can get memory/system diagnostic programs on the web to test with. Finally make sure modems/pcmcia / usb devices all work properly. Good luck

OOPS!!! Forgot one
Run the machine on the main battery and see how long it goes before it shuts down. It's been my experience when buying used laptops that a new battery will be needed so keep that in mind.