Refurbished Laptops with Linux Lite preinstalled

[N4RPS]

Hello!

It'll definitely help to get the machines donated, as opposed to having to buy them.

I hope this project goes well for you!

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[Robbz]

touchscreen

Does LL support touch?  I never really thought about it since I've never had a touchscreen computer (just my old iPad and smartphones).

Yes. It supports my finger and Pen on my Dell XT2.
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/index.php?topic=721.msg3875#msg3875

I also got the touch screen to work on my Panasonic cf-u1!

[pete284]

I have purchased a few secondhand laptops and Installed Linux on as it's cheap to do. Companies I have used in the UK are:

http://www.tier1online.com/
http://www.3000rpm.com/
https://www.svp.co.uk
http://www.scctrade.co.uk/

Desktops are not so popular in the UK at the moment. I have always tended to go for ex-business machines as they are better built than the consumer laptops. My own LL machine is a Dell D430 and it runs very well.

Issues I've had with the laptops in the past with various incarnations of Linux always boiled down to the wifi card. If one area didn't work it was always the wifi card (and usually Broadcom wifi cards in general).

If you find a machine that it works fine on then by purchasing the same spec ones by burning an image to them the hard work will be setting the initial machine.

[rokytnji]

touchscreen

Does LL support touch?  I never really thought about it since I've never had a touchscreen computer (just my old iPad and smartphones).

Yes. It supports my finger and Pen on my Dell XT2.
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/index.php?topic=721.msg3875#msg3875

[Monkeyman]

touchscreen

Does LL support touch?  I never really thought about it since I've never had a touchscreen computer (just my old iPad and smartphones).

[Robbz]

The idea here is to get laptops out to people at a reasonable price with Linux Lite preinstalled and configured.

What people will get:

A low to high end range refurbished laptop
Linux Lite preinstalled and set up with your user details (submitted via an order form)
All updates and drivers installed - nothing to set up, unbox it, start using it straight away
90 day warranty
There will be 3 models available: low end, mid range, high end

Typical specifications start at:

Model A: (low end)
Processor     Intel Core2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
Memory     2GB Ram
Hard Drive     80GB 5400rpm SATA
Optical Drive     Slimline DVD-RW
Wireless     802.11 A/B/G
Screen Size     14.1" LCD
Screen Resolution     1440 x 900

and go to:

Model C: (high end)
Processor     Intel Quad Core 2.5GHz
Memory     8GB Ram
Hard Drive     500GB SATA
Optical Drive     Slimline DVD-RW
Wireless     802.11 A/B/G
Screen Size     15.6" LCD
Screen Resolution     1600 x 900

This is both a way to support the project whilst helping the environment.

Assuming you wanted one of these, what would you expect to pay for either Model A & Model C?

Hey Jerry,

I saw this post and thought i should share what refurbished pcs are going for in Minnesota....

Desktop (no screen)
Single core AMD 3.0 ghz cpu
DVD Burner
80gb Harddrive
1gb ram
Ethernet only
Internal graphics (yes it can play youtube videos perfectly)

This sells for $50 with a 14 day warranty at our local Boys and Girls Club Thrift Store. All proceed of anything sold there go to local charity.
The desktops sell as fast as i can put them together. There even is a waiting list for people buying these pc's.
The desktops were all going to a dump (almost 80 total) after a local school decommissioned them all, so i decided to refurbish them all and donate.
Now there not only making money for charity, but not being thrown in a landfill.

I can provide a picture of the display soon.

Hope this helps.....


Link of store... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Re-Use-it-Thrift-Shop/207638395941717

[Jerry]

Awesome stuff rokytnji, thank you.

[rokytnji]

Too bad you guys do not celebrate Thanksgiving overseas like we do.
Only 1 per customer though while stock lasts.

You have to walk in (wait in line 1st) to buy just one. It is how these things operate in the states.
I am posting from one such deal. This was brand new when I bought it for the wife when inxi shows the date.
It was her birthday present then. Which is next week.     I am stuck on what to get this year.

It was 200 bucks new then. She now has a Dell with 8 gig of ram and Windows 7 Enterprise with a I5 processor.
I bought her that one last year. It was how I ended up with this.

Code: [Select]

$ inxi -M
Machine:   System: Hewlett-Packard product: Presario CQ57 Notebook PC v: 068C110003204910000620100
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 3577 v: 24.48
           Bios: Hewlett-Packard v: F.42 date: 11/07/2011
$ inxi -f
CPU:       Dual core AMD C-50 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB
           clock speeds: max: 1000 MHz 1: 800 MHz 2: 1000 MHz
           CPU Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm aperfmperf apic arat clflush cmov
           cmp_legacy constant_tsc cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de extapic extd_apicid
           fpu fxsr fxsr_opt ht hw_pstate ibs lahf_lm lbrv lm mca mce
           misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc npt nrip_save
           nx pae pat pausefilter pdpe1gb pge pni popcnt pse pse36 rdtscp sep
           skinit sse sse2 sse4a ssse3 svm svm_lock syscall tsc vme wdt

Hardware takes some skill and then patience to refurbish a laptop/netbook. I can speak from experience having done this with a gutted
Dell XT2 Touchscreen Netbook. It is nice now. For a dual core, 5gig ram, SSD hard drive, Netbook.
Figure in parts, and my labour, setting it up for pennies. Still comes out to about 250 bucks for a touchscreen, 5 gig ram, 120 gig SSD, dual core intel, Linux Lite laptop, with a swivel screen, with a good battery and new power supply.

They make a good Linux Lite Platform

But I do not know how available they are for you guys overseas.

My Compaq I am posting from made a good platform also, except for the sd card reader with the newer kernels that were tested out on it.
The stock kernel worked fine when I had that drive in here.
Looks like England has a few

I mentioned Chromebooks earlier because I also have a Acer C710 Chromebook with dual core Celeron cpus. I do not know if Linux Lite
is Crouton capable though. That seems to be a Ubuntu or Debian only thing. I do not have enough experience using the -r option on mine to see. Plus touchpad kernel modules need enabling also. Which is a kernel 3.17 feature. Jeff Hoogland/Bohdi did it on the Acer C720 which is the model that came out after mine.  That was why I mentioned a Chromebook might be a possibility.

There might be some killer open box deals on those. From unhappy owners that returned them for a Windows 8 Laptop.
It was how I received mine. It sold for 200. I got it for 99.

Just jaw jacking really before I go to bed. Since this is suggestions and ideas.

[Jerry]

My current thought is to have someone in the UK (UK and Europe) and someone in the USA (rest of the world) sourcing cheap, well specced compatible laptops, loading Linux Lite and shipping. They would have to be familiar with computers in general, hardware and configuring LL obviously. The order will be placed through a page on the LL site, then the details forwarded to that particular person. This is the framework, of course there are the details to fill in.

[Jerry]

I'm not sure about the numbers yet, and to be honest it's not a huge factor for me. Obviously you don't want to sell at a loss, so I will be careful about costs, LibreOffice Calc will be heavily employed At this stage it's just a matter of listening to the community and then picking out the best, most sensible ideas. The same approach we take with software choices.

[Wirezfree]

Hi Jerry,

I guess it comes down to what you expect a "reasonable" return.?
or look at cost + recovery

No idea what your "buy" cost is, But
If it takes you 1 hr to do: "Unpack > Install > Config > Test > Re-Pack > Ship"
That's Buy + 1hr @ a rate of X$, so you need to recover that.
Then if you want to add say $50 to go into the "Development/Support/Hosting" pot.
Does that total fit within some of the quoted figures.?

Dave

[Jerry]

Some excellent replies here so far, thank you people

[gold_finger]

Well when it comes to getting what you pay for at that price point holding to a 90 day warranty might be impossible....

When acquiring systems for resale quality and quantity are important if you have to replace a system in the 90 window you will want to be able to get or have the replacement on hand quickly. If you do not build margin into the price point then where is replacement cost factored in.

True and I didn't really take that into consideration on my answer.  Add an additional $30-50 to my guesstimates.

I will tell you that unless you buying the hardware off the back of truck in a back alley somewhere $450 won't get you a high end laptop refurbished period.

The description of "high end" is pretty vague; so each person is going to have something different in mind when answering that.  My guesstimate was based on it being something like an Intel I5 (or older model I7) with integrated graphics or a basic addon card -- not a suped-up gaming system, which would obviously be more.  (Seems my vision of "high end" is more similar to your vision of "mid range".)  With that frame of reference, I actually padded the price estimate beyond what I would actually be willing to pay and set it more to what I think most people would pay.  I could be completely off base on that though since I don't typically look to buy newer used systems.  If I want new, I buy new.

Also, everyone has their own idea of what constitutes a "good deal".  Many people might think it's a great deal to get a used laptop for $700 that would cost $1000 brand new.  For me, the difference has to be greater than that to justify taking a chance on used equipment.

I can only answer what I would pay.  I have no clue what others would pay for same thing.

[rokytnji]

Might think of using Chromebooks.

[newtusmaximus]

Jerry,
are you looking to do this as a business or as a "charitable" service to  the community.  Over here "new" laptop prices are plummeting- They have OS (Windows) and add ons already installed.  So the "New" market price will determine what you can expect from reconditioned/recycled. May be luck and catch the XP fallout / hardware upgrade.

If, however, you can court IT departments of major business/corporations into the philosophy of recycling perfectly usable "old" laptops instead of putting them in landfill, and to the benefit of the wider community - PR / green credentials etc, then you might be able to acquire material very cheaply , if not free. Different ball game altogether. 

http://www.blackbarncomputers.com/   in the UK - Been around for many a year.