anyone tried retrobox.com?

Forum: water cooler
Topic: anyone tried retrobox.com?
started by: dmizzel

Posted by dmizzel on April 30 2005,06:22

I clicked on a google ad (from inside the dsl forms) for retrobox.com and they have cheap used laptops. Can anyone vouch for them? any experiences?

Posted by Grim on April 30 2005,07:14

My old boss used to buy PC's from them a lot, and has recommended them to several customers. I think he has one (a retrobox pc) in the warehouse running inventory software.

Posted by noordinaryspider on April 30 2005,14:03

Dang, I don't click on ads, but thanks bunches for the link! If you're not too busy, would you mind telling me how to narrow the search for laptops? I need one for my Dad's 70th birthday present. He never did adjust to Winblows but he was a brilliant DOS programmer in his day and I'd love to share DSL with him; shouldn't cost me more than $50 or so for all he really wants or would use.

Posted by dmizzel on April 30 2005,21:01

[/QUOTE]
I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Do you mean narrowing a search on google?

I just went to < http://www.retrobox.com, > then entered the consumer site (as opposed to the corporate site), select laptops, then you can choose price, speed, etc.

Posted by l0st on May 13 2005,12:38

Can any kind soul point out if it ships overseas? The FAQ was murky on the matter.

Posted by noclobber on May 19 2005,22:22

Damn!!!

$98 P2-P3 laptops?
$40 17" monitors?
$5 8-port 10/100Base-T switches???

Sonova Beach!!!

How come I never ran across this site whenever I've searched the web for low-cost used laptops, peripherals, etc?

Retrobox makes the $250 I paid a few years ago for a 486DX-75 laptop w/only 24MB RAM, 800MB HD & 640x480 display sound like I got ripped off. I've been looking around lately for a laptop that has at least an 800x600 display with a bit more horsepower under the hood (I use it mainly for reading e-books and controlling other PCs on my LAN w/800x600 displays via vnc), but the cheapest I'd ever found was in the $250-$300 range w/o shipping (yes, I've clicked some of the Google ads here in the DSL forums). I've scoured eBay for laptop deals too, but my "reasonable" bids always get outbid.

I've been thinking of upgrading my LAN to 100Base-T as well, and I originally paid $50 for my 8-port 10Base-T hub!

Heck, I could probably buy laptops & desktops from Retrobox, install DSL or any other OS on them, then turn around and resell them on eBay for twice the price (and maybe even kick back part of the profits to the DSL team). :;):

Where'd I leave my credit card?

Posted by noordinaryspider on June 25 2005,20:24

I ordered an IBM Thinkpad T21 from them yesterday and will report back. DSL is going to kick butt on that thing but my next project will be significantly lower-budget and less flashy. I miss seeing senior citizen PCs coming back to life and kicking up their heels.

Posted by Max on June 26 2005,19:42

FWIW...retrobox does just what they claim. I work for one of the big multi-national oil companies and we upgraded about 15,000 pc's a while back....retrobox handled disposal of all the old pc's and notebooks.

They take-em as-is, wipe the contents of the drives, clean them up (as in-with a rag), run a diag program to make sure they're are no *obvious* problems, and sell them.

But you are getting the same machines we used everyday...albiet 3 or 4 years old.

That being said, you still might get a machine with a hard drive with only 6 months life left, or a sticky keyboard, etc., etc.

But....they are cheap. I would buy one.... I just know that I may have to dump a little more $$ in if something should fail...

Posted by noordinaryspider on June 28 2005,14:19

About all I have to report back so far is that thinkpads.com has a swap board where I found all the parts I think I'll need to turn my T21 into a perfectly adequate main computer in a matter of days. Retrobox has desktop PIIs as low as $20, but as we already know from No Computer Left Behind, the issue isn't so much finding the old machines and parts as it is storage space and not sounding like I've "found Jesus", as a friend of mine who's stuck in 'doze bluntly tells me, and turning people off to the whole idea. I really feel that DSL is the perfect solution for bridging the growing information gap in the United States and elsewhere. This distro and the philosophy and people behind it restore my flagging faith in humanity, I just wish I could do more to contribute to it; guzzling free beer gets old after awhile and my communication skills are so poor that I frequently wonder if I don't do more harm than good here on the forums.

Posted by green on June 29 2005,21:49

Quote (noordinaryspider @ June 28 2005,10:19)

That was EXCELLENT communication.

Now,.... if you can hook a brotha up with that free beer......

Posted by noordinaryspider on July 12 2005,02:06

Real nice little lappy so far (about five hours), but I ordered a cosmetically "Grade B" because I wanted some minor screen damage and a banged up exterior and this thing looks cherry to me. Definitely no dead pixls.

Oh well; better luck next time.

I've been told it wouldn't really make it any less stealable anyway. Retrobox gets more of my business when my credit card recovers, but once again I've got more PC than I really need.

Posted by AwPhuch on Mar. 22 2006,20:05

Looks like they got a new shipment in or something...they have tons of new stuff for dirt cheap!!

Brian
AwPhuch

Posted by AwPhuch on April 14 2006,04:05

Quote (noordinaryspider @ July 11 2005,22:06)

I've been told it wouldn't really make it any less stealable anyway. Retrobox gets more of my business when my credit card recovers, but once again I've got more PC than I really need.

So how was the machine you ordered...was it in good shape??

How did it work out for you....will you order from them again

Remember word of mouth is the best advertisement in the world!

Brian
AwPhuch