market value of a secondhand netBook?

[diem]

Hi all,

Well, finally the day has come to move on - my trusty netBook has been supplanted by a shiny Apple Powerbook, and its time it went to a new owner who will treat it lovingly. Only thing is, I've no idea what its actually worth?

So, one Psion netBook with OS release 450 in near-perfect condition, in all its original packaging, along with a Buffalo Roamabout WiFi PC Card, a Psion 10/100 gold card LAN Global PC Card CombineIT (the best wired ethernet card for netBook, in short!), a leather briefcase and a 16MB Hitachi CF Card stuffed with various free & sharewares.

I'm not sure what the market value of this is these days - what do you think folks?

Cheers,

yan

[wanman]

Ebay prices range from £200-300

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Psion-Netbook-Upgraded-with-WiFi-Colorgraphic-VGA_W0QQitemZ5794936607QQcategoryZ14405QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

Sorry to hear you are moving on from your trusty netBook.

Out of interest, what is to become of your very useful EpocFaq website? Obviously you will not be adding much more to it, but how long will the site remain live? If you are thinking of closing the site, could we perhaps host it elsewhere?


Cheers

Si

[diem]

Hi Simon,

Yes, I've left it a long time to be sure that I'm not just going to come running back to the netBook, but (battery life and overall weight aside) the Powerbook has me convinced.

I'll be leaving the EPOC FAQ site online for the forseeable future no worries - hosting it isn't costing me much and I'm happy to still provide the info service and reply to the occasional query I get. If I do decide to close it never fear I will ensure all the content is passed on to the community.


Cheers,

[WolfUK]

I actually popped in here after seeing your eBay auction for your netBook to see why/what you were moving on to. It's sad to see another Psion stalwart leaving the fold but then again it is fantastic to hear that you are replacing your netBook with a Mac. Two years after swapping mine for an iBook I have no regrets at all ... although that does not stop me from checking netBook auctions on eBay now and then!

Anyway, sorry to see you go and maybe I'll see you around in the uk.comp.sys.mac newsgroup.

[wanman]

Oooh shiny new forums software :)

I am thinking of moving from my 7book but have yet to decide on something like a Sony Vaio T2XP or the smallest iBook (12" screen). What are the benefits of the Apple device? Is it just an anti-windows thing or is the iBook really that good? What is the battery life, OS like? How about instant on? I assume it is similar to the standby mode on a Windows lappy?

[WolfUK]

First, my choice to go for a 12" iBook was not based on any particular anti-Microsoft feelings ... I develop Windows software for a living so I am somewhat obliged to like them, even if only a bit. :)

The battery life is several hours (four or five easily) as opposed to two for my Dell laptop I have for work. Macs also have a sleep mode where, for a laptop, you close the lid and that's it. When you open the lid everything is there and ready to go within a second, maybe two. I haven't used a Windows sleep or hibernate mode for a while but last time I did it took a while to perform a similar process. To give you some idea of the robustness of sleep mode, I think that I have turned my iBook off about three times in the last couple of years and it has traveled all over England whilst it has been asleep.

The Mac OS is very stable (just watch out for things like bad RAM which plagued me for my first three months of ownership) and, although it might take you a few days to get used to it, it is very intuitive, clean (ie none of the messy Windows-style configuration and tinkering) and virus and spyware free. In fact I can fully recommend that you don't bother with anti-virus software which will probably just slow things down for you.

What you could do if you are still unsure if buy one from John Lewis, try it for a few weeks and take it back within 28 days if you don't like it.

[Nemo20000]

It would be sad if the netbook was going to languish in a cupboard somewhere, but a sale on ebay probably means new blood!

[Steve Moore]

Hi Yan

I moved on from my netBook about 30 months ago, to a 12" PowerBook, and have since changed to a slightly fancier one - my wife uses the old one. I have KEPT my netBook - I still use it for site surveys, quick notetaking etc., when I need one-handed, light, light, light. I doubt we will see the like again - very simple, quick, easy computing - and I hope I will never have to sell it. I was considering a Sunday afternoon project turning it into an uber-netBook with Pro battery, all the toys etc. (I still have the GPRS card etc.) and without doubt it is the best computer-type-thing I've ever bought.

Nonetheless our family loves all the music/photo/video ease of the macs, and the battery life, as you say, and the close-the-lid-n'-go of the PowerBooks.

Go on - KEEP IT. It's not worth the £ 200, surely?

Thanks for all your help over the years.

Steve

[wanman]

Well they had the option to with the Netbook Pro, but felt there would not be the need for it. Thing is you can now buy loads of ultra portable laptops without and fancy hard drives (although when you consider the Sony T series is not much bigger than a netBook.....but with XP Pro.....it does make me wonder).

[MartinMaxwell]

So long Yan. I guess the right choice given there is still no Symbian alternative.

I've also abandoned the netBook...





...and gone back to Psion 5mx as my main productivity tool...:-)


I keep my netBook, but currently only for developing Symbian phone applications.