Should I Buy a Used XPS 1640 for $400?

There is a guy selling one on craigslist in my area. He swears there is nothing wrong with it. He did tell me that he recently had the motherboard replaced which makes me a little nervous, given all the heat-related concerns I've read about ...

Please respond and let me know what you all think ... I'm set to meet with this guy on Friday ...

 

$400 isn't that good of a deal for that model. What are the rest of the specs of the computer?

 

Did you ask if it still had a warranty?

 

Thank you namaiki and TheFirst&Last for responding!

The specs as he presents them in his ad:

Dell Studio xps 1640 =$400.00 Firm, GOOD LUCK FINDING A BETTER LAPTOP AT THIS PRICE!
Processor: Intel(R) Core (TM)2 Duo CPU P7350 @ 2.00GHZ
Memory(RAM): 2.00GB
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670
System Type: 64bit operating system windows 7
Number of Processor cores: 2
Total Hard disk size: 298 GB
Network adaptor: Intel(R) Wifi Link 5100 AGN
Network adaptor: Broadcom Netlink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Network Adaptor:Bluetooth® Internal (2.0) mini-cards-standard
Full 1080p HD support and premium ATI graphics
Nice keybard light up keys on keyboard
Intergrated webcam
8X DVD+/-RW Slot-load Drive
Brand new motherboard we paid 400 just to get that done, and i origanly paid about $1,500. for this computer.

As for the warranty, he did not say but I'm assuming he has none since he says he paid $400 to get a new motherboard put in ...

He says that the screen is 16 inches, and I'm hoping it is, because that would mean it is the RGB-LED screen, which is really what I want to buy it for--I primarily want to use it for watching movies ...

further thoughts?

 

In my opinion, still hard to say if it's worth it. Though I guess if it's got the RGB LED screen it might be okay...

 

Any ideas on how I would verify that it does, in fact, have that screen?

From what I can tell, the RGB is 1920x 1080, while the non RGB is 1280x720 ...

 

Only the 1080p screen is RGBLED. 1368x768 and 1600x900 screens are WLED screens.

 

Thanks Tsunade!

Do you think $400 for an RGB-LED 1640 is a good deal?

I don't know where else I could get a screen of that quality for anywhere near that price ...

 

$400 for a used/old computer seems pretty high..
the specs, for me, are the most important part of the computer when buying and those aren't very good for today's standards.

how desperate are you for a new computer? if you're on craigslist, the best thing to do is to wait. may take days or weeks, but you may find a even better computer for a lower price.

also, try looking online at like slickdeals or bensbargains.com . you can find some new and better computers that are also at $400.
ex: Asus - 14" Laptop - 4GB Memory - 320GB Hard Drive - Brown - X44H-BBR7 (would not even be surprised if the intel video card in this laptop is faster than the ati one in the xps).

 

Thanks for responding, conscriptvirus!

I'm not desperate, apart from the whole "urge to buy one" thing. I understand what you're saying about the higher specs available with newer models, but the thing is, pretty much the only thing I will be using this laptop for is for watching videos ... and I think it should have the specs to run high res, high bitrate videos just fine ... and I do not think I will be able to find a laptop with a 1080p RGB-LED screen at anywhere near that price ... so strictly concerning those specific aspects--do you still think I should wait?

EDIT: I should add that the guy just emailed me and he doesn't even know what the native resolution of the 1640 is or how to check ... I emailed him back and told him how to find out. If it isn't a 1080p then I will not be buying it for certain ...

EDIT AGAIN: I just looked on newegg and the cheapest 1080p (never mind RGB-LED) laptop they had was for $799 and that was refurbished ...

 

Ah ... he just got back to me. The laptop is only 1368x768, even though his ad claims "Full 1080p HD". Which of course means no RGB-LED screen ... (sigh).

NOW how much do you all think it might be worth? Obviously nowhere near $400 ...

 

Ya double check that, that is like the difference between a Ferrari and a BMW, night and day difference. 400 for a non RGBLED 1640 is bleh.