Well, I got this great idea that buying a barebones laptop and then buying the CPU, HDD, Memory, and wireless card is a great idea and I want to do it. At the least I think I can probably do it all for $1000 or less, but I need some help.

First of all does anyone know where I can get a barebones notebook for under $550? That's the floor I'm reaching right now, but I would like to go lower. I'm keeping an eye on an ebay auction right now, but I would prefer to buy from a store or dealer.

Secondly, and it's pretty close to the same stuff, does anyone know where to get cheap hardware? I'm currently looking at a 2.2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4-M, 40 GB of HD, and 512 MB of RAM. Anyone know of a good discount, because those 3 things come to about $500 in themself.

Thirdly, does anyone have any tips about building a computer. They say it is very easy, but I've never done it myself. There are instructions and everything, but does anyone have any suggestions about building?

Finally, I had this great idea of perhaps selling the first one I buy on ebay because I think I can make a profit, those systems usually go in the 1250-1400 range; you think it would be a good idea to sell the first one I make? I'm kinda thinking it would be, although I'd probably have to buy Windows XP instead of installing a friend's version.

A couple more things.....

I also just thought that I could buy a cheap ass old computer and then replace the CPU, Memory, HDD, and add a wireless card, but I need to know a few things. How do I know how much of an upgrade the comp can take in terms of the CPU? Same question for Memory and HDD.

How do I know if the comp will even have space for the wireless card?

i dunno about laptops but.....

Originally posted by Nimreitz
I also just thought that I could buy a cheap ass old computer and then replace the CPU, Memory, HDD, and add a wireless card, but I need to know a few things. How do I know how much of an upgrade the comp can take in terms of the CPU? Same question for Memory and HDD.

How do I know if the comp will even have space for the wireless card?


well if you're going to buy a new CPU, you'll need a new motherboard too..... because the cheap ass old one wont support the new processor.......... so i assume that you make sure the motherboard has space for wireless :confused: ...same deal with the memory

but you should also consider getting a better PSU then, particularly if you are thinkig of getting a graphics card too


in my experience, it is cheaper and less time consuming to just find a cheap pc shop and buy a new custom pc (one without things you might not need replacing, video card/monitor/modem etc) :confused: