Should I buy this laptop Gateway NV73A04U?

[doubleaa93]

A guy is selling me a Gateway NV73A04U

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6532367&CatId=4965

for $300.

The hard drive doesnt work. So its going to need replacement.

Is this a good deal?? I might be able to get it for $200.

Laptop Looks in good condition

I'm going to be using the laptop for college, hw, YouTube, Facebook

 

[Maxx_Power]

A guy is selling me a Gateway NV73A04U

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6532367&CatId=4965

for $300.

The hard drive doesnt work. So its going to need replacement.

Is this a good deal?? I might be able to get it for $200.

Laptop Looks in good condition

I'm going to be using the laptop for college, hw, YouTube, Facebook

Well, it is not a great (reliability and design wise) laptop even if it was new. For the price of 200... maybe if it works alright (hard drives aren't cheap right now, plan for 50-100 dollars before taxes to get a new hard drive).

 

[doubleaa93]

Thanks for your reply maxx

I was able to get a hard drive to test the laptop.

Laptop works alright, everything seems fine(tested battery,wifi,bluetooth,cd drive,sound is little bit crackling,and speed is good)

Can you explaing what you mean by reliability and design?

Can I find a better deal for $200?

 

[Maxx_Power]

Thanks for your reply maxx

I was able to get a hard drive to test the laptop.

Laptop works alright, everything seems fine(tested battery,wifi,bluetooth,cd drive,sound is little bit crackling,and speed is good)

Can you explaing what you mean by reliability and design?

Can I find a better deal for $200?

Reliability is gauged statistically. Gateway is typically at best mid to bottom tier in terms of reliability, about the same as Compaq. Individual units may last and appear to be reliable, but statistically, over large averages of machines sent in for repairs. There are TONS of these studies, you can look around, here is one:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/244419/laptop_reliability_and_satisfaction_macbooks_rule.html

here is another:

http://www.techpowerup.com/161001/Rescuecom-Reveals-2012-Computer-Reliability-Report.html

And so on...

Design wise, if you look at the engineering changes to the basic laptop design, only Dell and Asus and some of HP (other than Apple, to give credit where it's due) have been (at the least superficially) changing their laptop designs to incorporate elements of more unitized body fabrication (like unibody cars) for strength, the adoption of high strength/light weight materials (carbon fiber, aluminum), and the better integration of all the parts used (less gaps, better fit, less figety pieces), so on and so on.

But for only 200 bucks, it MAY be a good deal. The 17 inch screen is nice for the price. Is it LED backlit ? If NOT, I won't recommend it.

 

[doubleaa93]

Yes it is an LED backlit screen!

Idk if I should buy haha, I just cant seem to find laptop with similar specs for that price.

 

[Maxx_Power]

Yes it is an LED backlit screen!

Idk if I should buy haha, I just cant seem to find laptop with similar specs for that price.

Granted it is 2nd hand. Make sure you check out the laptop thoroughly (stress test the CPU with Prime95 say). Is it from a familiar person ?