imported_Peanut

Hi Guys!
Am new here. I am not yet an owner of a 4700 but am ready to be one. I have a problem deciding what to choose though and am hoping that you guys can help me.

1) Is buying a pre-owned HX4700 advisable or not? (Assuming unit is in good condition and I personally know seller and know that seller is a meticulous person and really takes care of his gadgets)

2) I have 2 friends (both meticulous) selling me HX4700's. One is selling a 1yr and 6month old 4700 with complete package (box, manuals, and everything that came in the box when bought brand new). HP warranty until Nov. 2005 only.

3) and the other is selling an 8 month old unit but with nothing else but the unit included. HP warranty unit Nov. 2006.

Both choices 2 & 3 are the same price (about US$200 off the brand new price).

Which of the 3 choices will be a smarter choice? Why?

Please help me. I really want the 4700.

Thanks in advance for your inputs guys!

sugar_cube

Peanut, welcome to the Forum!

As for buying new or second hand, the choice really is yours - do you feel comfortable buying a second hand unit, as opposed to a new one? If the previous owner has looked after it well & has cared for it & has had no problems as such to speak of with it (i.e. nothing more serious than having to do the occasional soft reset) then there is no reason not to buy it.

I would check that the cradle, power lead & software is included - manuals are not so important as you can download them from the HP website, and the box it came in is not needed - if you need to send the unit through the post you can always wrap it up securely in another box.

If both units have the cradle, power lead & software CD then get the newest one. (The really important thing to have is the CD, as you can buy replacement cradles, power leads etc, but you can't (as far as I'm aware) buy a replacement CD).

Good luck!

BOSERO

Sugar Cube,

Hi there! I am in similar situation.

I am about to buy a second hand 4700 with the complete package but the warranty coverage has about 6 months left to it?

To present 4700 users: what are the chances that I will be needing the warranty (assuming that previous owner took care of unit very well.)? Is the 4700 series known to have many lemons?

Or as Peanut put it, would it be better to buy an incomplete package 4700 with longer warranty? Assuming both complete and incomplete are the same price.

sugar_cube

It's like buying a car - you can buy a second hand one & have no problems with it, or you can find yourself stuck with a lemon. Same with buying a new car - it will work fine, it might have a few niggly problems, or it might be a lemon.

I bought my HX4700 brand new & it's not had any problems so far (touch wood ); but if you look through this forum there are other users who have had problems.

Most faults will rear their ugly little heads at the start of the unit's life, so if it's a few months old & working OK then you can (usually) assume that the unit will continue to behave itself.

As for incomplete/complete packages, you really need the cradle, a power lead & the software CD - the manual can be downloaded & the box isn't necessary. If you have at least the CD then you can price the other items & see if it's worth buying the unit & then buy the other bits that you need, or decide instead to buy new & get everything you need in one box.

Have a browse on the internet & see if there are any bargains to be picked up for new units - some providers put together bundles (e.g. to include a screen protector, case etc).

But the final decision of whether to buy new or old has to be yours.

ppchaser

Quote:

2) I have 2 friends (both meticulous) selling me HX4700's. One is selling a 1yr and 6month old 4700 with complete package

I wonder hx4700 just came out around Sep 2004. Upto now it should less than 1 year old. How come your friend can offer to sell you a 1.5 year old hx4700?

__________________
ppchaser

swhoutx035

Originally Posted by ppchaser

I wonder hx4700 just came out around Sep 2004. Upto now it should less than 1 year old. How come your friend can offer to sell you a 1.5 year old hx4700?

I was wondering the same thing

Sugar cube is right about being able to purchase the cradle and other peripherals but not the CD. The thing to check out though is the cost of the cradle plus the power cord for it (HP sells them seperately). That can add 60-80 dollars to the price. The only piece you relly need from the CD is ActiveSync, you can download that for free from MS.

I would go with the one that came with everything because all in all it is the best deal. If the seller (is trust worthy) hasn't had any issues with it by now, then the likelyhood that something is wrong with the device is slim.

imported_Peanut

swhoutx035 / ppchaser,

You guys are right. My bad. I was assuming that the normal warranty for the 4700 was 2 years when in fact it is just 1 year (please confirm this. I might me wrong again).

So, the unit with the complete package was bought Nov. 2004 and warranty is up to Nov. 2005.

The unit with nothing else with it apparently has an exteded warranty for 2 years, according to the owner. I will check this out with my local HP office. Would anyone know where I can find the serial number on this so I can have the people at HP check out the warranty for this? Thanks.

So it seems that both units are of the same age (roughly) but one has extended warranty.

From the previous posts, it seems to me that most people value the complete package more than the warranty period. Is this because that the 4700 is a generally reliable machine?

As to the cradle and power cord, I think you can sync the 4700 to a PC using one of those aftermarket retractable cables (which will be supplied by seller). This cable is easier to carry in a bag as compared to the cradle. The manual you can download. What is on the CD that is imortant aside from the OS? Active sync you can download. Wow! after reading my post, it seems to me that I am overly concerned with the warranty. So much so, that I am thinking of giving up the complete package. But at the same time, hesitant to do so.

Guys, please help me. Do I really need the warranty? Or do I really need the cradle, and CD? Any more comments that will help me make up my mind will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

sugar_cube

The device serial number can be found as follows:

Start/Settings/"System" tab/HP Asset Viewer.

You can also find it by removing the battery & looking at the bit inside that has a white background (near to the base of the PPC) - there are 2 sets of numbers, with bar codes underneath each; the top one is the device serial number.

imported_Peanut

Sugar Cube,
Thank you. Will check it out.

So what is more important to you guys? Warranty or complete set?

Thanks.

sugar_cube

Quote:

it seems to me that most people value the complete package more than the warranty period. Is this because that the 4700 is a generally reliable machine?

As we've said - if the PPC hasn't gone wrong by now the chances are that it will continue to work fine.

Quote:

This cable is easier to carry in a bag as compared to the cradle.

How are you intending to use the PPC? The idea of the cradle is that you connect it to your PC & leave it there, so that when you get into work, or get home, you just slot the PPC into the cradle & you're instantly connected to your PC. You can, if you want, get an extra cradle so that you have one at work & one at home.

Quote:

What is on the CD that is imortant

You will find out when you next need the CD & realise that you don't have it To be honest, the CD is not so important; I would want it, but that's because I'm from an earlier era where the best way to prove ownership of an IT item when looking for support was having the CD that came with it. On the CD there's Outlook 2002, some trial software, & Activesync 3.7 - I can't remember off the top of my head if there's anything else on it.

imported_Peanut

Sugar_cube,

That settled it. Thanks. Will be getting the one with the complete set. Thanks for all your inputs!

Yahooo! I will be a proud owner very soon!

swhoutx035

Originally Posted by Peanut

Sugar_cube, That settled it. Thanks. Will be getting the one with the complete set. Thanks for all your inputs! Yahooo! I will be a proud owner very soon!

Good for you Peanut. I, like Sugar cube, would rather have the whole package. If at some point down the road (after both warrantys were to expire) you wanted to resell the device yourself, units with all the original components tend to get better resell prices.

Justin Noland

Good choice, man. I bought an iPAQ 3850 a year ago and it came with a one-year HP warranty and I sent it back 5 times during that spanse. If I wasn't such a hardware/software tweaker, those 5 times could have been avoided, i bet. Most of the time they send you a new unit instead of fixing the old one, if the repair costs more than the unit itself (not the $600 we pay, but the $250 it costs HP to make the device). So that is cool. especially if it "happens" to break on the last day of your warranty...