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In 2017 if you want to be "off the grid" an older machine is the way to go. If you get a C840, be sure it has the 64MB video and at least 2.2GHz speed and at least 1GB Ram. The 32MB video slows the whole laptop down. With a HD in a caddy, you can swap drives easily and use a IDE SSD drives on Ebay for faster boot times. The 2 front slots will take 2 battery packs but they must be the 14.8V 66 Watt/hr, any less, like the 3800maHr 14.4V batteries from older machines in the Dell Inspiron series and the laptop may shut down. if you run on one battery, use the other slot for CD, DVD, zipdrive, or floppy drive Dell modules. Remember tho, there already is an optical drive on the left side of this laptop. There is a Dell HD module for the front slot you can put your own 2nd HD up to 80GB but the C drive is limited to 40GB by the BIOS. A slide in front HD caddy is a unique feature, I use it to back up the C drive, then pull it out after turning off. Runs best with any version of Win Xp, however if you load SP3, it will try to validate back to Microsoft. Whatever you do, before connecting to the internet, totally turn-off Xp updates, since there is no support now. C840s have a built in WiFi antenna and a spot for the internal wifi card, however it won't run w/o the hard-to-get Driver, use a PCMCIA WiFi card instead. In my case I found a hi power Buffalo card that allows me to use MacD's WiFi from the parking lot! For software, use old old programs from 1998 to 2008, as well as older compatible virus scan programs. Service Tags on these laptops show they were made around 2002-04. Will I keep my C840? Yup! Unlike new laptops, I can unscrew it and service it as needed!Read full review
Verified purchase: No
The old Dell C-series Latitude laptops are my favorite retro computers. The C840 was the top of the line, the latest model with a Pentium 4 and a 15" screen. It is a solidly built unit and a bit on the heavy side. They have great longevity if cared for properly and the batteries last longer than many newer models. The only drawback I have seen is they tend to overheat if the CPU is 2.2 Ghz. or higher. Under that speed it is okay. The best systems to run on it are Windows XP or Linux Mint. I wouldn't recommend any newer Windows, but there are many other fine 32 bit Linux distros which will do the job. These C840s are well built machines and replacement parts are still plentiful and cheap on Ebay and elsewhere. A great choice for the budget-minded, tinkerer or collector.
Verified purchase: Yes