Got a Second Chance Offer on a Laptop

Greetings Ozbargain Brains Trust,

Basically I am after a NUC type device with a decent amount of grunt for multitasking.. no gaming.. and my old laptop screen just gave up and was slow anyway. Screen was 15.6" and used in conjunction with an external monitor.

Laptop has these specs and seller has 100% feedback (1284) and in Australia :

Thunderobot 911 Targa 15.6" i7-7700HQ 32GB RAM 256GB SSD+1TB HDD GTX 1060 (6G)

BUT has these faults (that I should be able to live with)

  • no battery (shouldn't be an issue as this is probably big and won't be leaving my desk, comes with adapter 180w)
  • screen has few tiny dents(look like dead pixels);
  • Speaker and HDMI ports are faulty;
  • Keyboard is insensitive;

Used. Heavily used condition << they have this in bold

Less significance, cosmetics:

  • 2 screws are missing on back cover;

  • Few small dents on the edges;

  • Few faint scratches on the back cover, as shown in images.

41 bids.. and my bid was AU $260.00 ($17 postage)

I bid $260.. and $265 was the highest bidder and I guess they didn't want it so ebay offered me a "Second chance" to purchase it at $260.. just wondering if that seems like a reasonable price based on the specs/faults

Not sure if a make offer is viable at this stage.. I have until 10am tommorow.

Also flirting with the idea of getting an iMAC as they can be had fairly cheaply now..

Thank you!

Comments

  • +1

    ThundeRobot 911 Targa

    What a name…!

    41 bids.. and my bid was AU $260.00 ($17 postage)

    So, you won the auction?

    • Second chance usually means the seller probably has another one on offer.
      However possibly the highest bidder did retract thier offer.

      But anyway I am rather perplexed about OPs question

      If OP was happy to bid on the laptop and hence BUY IT if they won in the first place…..
      Havent you already made the decision to go ahead OP????

      Why are you now asking us if you should buy it?

      Are you going to consult us with every ebay bid you make in future?

    • China domestic brand. It's quite popular among high school gamers. Some earlier models have serious design defects.

  • +3

    why….

  • +2

    Do you have a question? As what you have written, doesn't sound remotely like a Second Chance Offer on a Laptop.

  • Thanks for the replies.. apologies for not being clear.. I bid $260.. and $265 was the highest bidder and I guess they didn't want it so ebay offered me a "Second chance" to purchase it at $260.. just wondering if that seems like a reasonable price based on the specs/faults

    • +1

      Put those up and get us from misery trying to understand

    • thanks, yep that's the one.. not sure if its open to anyone else buying it.. which I am totally ok with!

      • +1

        No. It hasn't been relisted because you were issued a second chance offer.

    • +12

      Nobody but you thought it was worth more than $226. (Well, and the bidder who backed out, if it wasn't a seller stooge account).

      I wouldn't accept a second chance offer unless I was very happy with the price (like because I set a placeholder bid or something). Somebody has worked to get your highest bid.
      Maybe they will relist and it will sell for $300? Who knows? But we know last time the market price was $226.50.

  • +4

    Sounds like a heavily used and abused device. Wouldn’t buy that even for $260. Who knows what else is wrong or not working.

    • thanks yeah that's what I thought.. specs look good but they were upfront about it being heavily used..

  • Got a Second Chance Offer on a Laptop

    Okay

    1 x 180W power adapter. No built-in battery

    How is that portable? Yeah it is a "lap" "top", but it ain't that portable. It isn't a traditional laptop!

  • +6

    Geesus please dont.

  • +1

    e-waste

  • +2

    $260 too much. Why on earth would you even consider it. You can get good condition used or refurb with 8th gen for not much more money.

    • +1

      Something with a GTX 1060 or similar would be quite a bit more

  • +2

    Going by the homepage they appear to specialize in all kinds of gaming peripherals and laptops, but most likely all their laptops are rebadged TongFang whitebox machines.

    Can't say much about their reliability but it seems to have been used / abused and you won't know how much longer this laptop has to live. Also without a battery it is no longer a laptop but merely a desktop machine with loud fans and mediocre cooling

    But I don't understand why you would want a gaming laptop as a work machine. Why do want the GTX 1060 if you aren't playing any games? Why not buy a Intel-based Dell Optiplex small form factor machine (Coffee Lake generation) or newer?

  • Both your bids were too high. It's why he didn't pay.

    • +3

      Nah, the "winner" was a stooge account that kept bidding to get the maximum from 2nd place.

  • +1

    No no no. Even more of a worry without seeing it in person and it running.

  • +2

    "Decent amount of grunt" and it is a broken 7th gen. Computers have come a long way since then. Avoid. This is a terrible buy.

  • +1

    Someone expert here told me years ago get minimum of 8th gen intel. No but no bit. End of story.

  • +2

    Windows 10 support ends in late 2025 and this machine won't natively support Windows 11 (it's doable, but annoying), seems a terrible choice of device.

    There's a flood of 8th gen machines on the market right now as all the corporates dump them, definitely doesn't seem worth going with 7th.

  • Thanks guys! Will definitely pass on this.. and more research next time! :-)

  • +1

    Glad you've decided not to go a head with it, but I just want to know.

    • Speaker and HDMI ports are faulty;

    How were you planning on using it as a NUC like device and connect it to an external monitor when the HDMI port is faulty?

    I've been looking for a similar device, and I've been looking at "1 liter PCs". Office PCs have gotten a lot smaller recently, and the old versions are starting to make it to the refurb world. Check out the HP Elitedesk minis, or Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny, or ThinkStation.

  • I would like to see on ebay seller history how many times they have offered 2nd chance offers being the cynical person i am i wonder how many times auction price has been pushed up with a second account.

  • Worst deal in the history of deals

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