If you’ve bought enough computers over the years, chances are you’ve had at least a few of them that dropped in value so fast it made your head spin.

Before listing the worst, the best concerning resale value has always been laptops. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Lenovo, Macbook, Dell Inspiron or what-have-you. The laptop will always retain higher value than the desktop PC will. Note however that this is for standard sized laptops and not the smaller netbook format.

The worst concerning resale value however isn’t the desktop computer – although I bet you thought it was.

It’s the gaming console. And yes, that is a computer.

There’s not much that shoots down in value faster in value than gaming consoles and the games themselves that play on them.

To put this in perspective:

You buy a video game system for $250. What’s it worth in six months? About $100. If you can sell it for more, consider yourself lucky you found a sucker to buy it.

That game you bought new for $50? In six months it’s worth $15.

It is routine that gaming consoles and the games will lose 50% or greater (usually greater) of their value in six months or less.

OUCH.

Even cell phones don’t drop in value that fast.

What’s the best way to sell off a used console gaming system?

If it’s in warranty, that’s a huge, huge plus. Mention it in your listing on eBay or craigslist and mention it LOUDLY. This gives the buyer confidence that if the system busts it can at least be fixed for free.

If it’s not in warranty, well.. bundle as many games as you can and take what you can get. But don’t be surprised if what you get is less than half of what you paid for it.

Over the weekend I had a discussion with a friend who has recently switched to Mac, and he brought up an unbelievably good – and I mean good – point. I’ll get to it in a moment.

The friend I speak of is a Mac convert. He switched over, is very happy about it and has nothing but nice things to say about Apple. Granted, there are a few things he doesn’t like, but overall he’s satisfied with the way his Apple boxes work.

He knows that Microsoft is a software company and Apple is an OEM (something many Mac vs. PC debaters always forget). The super-good point he made is this:

"I have only one product made by Microsoft in my house, and it’s an Xbox 360. If Microsoft built a PC as good as the 360 like Apple builds a Mac, it would be the best PC made."

And he’s right.

Microsoft’s "PC" is the Xbox. It runs like a top. Gamers of all ages love it. Microsoft controls every bit of hardware and software that goes into it. It’s ultra-proprietary being that it’s a gaming console. And the fact it’s proprietary in and out is a huge reason why it runs so well – just like a Mac.

It should be noted that many Mac fans do own an Xbox. These people who positively can’t stand PCs will applaud the Xbox for working properly just like their Macs do; it is the single product made by Microsoft they don’t complain about.

I had to sit back and realize that yes, being proprietary does have its advantages, with the main ones being stability and reliability.

With Xbox, you pop in a game, turn it on and go. Simple as that. No fuss, no muss. It just works (and doesn’t that phrase sound familiar?) It’s networking also works without any hitches to speak of.

When you’re the OEM and control both the hardware and software, the box does what it’s supposed to do. There are no questions involved, such as, "Do I need a driver for this?" or the like. Everything is ready to run. When you’re not the OEM, yes, the box will crash. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, but it will do it.

If Microsoft did actually manufacture a PC, and it was as good as the Xbox is, and it was priced right, they’d probably put Dell out of business.

Some good news for our gamers out there: Microsoft has dropped the yearly fee of the "Live Gold Subscription Card" to $29.97 yearly (from $49.99). And back in July ‘08 the Live service was made free to PC users.

For those of you out there that think paying for gaming on an Xbox (or any console) is a bit ridiculous, it isn’t. This is a natural progression of gaming where the "replayability" of games these days heavily depends on the ability to play with friends. This is part of the reason why older games like Counter-Strike (where the stats speak for themselves), Starcraft and Diablo II still command a huge audience. Without the team-play ability from the internet, none of these games would be played as much as they are now. The fact you can connect up to the internet and have team-play is a huge attraction.

$30 yearly is a good sweet spot for this type of gaming (i.e. console gaming). It translates to $2.50 monthly and that’s a bargain.

If the subscription cost was a source of concern for you concerning the Xbox console, that’s definitely not the case any longer.