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Ace247
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« on: November 11, 2011, 04:42:20 pm » |
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I'm looking for a second hand laptop, probably will be used for light usage, bit of Word updating CV's etc. In fact probably more likely it will be used for general surfing/ FB and the likes. Is there anything obvious to look out for when buying second hand lappy's? I know it's a bit of a risk but it's for a friends who know even less than me! Probably looking to spend around 200 notes! All suggestions welcome...  |
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chriscoates81
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« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2011, 07:11:22 pm » |
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I'm looking for a second hand laptop, probably will be used for light usage, bit of Word updating CV's etc. In fact probably more likely it will be used for general surfing/ FB and the likes. Is there anything obvious to look out for when buying second hand lappy's? I know it's a bit of a risk but it's for a friends who know even less than me! Probably looking to spend around 200 notes! All suggestions welcome... You might be able to buy a brand new one for that. |
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Ace247
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« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2011, 11:55:17 am » |
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You might be able to buy a brand new one for that.
Hmmm... not seen quite as cheap as £200 Chris! some around 299 though, might suggest saving another 100 notes and buying a new one.. cheers. . |
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Scotty
Global Moderator
Ofcom Inspector
Broadband Provider: Karoo
Posts: 1424
Summer Paradise
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« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2011, 12:23:48 pm » |
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On a side note, good to see you posting again Ace!!!!  |
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lubuntu
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« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2011, 02:54:55 pm » |
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Well - if you do buy second-hand then £200 is the max you want to be paying and for that I would expect the laptop to be no more than 15 months old and originally costing over £450 - otherwise drop your offer price!
Main thing I would like to see is the laptop running for at least an hour without any power attached to see how the battery is. Depends whether your friends are gonna be running it on the battery or not but usually after 12 months the battery is pretty much shot on a standard laptop usually cos its just been plugged into the power all the time and not run down and then fully recharged etc.
After the battery I would just like to see all the hardware working and configured - plug a mouse into each USB port and if it has ethernet (it should have - so check for this) then you want to see a cable plugged in and the laptop surfing online. Check what type of wifi card is in - "bgn" would be nice as "n" is the new standard.
Before you visit ask them for the make and model and how old it is and where they bought it from then do some research online and check it out and how much its selling for now (if its still selling!).
Then its a case of checking the software - chances are it comes with Windows so check that it has the windows genuine sticker on the bottom of the laptop with the product key number so that you know its original. If they have an original Windows CD (unlikely) then this is good and will up the value a bit for the laptop. Oh, don't buy anything with Vista on lol.
I would also turn the brightness up on the screen when you view it and look for black dots on the screen which could be either a shot pixel or last nights tea. If its a shot pixel then dont buy it.
There are many more things I would check (drivers installed, other software installed and whether genuine, RAM, CPU etc) but this would go on far too long for this post. Also check the function keys for the volume and brightness and if it has a camera then make sure you see it working!
When you do buy it I would ideally re-install everything after a thorough hard drive format - you never know what may be lurking there.
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« Last Edit: November 12, 2011, 02:57:43 pm by gallimaufry »
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Ace247
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« Reply #5 on: November 14, 2011, 11:13:31 am » |
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gallimaufry...excellent mate, just the sort of stuff I was hoping someone would put down, thanks for taking the time to do it, much appreciated.. I think I have persuaded the guy to seriously think about saving up another 100 quid or so to buy a new one, which judging by your write up you would probably recommend anyway? Thanks.. On a side note, good to see you posting again Ace!!!! yeah thanks maety, I've been popping in from time to time but since going back to Karoo I've not really had any Internet issues... 
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richardmyers
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« Reply #6 on: November 14, 2011, 11:29:07 am » |
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gallimaufry...excellent mate, just the sort of stuff I was hoping someone would put down, thanks for taking the time to do it, much appreciated.. I think I have persuaded the guy to seriously think about saving up another 100 quid or so to buy a new one, which judging by your write up you would probably recommend anyway? Thanks.. On a side note, good to see you posting again Ace!!!! yeah thanks maety, I've been popping in from time to time but since going back to Karoo I've not really had any Internet issues... Just bear in mind with the £300 laptops the battery life will be next to non-existant out the box, and they tend to be fairly slow. If they're happy for things to take a little while to load then it's all good :-) |
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Richard Myers - If the revolution doesn't want me then I don't give a sh*t NextGenUs Customer:   |
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Ace247
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« Reply #7 on: November 14, 2011, 12:15:27 pm » |
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Just bear in mind with the £300 laptops the battery life will be next to non-existant out the box, and they tend to be fairly slow. If they're happy for things to take a little while to load then it's all good :-)
Yeah thanks Rich...They don't have a clue about anything 'Computing' mate, the desk top they have at the moment must be about 10 years old...it's sounds like a harrier jump jet firing up...lol I think even a low end lappy will be the fastest thing they have ever seen... |
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richardmyers
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« Reply #8 on: November 14, 2011, 12:36:27 pm » |
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Just bear in mind with the £300 laptops the battery life will be next to non-existant out the box, and they tend to be fairly slow. If they're happy for things to take a little while to load then it's all good :-)
Yeah thanks Rich...They don't have a clue about anything 'Computing' mate, the desk top they have at the moment must be about 10 years old...it's sounds like a harrier jump jet firing up...lol I think even a low end lappy will be the fastest thing they have ever seen... The new laptop will feel like they're at warp speed then compared to the desktop :-D |
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Richard Myers - If the revolution doesn't want me then I don't give a sh*t NextGenUs Customer: |
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Ace247
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« Reply #9 on: November 14, 2011, 01:21:38 pm » |
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The new laptop will feel like they're at warp speed then compared to the desktop :-D Spot on Rich it really will, they don't use the current desk top much because it's far to noisy... |
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chriscoates81
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« Reply #10 on: November 14, 2011, 06:21:08 pm » |
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Just stay away from anything with celeron on and you should be ok  |
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