Buying a laptop through buy and sell?

joejoem

Is it a really bad idea? For someone like me who hasnt got the best understanding of computers......

daywalker

if you want to go ahead i would say that you contact the seller to see if it is possible to see the laptop working before committing to buying, and to see, working if necessary, any accessories that they are offering with the laptop. Just be very careful as with a private sale, there is nothing to fall back on unless the laptop still has warranty left on it (if it does check with the manufacturer for the validity of the warranty).

di11on

I'm a total amatuer when it comes to Laptops, but maybe we could help Joe by thinking of some of the more obvious things to look for like:

- How long is the battery life? New batteries can be expensive and with an old laptop, that's the first thing you'll need to replace. Also, check the availability of new batteries for what you're looking at.

- I've heard of the charging circuits going in some laptops - so just because it doesn't work on battery doesn't mean the battery is the only problem, it could be the charging circuit that's gone meaning a new battery won't help

- Upgradeability - You might be able to squeeze some extra performance out of an old laptop if you can add some relatively inexpensive RAM to it. Check the possibility of being able to add more ram and the availability of ram for the laptop you're looking at. Also check the cost.

Just my 0.02. I'm sure others out there can add more.

Capt'n Midnight

You can be lucky or unlucky with second hand ones - but best to research on the ones in your price range so you know what to expect. Also learn about sizes - will you pay extra for a bigger screen / longer battery life / lighter / better brand / extra warranty.

Best thing to do is to print out a few quotes - cf. the €499 PC world laptop or some Dell Inspirons for bargining purposes because there is no point in paying more for a slower secondhand one, some people are asking daft money because of what they paid for it, not realising that yesterdays high spec laptop has been surpassed by entry level technology - did you see top gear where the 1970's supercars couldn't match the lap time of a diesel hatchback ?

You would be advised to price up a replacement battery if that's important to you because batteries do die especially older ones, most manufacturers don't cover them after one year.

maidhc

joejoem wrote:

Is it a really bad idea? For someone like me who hasnt got the best understanding of computers......

Yes

Unless you are planning on spending a max of €300, forget it. As Capt said some people ask stupid money for old stuff because they paid €4k five years ago and want some of it back, etc. You will also find the odd dishonest guy i'm sure.

Go for a new machine, a dell refurb, or that PC World one. Maybe a secondhand one on boards might be an option too... you will nearly always hear if you are being ripped off anyway

joejoem

Thanks guys, thats brilliant!