used netbook/laptop

Tomas_S

Hi just looking for few advises here.
I'm looking to buy a used netbook privately, so was wondering is it possible to do some tests on the spot? Like hard drive etc.?

Tomas_S

Tomas_S wrote: »

Hi just looking for few advises here.
I'm looking to buy a used netbook privately, so was wondering is it possible to do some tests on the spot? Like hard drive etc.?

turn it on and see if it works would be the main test!
you could launch a 7/8 internet windows at the same time to see how it handles that speedwise and play a hd video file. if the hard drive doesn't work the pc won't launch the operating system correctly. file explorer will tell you how much space is left.

Alanstrainor

And listen to the machine, if it's making some not so nice clicking noises i would avoid.

If you do buy i would be reinstalling the OS anyway.

partyatmygaff

For one, check out the screen and see if there are any blotches or dead pixels. Turn brightness up to full for a test like that.

Launch a reasonable number of *different* applications at the same time and see how it copes. Slowness is to be expected and doesn't really mean anything significant other than a bloated computer. What you don't want however are weird noises from the computer's hard drive.

Another very important thing to watch out for is faulty RAM. Computers with dodgy RAM often blue screen when doing memory-intensive tasks and throw out fatal exception errors if they even start up properly at all. RAM isn't expensive or anything but it's still a good idea to check.

Lastly, check the screen hinges. They can be awfully fragile on some laptops.

Wetai

Maybe check if all the USB ports, Ethernet/WiFi work too

Overheal

inspect the seller, too: why are they selling it, etc.

Get into the Device Manager to see if there are any device errors also.

It should also be able to run the IE9 test on http://howfastismypc.com without having a complete fit, even though it will only likely score a 2 or a 3.