Second Hand Laptop

MightyMandarin · 21-08-2014 7:04pm #1

I'm starting college in a few weeks and was thinking of getting a laptop. I've had a look in the usual places, Currys etc. and found the price vs. quality ratio is pretty poor. I've seen lots of ads on adverts for second hand and refurbished laptops and I'm wondering have people here had experience buying off adverts? And is the risk taken worth the money saved?

I have a bit of knowledge with computers and would be looking for at least 4gb RAM, min. 250gb Hdd, a decent cpu of at least 2ghz and I'd probably need windows7 and office. I've seen a lot of laptops on adverts with this for about €200 which is good value, I think. Would I be better off paying a little more for the shop vendors which offer guarantees? Or is it safe enough to buy from private vendors, provided you check that it boots up fine etc.?

Thanks for reading this.

TerrorFirmer · 22-08-2014 1:39pm

What about this for €275 delivered? Brand new, perfectly fast for regular use, and a full warranty.

whatawaster · 22-08-2014 1:55pm

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

What about this for €275 delivered? Brand new, perfectly fast for regular use, and a full warranty.

That's a terrible processor though.

I'd recommend that anyone buying a laptop go with an Intel Core model.

TerrorFirmer · 22-08-2014 2:03pm

whatawaster wrote: »

That's a terrible processor though.

I'd recommend that anyone buying a laptop go with an Intel Core model.

That's a ridiculous statement. It's not a terrible processor at all. Yeah, sure, if you're trying to run Crysis 3 or intensive editing software it's not an optimal processor.

For normal use, web browsing, media, office, and similar, it's no slower than the Core series. Unless you know where you can get an i3 laptop for €275 brand new? He'd be looking at over €100 euro extra at least - and really the ULV models don't count as they're not really any faster than this 'terrible' processor so he's probably really looking at around €399 for a faster i3 laptop.

whatawaster · 22-08-2014 3:37pm

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

That's a ridiculous statement. It's not a terrible processor at all. Yeah, sure, if you're trying to run Crysis 3 or intensive editing software it's not an optimal processor.

For normal use, web browsing, media, office, and similar, it's no slower than the Core series. Unless you know where you can get an i3 laptop for €275 brand new? He'd be looking at over €100 euro extra at least - and really the ULV models don't count as they're not really any faster than this 'terrible' processor so he's probably really looking at around €399 for a faster i3 laptop.

That processor has a passmark of 1000.

Even the Core i3 "Y" models are nearly double that.

Sure it'll be fine probably for web browsing and word processing - an atom processor will do for that. But imo going second hand and getting a decent processor would be a better course of action.

Chance The Fapper · 22-08-2014 3:38pm

whatawaster wrote: »

That processor has a passmark of 1000.

Even the Core i3 "Y" models are nearly double that.

Sure it'll be fine probably for web browsing and word processing - an atom processor will do for that. But imo going second hand and getting a decent processor would be a better course of action.

+1

MightyMandarin · 22-08-2014 4:04pm

whatawaster wrote: »

That processor has a passmark of 1000.

Even the Core i3 "Y" models are nearly double that.

Sure it'll be fine probably for web browsing and word processing - an atom processor will do for that. But imo going second hand and getting a decent processor would be a better course of action.

Would I be better off looking at 'refurbished' ones, most of which come with a warranty of between 3-12months? or are private sellers ok to go with?

I would prefer a good core processor, but honestly, I'm only going to use the laptop for college work and a little browsing, I don't need it for gaming etc.

TerrorFirmer · 22-08-2014 4:05pm

What's the obsession with power around these parts lately? For general college use this laptop is fine, and it has a full warranty and is brand new. There's no reason to have to buy a 2nd hand laptop just 'because' an i3 is faster. Yes, it's faster - but it's not going to make any difference for college type use.

MightyMandarin · 22-08-2014 4:08pm

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

What's the obsession with power around these parts lately? For general college use this laptop is fine, and it has a full warranty and is brand new. There's no reason to have to buy a 2nd hand laptop just 'because' an i3 is faster. Yes, it's faster - but it's not going to make any difference for college type use.

I'd rather buy 2nd hand in terms of value for money. Some of the laptops on adverts for €200-€300 were around €1000 new, 2-3 years ago. I'd rather have a powerful 2nd hand one for the same price as a less powerful new one.

TerrorFirmer · 22-08-2014 4:12pm

MightyMandarin wrote: »

I'd rather buy 2nd hand in terms of value for money. Some of the laptops on adverts for €200-€300 were around €1000 new, 2-3 years ago. I'd rather have a powerful 2nd hand one for the same price as a less powerful new one.

Well, that is fair enough if that's what you prefer. If you put up a few links to what laptops you were considering, I'd be happy to tell you which one's are better than others or better value. The single best thing you can do is put an SSD into a laptop - it makes the biggest difference.

MightyMandarin · 22-08-2014 5:24pm

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Well, that is fair enough if that's what you prefer. If you put up a few links to what laptops you were considering, I'd be happy to tell you which one's are better than others or better value. The single best thing you can do is put an SSD into a laptop - it makes the biggest difference.

An SSD doesn't normally come with a lot of space, unless it's really expensive. I'd rather have a slower HDD with at least 250gb. I'll see if I can find some of the ads I've been looking at, I liked the one on Amazon, the cpu could be better though.

Chance The Fapper · 22-08-2014 5:51pm

MightyMandarin wrote: »

An SSD doesn't normally come with a lot of space, unless it's really expensive. I'd rather have a slower HDD with at least 250gb. I'll see if I can find some of the ads I've been looking at, I liked the one on Amazon, the cpu could be better though.

Ssds are getting cheaper every day

MightyMandarin · 22-08-2014 5:59pm

http://www.adverts.ie/laptops/laptop-lenovo-t410-core-i5-6gb-ram-hdd320-webcam/5910702

http://www.adverts.ie/laptops/core-i5-dell-latitude-e6410/6143867

These are 2 of the ads which I've seen. Do the specifications look alright for the price?

MightyMandarin · 22-08-2014 6:01pm

Chance The Fapper wrote: »

Ssds are getting cheaper every day

Could I buy a SSD from hardwareversand and replace a HD with it myself? I've done some work with desktops before but I've heard Laptops are really complex and can be messed up easily.

Chance The Fapper · 22-08-2014 6:03pm

MightyMandarin wrote: »

Could I buy a SSD from hardwareversand and replace a HD with it myself? I've done some work with desktops before but I've heard Laptops are really complex and can be messed up easily.

You could easily. Hard drives and ram are handy to swap out in the majority of laptops

MightyMandarin · 22-08-2014 6:08pm

Chance The Fapper wrote: »

You could easily. Hard drives and ram are handy to swap out in the majority of laptops

Just out of curiosity, do you know any places that sell parts at similar prices to hardwareversand but don't charge as much for delivery? Or is that how hardwareversand stays competitive?

Chance The Fapper · 22-08-2014 7:37pm

MightyMandarin wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, do you know any places that sell parts at similar prices to hardwareversand but don't charge as much for delivery? Or is that how hardwareversand stays competitive?

I wasn't aware that their shipping was very high... Try amazon.co.uk or scan.co.uk, and you can use Parcel Motel with them

MightyMandarin · 22-08-2014 7:51pm

Chance The Fapper wrote: »

I wasn't aware that their shipping was very high... Try amazon.co.uk or scan.co.uk, and you can use Parcel Motel with them

On the website it says €18.99 to Ireland. I used them once for a desktop and was great but for just 1 or 2 parts, it's a bit much.

MightyMandarin · 23-08-2014 2:20pm

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/191298298157
saw this one on ebay which looks like a good deal, is there anything I should be wary of when buying from ebay?

_Kaiser_ · 23-08-2014 5:08pm

Given the choice of the ones posted above, I'd take the T410 myself. The DELL E6400/E6410 aren't great (I have a load of them in a store room pending recycling) but the Lenovo T-series last forever!

A DELL E6420 would also be a good choice. We have a load of them too and they're a big step up on the earlier model

_Kaiser_ · 23-08-2014 5:10pm

MightyMandarin wrote: »

On the website it says €18.99 to Ireland. I used them once for a desktop and was great but for just 1 or 2 parts, it's a bit much.

Setup a Parcel Motel a/c and then ship it via their NI depot. Almost all Amazon/eBay sellers offer free UK shipping so all it'll set you back is the €3.50/€4 from PM.

Also handy when dealing with sellers who don't want to ship to ROI

TerrorFirmer · 24-08-2014 10:38am

MightyMandarin wrote: »

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/191298298157
saw this one on ebay which looks like a good deal, is there anything I should be wary of when buying from ebay?

That's taking the obsession with getting a core processor a bit far considering it's a first generation processor from five years ago! Better off buying a new laptop for a similar price in my honest opinion with a full warranty than a laptop from 2010. It might seem like good value on first glance but it's pretty much what you pay for in that case, wouldn't call it any sort of bargain at all.

Second Hand Laptop

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