Advantages to Buying a Refurbished or Used Desktop Computer
Used Desktop Computer
Generally this is the cheaper of the two options, normally sold
by private buyers so it does leave some room for haggling, but
what you see is what you get, no warranties so make sure you can
test or trust the seller.
Refurbished
Desktop Computer
Refurbished pc desktops are generally computers which have been
used as display models or have been returned to the retailer or
manufacturer for one reason or another, don’t let this put you
off though, all refurbished pc desktops are checked and offer
the same warranty as any new pc, so in effect you might be able
to get a pc which has only been used for a few hours for
anything up to two thirds of the price of a new equivalent
machine.
Whichever desktop you
choose to look for, please don’t be swayed simply by the name,
after all what’s the point in having a Ferrari with a lawn mower
engine.
Points to look for
in a used desktop computer
Make or Brand When purchasing a used desktop
computer don’t be too brand particular, makes such as Sony or
the like may make fantastic looking desktop computers, but take
off the cover and what’s underneath? maybe the same hardware as
a lesser known brand, but at an extra £200 for the badge.
Processor Processors have come along way in a very short time,
we’ve recently gone from single, to dual and now to quad core
processors, the bargains at the moment are the dual core
processor types, and with Intel this includes its Core Duo and
Core 2 Duo range. A more interesting option comes in the form of
the AMD Athlon 64 x2, not only is it on par with it’s Intel
equivalents, but costing less means you can actually choose one
of the higher speed models, giving you even more performance for
your money.
Note..
it's also worth checking that you get what you pay for with your
used desktop computer, avoid over-clocked processors.
Hard Drive The hard drive has generally
been considered the bottle neck or weak link on many computer
systems, don’t get stuck with an IDE Hard drive, make sure it’s
SATA at the very least, maybe even SATA 2 now which offer much
more performance in terms of data transfer times.
Graphics Card Graphic or video cards are now
moving across from AGP to PCI Express, if possible make sure
your computer does not share it’s graphics card using with the
system memory or RAM, this is not a major problem, but make sure
it does have a PCI Express graphics port so you can upgrade if
you choose to in the future.
RAM the average amount of RAM has
increased by around 200% over the past 2 years and now running
Vista around 2gb is recommended. Its better to get a pc that
already has this in place, one issue that we’ve come across is
having to discard existing RAM in order to upgrade, for example
if you have a computer with 1gb or RAM and the computer only has
2 memory ports, if it has 2 x 512mb then you’ll need to discard
at least one of them to upgrade.
CD/DVD Drives Make sure your new computer
has a DVD drive not just a reader, but a writer and double
layer at that. If you have a Dual Layer DVD writer, you can Burn
4.7 & 8.5gb DVD’s & CD’s, some of the later generation of
drives, such as the light scribe can even burn images onto the
face of the discs
The Future
Upgradeability We see many manufacturers
offering some fantastic looking computers, but unfortunately
many of these types of computers can be difficult to upgrade in
the future. If your computer is totally
industry standard there really is no reason why a computer
should not last a long time, every year or so whenever you
decide to upgrade why not spend the money upgrading components,
this way you’ll be able to modularly upgrade your computer, not
just with mediocre components, but with high spec.
USB Ports Always worth checking your new
pc has USB ports and at least around 8 as there’s never enough
USB ports, of course we can add an extra USB hub, but it’s
easier to make sure it has enough and a few to spare in the
first place.
Sound Level How noisy is the computer?
fans, hard drives and poor ventilation all make a certain noise,
is it acceptable for you needs? having a computer in a bedroom
or as a media centre you certainly don’t want anything more than
quiet.
Where to look for
a used desktop computer A good place to look for a used desktop computer
can be from either your local papers or from sites such as e-Bay
Where to look for
a refurbished desktop computer Shops such as pc world, Comet,
Currys all have refurbished pc sections, manufacturers have also
take to advertising on eBay
Where to look for
new pc desktops Did you know many small
companies provide new computers at the same price as many
refurbished or used computers.
Pc Desktops
advantages over laptop computers Of course laptop computers are
always more versatile, but in terms of pound for pound
performance a laptop computer can just not compare, apart from
this when it come to upgrades, just about every part of pc
desktops can be upgraded relatively easily unlike many laptops
which offer little or no upgrade options other than hard drives
or RAM.
