Buying a second hand computer
Maybe you don’t want to spend a lot of cash for your next PC? In this case, you have some alternatives, but you also have to take in mind some facts. How do you find the best arrangement? When you buy a second hand computer, you are taking a risk. What if the computer turns out being a piece of junk? Here are some tips that can be useful if you are planning to buy a second hand computer. The first thing you have to do is make sure that you are not buying from a merchant a lot of the ads that you can see in certain user papers with classified sections are published by dealers like they were private vendors. Try to keep away from them. It is against the law for dealers to act as if they were private sellers. You will always lose money with this kind of deals. How do you identify them? Keep reading.
Check the computer carefully before buying it. Request to see the original payment bills and get a copy if you can. You have to be careful because it‘s no difficult to make a receipt at home. Don’t forget the warranty if the PC is still under warranty. Ask the manufacturers if they could transfer it to your name. When you buy a second hand computer, go the sellers house, don’t do it at a park or in the street. If it’s a legal sale, the transaction must be clear and the seller will not have any problem giving his address. You can even try computer at the seller’s house before buying it.
Although you can find them on the internet later, get a copy of all the drivers you will need. Most second computer buyers need to format their HD and install again the OS before the end of the year. Find out what a new computer of equal specification costs. Normally, the cost of the second hand computer should be at least 50% of what a similar new computer would cost. The price has to show that the equipment is used and that you don’t have a guarantee for that computer. So even though the PC will be cheaper, you are taking a risk. Here are a few things you can check and do easily in a few minutes. If the PC is connected to a network, disconnect it prior to do the checking:
- Listen to an audio CD and watch a film if the PC has a DVD player.
- If the computer has a modem, make sure that it works.
- Try all the resolution settings of the monitor. See that they work fine.
- Start up the PC and after a few minutes, shut it down. Do this two or three time.
- Print a few things on the printer, like a word document or a picture.
- Verify that the hard disk is the right size and copy paste some files on it to see if it works correctly.
- Verify the RAM memory, CPU and other information. You can do this from “My PC”, right button and properties.
Make sure that you don’t have any “strange” programs on your hard drive. Erase any programs or archives that the prior possessor had on it. However, we advice you to re-format the hard disk and install the OS (Windows XP, Linux, etc.) again, so you will start with a clean computers from the very beginning. Be careful if you’re getting your computer from an auction. Be sure to make all the tests considered before.
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