How to buy a used laptop?

Clueless in Seattle · Jan 28, 2016

I'm an old disabled guy scaping buy on a fixed income, so all my computer stuff is hand-me-down. I've reached the point where the old Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop I got from FreeCycle Seattle years ago just chokes-up when I try to visit a web page these days. So I need to replace it.

There's a little non-profit shop in Seattle that sells refurbished laptops running Windows 7 and Office 2013 for prices starting at $99.

I'd be grateful for some advice on the minimum specs I should be looking for. For example, the minimum CPU speed and the minimum amount of RAM I would need so that the laptop wouldn't freeze up each time I try to visit a web page or watch a funny cat video.

And I'd also appreciate tips on any other specs that I should probably be aware of before I head on down to that computer shop.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

blazorthon · Jan 28, 2016

If you're looking at laptops with Intel CPUs, pretty much anything that has a CPU with an "i" in the name will do fine in web browsing. After the i will be a 3, 5, or 7. i3s are fine, i5s are good, and i7s are great, but you won't see a difference in web browsing so any of them are fine. Most newer computers with a Pentium or Celeron CPU are also fine, but don't confuse them with old Pentium 4 or similar Celeron models. These are what are in the Inspiron 1100 ( I have the same laptop in my closet, ya, it was getting painful even a few years ago) and they're really outdated.

If the laptop has an AMD APU, then something that starts with A6, A8, or A10 is decent. A4 or any E series APU is getting pretty weak.

For RAM, I recommend no less than 2GB with 4GB usually being great. 6GB or 8GB would be nice to have, but not necessary. If the laptop has an AMD APU, then you want at least 4GB.

If you don't install a lot of programs or store a lot of pictures/video, then the storage drive specs don't really matter.

Other specs aren't overly important. You want a display resolution of at least 1280x720, but there are almost no laptops made in the last several years with something lower, so that's not a problem. 1280x800 or 1366x768 are very common and are ok for web browsing, anything higher is great, but not necessary.

You can get a new computer that meets or exceeds all of this criteria for around $300 to $400, so a used laptop around $200 to $300 will probably fit the bill, but that depends on pricing at this computer shop.

Wolfshadw · Jan 28, 2016

Ideally, this would be the laptop you want from that location: Dell Latitude E6410 @ $209. It has the recommended Intel Core I5 2.4 GHz processor and, in my opinion more importantly, 4GB of RAM (this is on the low-income tab).

If this is too much, then look to the Core 2 Duo laptops ($99 - $104) with a processor speed greater than 2.0GHz, but before buying, ask what would be necessary to upgrade the system to 4GB of RAM (specs state that as the maximum allowed). Would it be adding another 2GB RAM module or would you need to replace two 1GB RAM Modules for two 2GB RAM modules?

-Wolf sends

Clueless in Seattle · Jan 28, 2016

Thanks a million blazorthon and Wolfshadw; that's exactly the kind of of info I was looking for. I'm going to print out your messages and take them with me when I head down to the shop.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

P.S. I'd like to click "Pick as the solution" for both of your posts. Will that work, or am I limited to only clicking one or the other?

Wolfshadw · Jan 28, 2016

No. You can only select one. Not concerned about it so go ahead and select Blazerthorn for best answer.

-Wolf sends

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