Post by mikkh on Jun 7, 2014 18:04:11 GMT
There are many options when trying to save money on a PC, but I'm going to concentrate on one specific area - the refurbished PC, in fact I'm going to narrow that down even further
to refurbished 'workstations' sold on Ebay because it's a huge market and one many might have considered or been tempted by
Let's give a random example (one I've just seen actually, but the price structure is pretty similar across the board)... Dual core CPU, 4 GB RAM, 500GB hard drive running Windows 7 (legally) and a one year warranty for £119 and this particular one had the option of collecting from a nearby Argos store making it post free too. Too good to be true? Well no, on the face of it, it's a genuine bargain but there are things you should know about 'workstation' PC's that make them less of a bargain but still a good buy as a stopgap or spare PC.
These are ex business machines that probably have been running 24/7 for a long time and while they should last out the warranty, you won't be using it for many years after that
They are built to last though and are generally very heavy compared to normal PC's which shouldn't be a problem unless you're in the habit of moving it often
They're difficult or impossible to upgrade and the cases are mostly non standard meaning you can't really re-use it - apart from as a door stop or conversation piece!
They use ECC (error checking and correction) RAM which is good in one way but very bad in another. 99.9% of home computers will be using non ECC RAM which is common and reasonably cheap to buy
If you were thinking 4 GB was not enough and fancied adding more, it would be hard to source the correct ECC RAM required and the price would be eye watering compared to standard non ECC
This one I was looking at, the seller decided to embellish the facts by calling them 5.6 Ghz (2 x 2.8) CPU's Mathematically it sounds right, but that's not the way multi core CPU's work and it's a deliberate attempt to trick people which I don't like - especially as there's no need for it, it's a good buy already without making things up or trying to prove it's better than it is.
When you consider that buying a copy of Windows 7 could cost you in the region of £70, these are a bargain indeed if you're looking for a basic surfing/office type machine
This particular seller had many more with 8 and 16 GB options and a top price of £250 (supposedly half price, but that's the real value compared to the others)
to refurbished 'workstations' sold on Ebay because it's a huge market and one many might have considered or been tempted by
Let's give a random example (one I've just seen actually, but the price structure is pretty similar across the board)... Dual core CPU, 4 GB RAM, 500GB hard drive running Windows 7 (legally) and a one year warranty for £119 and this particular one had the option of collecting from a nearby Argos store making it post free too. Too good to be true? Well no, on the face of it, it's a genuine bargain but there are things you should know about 'workstation' PC's that make them less of a bargain but still a good buy as a stopgap or spare PC.
These are ex business machines that probably have been running 24/7 for a long time and while they should last out the warranty, you won't be using it for many years after that
They are built to last though and are generally very heavy compared to normal PC's which shouldn't be a problem unless you're in the habit of moving it often
They're difficult or impossible to upgrade and the cases are mostly non standard meaning you can't really re-use it - apart from as a door stop or conversation piece!
They use ECC (error checking and correction) RAM which is good in one way but very bad in another. 99.9% of home computers will be using non ECC RAM which is common and reasonably cheap to buy
If you were thinking 4 GB was not enough and fancied adding more, it would be hard to source the correct ECC RAM required and the price would be eye watering compared to standard non ECC
This one I was looking at, the seller decided to embellish the facts by calling them 5.6 Ghz (2 x 2.8) CPU's Mathematically it sounds right, but that's not the way multi core CPU's work and it's a deliberate attempt to trick people which I don't like - especially as there's no need for it, it's a good buy already without making things up or trying to prove it's better than it is.
When you consider that buying a copy of Windows 7 could cost you in the region of £70, these are a bargain indeed if you're looking for a basic surfing/office type machine
This particular seller had many more with 8 and 16 GB options and a top price of £250 (supposedly half price, but that's the real value compared to the others)
