Tricks of the trade Part 1 - buying a second hand PC/laptop
Oct 23, 2020 15:26:42 GMT
Lynnrose likes this
Post by mikkh on Oct 23, 2020 15:26:42 GMT
To the uneducated eye, one PC may look the same as any other, especially if the seller has been a bit (well a lot) dodgy by fitting the contents in a new case
This doesn't happen that often thankfully, but even I got caught out one day when buying a bulk lot of second hand computers and not checking every one
The first clue to a PC's age is the Windows CoA sticker on it. If it's Windows XP, avoid like the plague, it's too old to be of any use and even a lightweight Linux would struggle to resurrect it.
Slightly further up the chain, there's Windows Vista. This is not always a show stopper and a simple RAM upgrade (and ideally an SSD) could bring it back to life. Preferably with Linux
Then we come to Windows 7 and 8, these are invariably good enough for modern day use and may even cope with Windows 10, but sounding like an old record, Linux would be more suitable if you want maximum speed.
But what if there's no sticker? A quick look at the ports on the back should give you a clue to it's age. Ideally you want to see a DVI or HDMI port as a clue to it's age, but these could be absent anyway on certain machines and those not clued up might not know they're looking for either. A simpler test is check the USB ports - everyone knows what a USB port looks like, don't they? USB 3 ports are often blue and means the PC/laptop is new enough to still be of some use. Unfortunately not every PC manufacturer went with the blue port convention, but the vast majority did so it's something you should check.
Old Dell and HP computers often came under equipped RAM wise and have never seen their true potential realised, but these are usually reliable machines and some of the easiest to bring back to life.
An ultra simple test of a PC's age is the weight. If it feels heavy, it's probably old. If it's a generic beige colour, that's invariably a pointer to it being not just old, but very old.
This doesn't happen that often thankfully, but even I got caught out one day when buying a bulk lot of second hand computers and not checking every one
The first clue to a PC's age is the Windows CoA sticker on it. If it's Windows XP, avoid like the plague, it's too old to be of any use and even a lightweight Linux would struggle to resurrect it.
Slightly further up the chain, there's Windows Vista. This is not always a show stopper and a simple RAM upgrade (and ideally an SSD) could bring it back to life. Preferably with Linux
Then we come to Windows 7 and 8, these are invariably good enough for modern day use and may even cope with Windows 10, but sounding like an old record, Linux would be more suitable if you want maximum speed.
But what if there's no sticker? A quick look at the ports on the back should give you a clue to it's age. Ideally you want to see a DVI or HDMI port as a clue to it's age, but these could be absent anyway on certain machines and those not clued up might not know they're looking for either. A simpler test is check the USB ports - everyone knows what a USB port looks like, don't they? USB 3 ports are often blue and means the PC/laptop is new enough to still be of some use. Unfortunately not every PC manufacturer went with the blue port convention, but the vast majority did so it's something you should check.
Old Dell and HP computers often came under equipped RAM wise and have never seen their true potential realised, but these are usually reliable machines and some of the easiest to bring back to life.
An ultra simple test of a PC's age is the weight. If it feels heavy, it's probably old. If it's a generic beige colour, that's invariably a pointer to it being not just old, but very old.
