My buddy needs a new laptop, his is over 6 yrs old, runs out of RAM and
slows down often, and crashes when more than 2GB RAM is installed! A
computer shop spent 2 hrs with him trying to install more RAM, then get
it working again when it crashed each time. Due to its age we think it's
smart to get a new computer and sort out the RAM issue later, or just
use it as a backup with enough s/w removed that it's still usable.
I found this - looks like a decent, affordable machine, to get him
through the next 5 yrs.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dell-Insp...Drive/54906451
He doesn't do much more than email (Outlook), browse the web, save tons
of pictures, and do a little Photoshop (CS2 or higher).
I've never bought anything at Walmart before, so I don't know if that is
in itself an issue, or if the machine itself is good. It looks like good
speed for the price, and I wanted to get one with enough RAM that it is
not an issue in future. Do I need to be concerned about buying h/w from
Walmart? And are there better deals in roughly this price range? Money
is definitely an issue.
TIA,
Mike
I have had good luck with the re-furb re-sellers.
.. but I'm a cheap-skate, low-tech user. no photo shop
~ 2 years ago - I got my current ThinkPad T500
- it cost me $ 140. plus a new battery ~ $ 40.
.. it's still going strong ...
.. still out-performing my wife's newer Dell .
.. just say'in maybe your buddy's problems are not
- hardware - at all - maybe he's click-happy ?
John T.
How many refurbished laptops have you had good luck with? The computer
has too much stuff running, and he can't seem to pick anything to let go
of. I don't see anything too egregious, and since the machine is older
instead of beat it to death he'll just pick up something with more RAM.
I've bought 4 - 2 were ThinkPads for my college kids ;
1 HP, 1 ThinkPad for myself. My third kid got a new Acer that
had good specs for the money and it started to fail at 13 months -
1 year warranty of course.
The reputable refurb guys will offer ~ 6 month warranty - so you
aren't getting stuck with a known lemon - like a private sale.
Here's a couple of examples - note - Canadian dollars.
http://www.eco-techrecycling.com/pcsales.php
http://www.wifinut.ca/laptops.html
John T.