cheap computer - refurbed or new

[slag]

My aunt is looking for a new computer, nothing special, just fast enough to run windows 7 and surf the web/email. I don't want to build one for her otherwise, I will always be tech support. If you were looking to buy a computer for someone who will not be doing graphic intensive work, just something that can run normal office apps, no monitor needed, what would you buy premade.

What's the best deal out there right now that is reliable and works out of the box?

 

[ElFenix]

dual core sandy celeron dell with 8GB of ram (maybe put the ram in it yourself, dell charges an arm and a leg). if you see one in their refurb section then great. if not, they run sales pretty often.

 

[sm625]

Pentium B960 notebook. Check BBY clearance.

 

[DaveSimmons]

What is her budget? If it's at least $400 I'd get one of these:

Desktop: Acer and Gateway make small-form-factor mini-ITX based models that are tiny and quiet, for $400-500 with Pentium or i3 CPUs. I have one for a media jukebox and we got my mom one for her birthday last August.

Laptop: dual-core Pentium or i3, also $400-500 from office supply stores, Newegg, Circuit City. For $500 you can get a Lenovo instead of a HP

 

[thelastjuju]

Do you have any used hardware you could lend her?

If you have say a spare HDD laying around and a remaining install for an OS and/or MS office.. you can put together a fully capable machine for her for less than $250.

$50 processor (g530)
$60 mobo
$40 case
$20 ram
$50 psu
(all of brand preferences of your choice)
--
$0 hdd
$0 os
$0 ms office
--
$220 + shipping


If you can't re-use these parts towards the bottom, then you might as well buy a pre-built, but I'm not a fan of refurbished ANYTHING to be honest.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Do you have any used hardware you could lend her?

If you have say a spare HDD laying around and a remaining install for an OS and/or MS office.. you can put together a fully capable machine for her for less than $250.

$50 processor (g530)
$60 mobo
$40 case
$20 ram
$50 psu
(all of brand preferences of your choice)
--
$0 hdd
$0 os
$0 ms office
--
$220 + shipping


If you can't re-use these parts towards the bottom, then you might as well buy a pre-built, but I'm not a fan of refurbished ANYTHING to be honest.

Except the OP stated no desire to have to build it + be tech support for her. As for refurbs, I see no reason to be so overtly negative about them, as long as the machines work fine when you get it + have at least 30 coverage in case they didn't check something thoroughly (I believe Dell does 90 or something?) then you get a second hand system for a lot less than it would be to put it together new, not to mention you can just call up Dell if something is wrong (or she can).

On a side note, does that mean you've never bought a used car before? One could even argue that buying a home is the same (unless you built yours). It's commonplace to buy second-hand from others nowadays, maybe some smaller or more personal things you want to have brand new, but there's nothing wrong with used.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Especially for a laptop, a 1-year warranty (possibly doubled with the right credit card) is much nicer than 90 days for someone who is not their own tech support.

Forum members are comfortable replacing a power supply or dead DVD reader, OP's aunt probably is not.

If refurb is all that the budget will cover, a friend had a good experience buying several laptops from Dell Financial Services for a charity he supports:
http://www.dfsdirectsales.com/

 

[Zap]

My aunt is looking for a new computer, nothing special, just fast enough to run windows 7 and surf the web/email.

Anything dual core that is faster than an Atom or AMD E-350/E-450 and comes with at least 2GB RAM should suffice.

 

[thelastjuju]

Except the OP stated no desire to have to build it + be tech support for her. As for refurbs, I see no reason to be so overtly negative about them, as long as the machines work fine when you get it + have at least 30 coverage in case they didn't check something thoroughly (I believe Dell does 90 or something?) then you get a second hand system for a lot less than it would be to put it together new, not to mention you can just call up Dell if something is wrong (or she can).

On a side note, does that mean you've never bought a used car before? One could even argue that buying a home is the same (unless you built yours). It's commonplace to buy second-hand from others nowadays, maybe some smaller or more personal things you want to have brand new, but there's nothing wrong with used.

All I'm saying is that if you already have the spare parts I listed, you can save $250-300 right off the bat.. you can probably re-use an old PSU too, since she won't be gaming, and just order something like the motherboard with the atom on it, or a similar amd or even a shuttle offering. If the OP doesn't want to, he doesn't have to.. but I'd trust a mix of new and used parts over refurbished parts any day.. and its at least something to consider when you are on the tightest of budgets.

I would buy USED cars.. not a refurbished car. That's like buying a Salvage that has been fixed up basically. Its extraordinarily difficult to refurbish something back to its 100% factory default quality. A used car (or anything used) wouldn't have ever been broken in the first place (besides normal wear and tear for a vehicle). Besides, I'm even the one suggesting he can find spare parts lying around to help assemble something for dirt cheap.

 

[krnmastersgt]

All I'm saying is that if you already have the spare parts I listed, you can save $250-300 right off the bat.. you can probably re-use an old PSU too, since she won't be gaming, and just order something like the motherboard with the atom on it, or a similar amd or even a shuttle offering. If the OP doesn't want to, he doesn't have to.. but I'd trust a mix of new and used parts over refurbished parts any day.. and its at least something to consider when you are on the tightest of budgets.

I would buy USED cars.. not a refurbished car. That's like buying a Salvage that has been fixed up basically. Its extraordinarily difficult to refurbish something back to its 100% factory default quality. A used car (or anything used) wouldn't have ever been broken in the first place (besides normal wear and tear for a vehicle). Besides, I'm even the one suggesting he can find spare parts lying around to help assemble something for dirt cheap.

Refurbished PC's are roughly the same thing, some do get returned on the basis that something was broken/broke during a set period but many of them (especially refurbs sold in large quantities) are due to people who lease systems and then return them eventually. They're checked up on and the drives are wiped clean and the system is labelled as a refurb for sale. Having to be the personal tech support for others can be a real hassle, especially for those that aren't particularly computer literate as explaining what to you may be seemingly simple concepts can be very confusing to others.

That being said OP, even if you aren't the one that builds it there's still a decent chance that your aunt will turn to you for tech support since it seems she already trusts your computer know-how. Just a warning that buying refurb/new doesn't get you out of the woods quite yet.

 

[mfenn]

I love me some Dell Outlet, that's pretty much all I buy/recommend for family members. The Optiplex systems are particularly sweet from a support point of view, they carry standard 3-year warranties just like they would if they were new. The Optiplex warranties are all next business day onsite (i.e. a dude shows up at your home/business with a part in hand within 24 hours), which is just gravy.

Right now, they have an Optiplex 990 with a Core i3, 4GB of RAM, and 320GB HDD for $469.