10-Step Guide to Buying a Used Laptop That Works
Buying second-hand products is always green, but it’s easy to be discouraged by the stories of broken laptops from eBay or Craigslist. To quell these fears, here is a 10-step checklist on how to find a used laptop that isn’t just a high-tech lemon.
Most wouldn’t flinch at the idea of buying a used car, but the thought of a used computer sends them squirming. The tech industry tries their hardest to keep it that way: they advertise new products in such a way to render the previous models perceptually obsolete; they block even the simplest hardware upgrades; and they sell bottom-of-the-line models that simply break within a couple years.
This shouldn’t scare you away from a used computer purchase, but know that they are imperfect machines; some research, determination, and basic knowledge is required. To make this list, I used both my own experience along with some tips from Peter Montesano of Peter’s PC Repair, one of the most highly regarded repair shops in San Francisco.
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Step 1: The Decision - Finding The Best Used Laptop
Decide what computer you want and then change your mind. Like most people, you probably dream of the newest, hottest thing on the market—maybe a Macbook Air or Dell’s new Studio Hybrid? No. Instead, check out some of the best computers from last year or earlier this year. These are the laptops you should choose from in the used market—and generally, they’ll perform the same tasks that this year’s models do. As an added bonus, you can try to find a computer from 2007 with Windows XP installed instead of Vista!
Step 2: Where to Buy
Determine where you will buy your computer. There are four options: eBay, Craigslist, local dealers, and straight from the manufacturer. Buying refurbished models from the manufacturer or a local dealer is often more expensive, but they’ll come with attached warranties that will calm your worried hearts. The remaining two options are a bit trickier, but also cheaper. If you plan to use eBay, make sure to find a seller with no less than 100% feedback rating. If the computer arrives broken, a seller with a flawless rating will happily allow a return in order to prevent negative feedback—that’s the beauty of eBay. For a Craigslist exchange, make sure to arrange a public meeting spot like a coffee shop where you can inspect the computer fully before purchasing.
Step 3: Cracks and Imperfections
Now you need to check for damage. First check for cosmetic issues—and then realize that it doesn’t matter whatsoever. As long as the computer still works, that little chip on the bottom corner will not be a problem. But if you’d like, you can try to get a few bucks knocked off the price because of it.
Step 4: No Purple Haze
One of the most expensive things to replace on a laptop is the screen. Check for any purple or pink discoloration, and if you find any, send the computer back. It’s not worth the hassle or cost of repairs.
Step 5: Testing the Inputs
Check all plugs, sockets, and wireless connections like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Many of these are attached to the motherboard, which is costly to replace. If one USB port is broken and you can live with the other three, then do it. If the headphone jack is broken but you have Bluetooth headphones anyway, then rejoice.
Step 6: Check for a Faulty Hard Drive.
Test the hard drive(s) for errors and remember that replacement drives are generally cheap.
Step 7: Check for a Faulty CD Drive
Try burning all types of media that the drive should support—CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R DL, etc.
Step 8: Test the Battery Life
Read as many of my posts on Green Options as you can until the computer’s battery dies. If goes out too fast, try to get the seller to discount the price to make up for the cost of a replacement battery, which can often carry a big price tag.
Step 9: Seek Help
If you don’t want to do all these tests yourself or you want an expert opinion, most repair places would not charge more than $80 for a complete diagnostic check-up. When your used computer cost less than half the original retail price, $80 isn’t much.
Step 10: Wrap it up
For eBay buyers, don’t leave feedback until you’ve checked everything out. If there are any major problems, do not be afraid to return the computer.
Don’t get frustrated if everything isn’t perfect right from the start. Remember that people have problems with their brand new computers pretty often as well. Even if you have to fork up some money for small repairs or upgrades, rest assured that your decision was environmentally and economically sound.
Photo Credit: Declantm on Flickr under Creative Commons license.
Other Posts Relating to Green Computers & Used Laptops:
- E-Wasted: Where Will Your Computer and iPod Go to Die?
- Cheap Green Computer Runs on 2 Watts
- Green PCs and Optimizing Their Lifecycle
- 10 Business Practices to Reduce Your Footprint
Thanks for the info. I have wondered about this for a while, and maybe I can conjure up the confidence to buy a used computer now.
Thanks!
(I might have to link to this from my blog)
is there a good way to tell if it might have been stolen? my old laptop is out there somewhere, and it was completely fine…
re: step 3- A chip or crack could be a sign that the laptop has been dropped. A dropped laptop is not a good thing, but surely with careful inspection as you’ve outlined, the consequential problems will reveal themselves.
I work for dell, and just to add on to this, make sure you do a transfer of ownership on the machine.
Price - remember new laptops on sale at the big box stores are $400′ish (with or w/o rebates) and they come with warrantiess. So before buying a used laptop consider the price - is spending $300 for a used pentium 4 or m processor really a better purchase then a new warrantied dual core, multi gb ram with large harddisk? And remember that if that used laptop needs added memory or a new battery (and batteries tend to die after 2 or 3 years on average) that’s an other $40 to $60 per additional.
Don’t forget to check to make sure that the windows Certificate of Authenticity is still on the unit. A lot of ebay sellers rip them off and sell them seperately (which is illegal).
Buy a MacPro
I have to say that I disagree with this article.
There isn’t a good argument to purchase a used laptop.
Buying/using a laptop, in general, is not “green” which is the purpose of this blog. Even used, it’s not “green”. The only types of “green” you really need to be concerned about is MONEY and BIO-HAZARD.
MONEY
A NEW Windows based laptop can be had for under $500. No you can’t run the latest 3D games. But you can do just about everything else. Check your email, watch some YouTube or Hulu, surf, listen to music, homework, work work, taxes, word process, Skype, download, etc. Plus these are easy to upgrade. Really the only thing you need to upgrade is the RAM, you should have 2GB. This is more than adequate for the vast majority of people. Most major manufacturers are throwing in this amount anyway. And if not, buy a 1GB stick at http://www.newegg.com for less than $25. And installation is do it yourself.
BIO-HAZARD
Look at your keyboard now. You see some fuzzy stuff, hair, unidentifiable food particles and all kinds of other stuff. And that’s just in your keyboard, probably a desktop keyboard. Now imagine that in a used laptop. Yeah. Now look at your monitor, those little spots you scrape off. Because you know they’re from you, you think they’re safe. On a used computer, EWWW, and don’t think those little spots aren’t all over the keyboard and touch pad. Is this something you really want to deal with? You just wanted to start using your laptop, right? http://www.dell.com and http://www.hp.com
I agree, refurbished is OK as the manufacturer will warranty it for at least 90 days to a year and sometimes offer extended warranties. In some cases they will swap out a keyboard and put new sheet of plastic over the monitor. So at least you have some confidence in the sale. The down side to refurb is your selection is limited to what has been returned. You may not get the configuration you want. Forget Ebay, Craigslist or a local mom and pop shop because you have no real recourse if you don’t get what you thought you were getting. Again, you don’t want to hassle with this. You just want to have a laptop that just plain works, right?
What about some of the other things you really need to be concerned about with a used laptop.
Kelley points out the issue of knowing whether or not a laptop is stolen. With a major manufacturer’s refurb, there’s no problem, but with the other options there’s no 100% way to be sure. Yeah, you can call the manufacturer with the serial number and ask, but they may or may not give you the info. Then what? Do you live with the chance that at some point your laptop is “recovered” by the police to be returned to the original owner? Is that something you want to have hang over your head or deal with? If it’s a Mac maybe you’re better off, my understanding is they have a fairly robust method tracking all Macs but you can expect that since only Apple makes Macs.
Here’s something else to consider. How much do you know about operating systems? Can you fix a problem with the operating system the previous owner caused? What if the problem is more involved? Are you comfortable with reinstalling the operating system? Did the previous owner/seller provide you with all the original disks or other software so you could perform a reinstall?
You say to yourself “I’ll be able to tell if the laptop is solid when I play with it for 10 minutes”. Probably not. You really don’t get to see all the little quirks and problems with a computer until you’ve had it for a few days. Are you really going to part with several hundred dollars or more with something you can’t test tangibly in a very short period of time? Please don’t be THAT person.
Go to http://www.dell.com or http://www.hp.com and get a low end computer from there. You’ll get at least a years worth of warranty, recourse if something’s wrong and some peace of mind.
I have a better top suggestion: check for a Dell complete care warranty. It usually lasts 3 years, sometimes 4… is 100% transferable to a new owner and covers EVERYTHING. Throw it off the roof and they will send you a new one (as long as you can put the pieces into a box to send to them). If you buy an older dell still under completecare you can even pay a little to have the completecare extended. If you are looking at a machine just enter the service tag in Dell’s support website and you can check the warranty status. Easy as pie…
James
or just buy a new one. if you’re worried about being “green”, well… buy a new one and plant a tree or something. every desktop or laptop i’ve seen in the classifieds, craigslist, ebay, or facebook marketplace are overpriced for what you’re buying. you can buy a new laptop that’s fast enough for ANYONE for 400 bucks at best buy or circuit city any day of the week, same for a desktop with monitor. benefits of doing so? included warranty, you stimulate the economy, and you don’t have the fears of buying something that may not work, or may not last.