( 
)This short guide to buying a used desktop computer is intended to help people make a wise choice when searching for that perfect used companion.
I have been working as a Computer Service Technician for several years now and I have fixed well over 5000 desktop and notebook computers. I see a lot of people buying used systems lately because the price of new ones had declined in the past year or two and many people can now afford the latest and greatest gear.
When looking for a used desktop, you need to know what you'll need it for and how much you're willing to spend, those are the two key factors. A lot of people would prefer to buy a name brand system like a Dell, Compaq, HP or Gateway but there are often not the best choice. A custom built system is almost always better because they use higher quality components. Major PC manufacturer's like the ones I just mentioned above will often install the cheapest possible parts in order to save money. This may benefit you at the register but the difference is price is often not worth the trouble down the road.
The most common thing to die in used systems is the power supply and hard drive. The power supply, often called "PS" or "PSU" is a rather cheap part to replace, usually around $25 to $40 for a decent quality one. They can be changed fairly quickly by removing the old one and remembering where the connections went when you hook-up the new one. A local service shop can replace these for a small service fee. Power supplies have a life of about 2~3 years, if they haven't died in that time, I'd replace it anyway. As for hard drives, they only mechanical part along with fans that are always running. Most hard drives, also called "HD" or "HDD" come with a 3 year warranty and most last, well, 3 years or so... Its always good to back-up data like documents and pictures because they can easily be lost forever is the hard drive dies. A new one goes for about $50.
Most other components inside a system are fairly long lasting and shouldn't need to be replaced. Beware that if a PSU unit dies, it can take out other components with it.
These days, if you want to run Windows XP, you'll need a decent machine. Anything in the 1GHz range or higher for a CPU is good. RAM should be at least 256MB, 512MB would be better. A 20GB or larger HDD is recommended and a good optical drive that can burn cd's and read DVD's would be best. Look for a CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo or DVD-RW drive. A system like this would be good to surf the net, email friends and buy and sell on eBay. I would not recommend it for gaming because today's games are too demanding for these specs. Look for an AGP or PCI-Express port on the motherboard if you ever want to add a gaming graphics card. The seller should be able to answer this question, if not, look elsewhere.
This should give you a good idea on where to get stared when buying a used system.
I have been working as a Computer Service Technician for several years now and I have fixed well over 5000 desktop and notebook computers. I see a lot of people buying used systems lately because the price of new ones had declined in the past year or two and many people can now afford the latest and greatest gear.
When looking for a used desktop, you need to know what you'll need it for and how much you're willing to spend, those are the two key factors. A lot of people would prefer to buy a name brand system like a Dell, Compaq, HP or Gateway but there are often not the best choice. A custom built system is almost always better because they use higher quality components. Major PC manufacturer's like the ones I just mentioned above will often install the cheapest possible parts in order to save money. This may benefit you at the register but the difference is price is often not worth the trouble down the road.
The most common thing to die in used systems is the power supply and hard drive. The power supply, often called "PS" or "PSU" is a rather cheap part to replace, usually around $25 to $40 for a decent quality one. They can be changed fairly quickly by removing the old one and remembering where the connections went when you hook-up the new one. A local service shop can replace these for a small service fee. Power supplies have a life of about 2~3 years, if they haven't died in that time, I'd replace it anyway. As for hard drives, they only mechanical part along with fans that are always running. Most hard drives, also called "HD" or "HDD" come with a 3 year warranty and most last, well, 3 years or so... Its always good to back-up data like documents and pictures because they can easily be lost forever is the hard drive dies. A new one goes for about $50.
Most other components inside a system are fairly long lasting and shouldn't need to be replaced. Beware that if a PSU unit dies, it can take out other components with it.
These days, if you want to run Windows XP, you'll need a decent machine. Anything in the 1GHz range or higher for a CPU is good. RAM should be at least 256MB, 512MB would be better. A 20GB or larger HDD is recommended and a good optical drive that can burn cd's and read DVD's would be best. Look for a CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo or DVD-RW drive. A system like this would be good to surf the net, email friends and buy and sell on eBay. I would not recommend it for gaming because today's games are too demanding for these specs. Look for an AGP or PCI-Express port on the motherboard if you ever want to add a gaming graphics card. The seller should be able to answer this question, if not, look elsewhere.
This should give you a good idea on where to get stared when buying a used system.
Guide created: 06/24/06 (updated 09/21/09)
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