New Computer

Time to get a new computer.  I do not play games on my computer so looking for a functional one to go onlien, use microsoft office.   Not a work computer.  Any advice and sales, etc going on?



what's your price range?

Personally, I usually get refurbs. They're not the latest and greatest in terms of processor speed, but they're more than adequate for browsing and Office use. I've had no reliability problem with the refurbs, and I've bought a bunch for personal use over the years. The only thing I'd look for is

1. adequate disk space - probably 500gb minimum these days

2. adequate memory - 8gb is probably the minimum these days.

I assume you're looking at Windows machines?

Desktop or laptop?

here are refurb desktops available at MicroCenter

http://www.microcenter.com/cat...


laptop/notebood and getting new. I know I need to start at $400 minimum.  At least 8gb memory and 1gb memory. 

Edited: 1 tb storage capcity at minimum, thinking at least 2.



mary2430 said:

At least 8gb memory and 1gb memory. 

Not sure what the extra 1gb is in this suggestion, but my advice would be to get a machine that is expandable to more than 8gb even if you start off with 8gb.  Many laptops are not expandable and 8gb is pretty much the minimum to run Windows these days with the trend (as updates are made) to require more and more memory.

Also, I would look for a solid state drive (ssd) if possible, and one that can be replaced (upgraded to a larger drive) in the future.  

My last laptop came with 8gb RAM and a 256g drive and was about three years old when it started "choking" due to Windows and applications taking up a lot of space (my personal data was taking up less than 50gb, but the hard drive was about 99% full.)  I got an extra year or more of life out of that computer by adding more RAM and switching out the hard drive to a 500gb drive.  But not all computers will allow you to do that, so if the RAM or hard drive aren't expandable or replaceable, you may want to start off with more than you think you need now.

I recently got a new computer and went with 16gb RAM since the model I selected wasn't expandable.


at first glance it looks pretty decent. Touch screen, which I kind of like. 12gb RAM. big hard drive. HP is not my favorite brand for computers these days, but they're OK. Windows 10, albeit the Home edition. But unless you're a tinkerer, the Home edition should be fine.

Hell, I might get one myself. My "big" laptop is pretty ancient. Probably 6 years at least, maybe older.

mary2430 said:

@drummerboy what do you think?  http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...



I didn't realize how much I would like my touch screen ... especially when looking at photos with tiny print and I can just use a finger gesture to zoom in.  But it takes some getting used to.


me too. I'm surprised that my big fat fingers can be pretty accurate when pointing at small things on the screen.

sac said:

I didn't realize how much I would like my touch screen ... especially when looking at photos with tiny print and I can just use a finger gesture to zoom in.  But it takes some getting used to.



techforless.com has good closeouts.  Costco has good PC deals.



In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.