Opinions on refurbished PC

VoucherMan

HereAgain wrote: »

Come up with a total budget. Do you have and/or want a monitor?

closed wrote: »

Is this the reason why you are looking for a new pc?

http://blogs.technet.com/b/the_microsoft_excel_support_team_blog/archive/2012/05/22/quot-excel-cannot-complete-this-task-with-available-resources-quot-after-installing-ms12-030.aspx

Having spent quite a bit of time sat at the table working on the laptop, instead of having it on my lap, I've decided I prefer it again. Based on comments such as '£ for £ you get more for your money from a desktop' it just seems like a good idea. If I'm going to be sat at a desk I might as well use the right tool.

The Excel issue, for which I've found other causes referenced, doesn't seem to fit my symptoms. It only happens when I've already got one or more sheets open already & try to open another. Also only seems to happen when I've not been using it for a while. I'd assumed it was just the processor struggling or lack of memory. For example if I'd been browsing here then opened another large Excel sheet, in addition to one already open. It's only a minor annoyance. One that I can easily live with but something I'd rather not have in a new (or refurbished) PC.

Budget wise I paid £300 for the laptop (2 1/2 years ago) and would hope to get something for a similar price. I'd be happy with a second hand monitor. Don't think anything I do requires a good quality one. for the sake of fixing a price I'll say £250 for the tower. I have some software which has a touch-screen operation option so I may even get a touch-screen monitor, but I'd need a good hard think about whether I'd actually use it or if it would be another unused gimmick first.

Not bothered about Windows 8 either. I'd happily get one with no OS like the Zoostorm ones which are sometimes mentioned and put windows 7 on it.

ThemeOne

The £250 one looks OK for your usage.

You can get cheaper, and better spec new machines though if you go for a "bare bones" deal i.e. with no operating system installed. Won't make much sense unless you have a spare copy of Windows lying around, or can get one cheap - many employees, for example, can get Windows for under £10 via their employers Home User Programme.

I'm thinking of something like this:
http://www.ebuyer.com/407538-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-1076

HereAgain_2

ThemeOne wrote: »

The £250 one looks OK for your usage.

You can get cheaper, and better spec new machines though if you go for a "bare bones" deal i.e. with no operating system installed. Won't make much sense unless you have a spare copy of Windows lying around, or can get one cheap - many employees, for example, can get Windows for under £10 via their employers Home User Programme.

I'm thinking of something like this:
http://www.ebuyer.com/407538-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-1076

I would take the Intel version over the AMD. Just £10 more. Much better CPU.

VoucherMan

HereAgain wrote: »

I would take the Intel version over the AMD. Just £10 more. Much better CPU.

Very tempting.

I'd been thinking of a bigger hard drive but not really needed, just because it seems the norm nowadays.

I assume I'd be able to add an extra internal drive to it at some stage if I wanted? Just to use as an extra backup. I've done it in the past but a few years ago so I'd need to brush up on how it's done.

HereAgain_2

VoucherMan wrote: »

Very tempting.

I'd been thinking of a bigger hard drive but not really needed, just because it seems the norm nowadays.

I assume I'd be able to add an extra internal drive to it at some stage if I wanted? Just to use as an extra backup. I've done it in the past but a few years ago so I'd need to brush up on how it's done.

Don't see why not, but perhaps a question to eBuyer would be prudent. If you've done it before, it won't be more difficult. But always good to know about the details of how easy or difficult access might be.

closed

A 2.5 year old laptop has plenty of life left in it yet. If you are only buying because of the ergonomics of being sat at a desk, it would be cheaper, quieter and prove cheaper to run, to buy an external monitor or keyboard or mouse or all three, and plug it into the laptop

Excel problem unless you have dismal amounts of ram installed is likely to be a bug unrelated to the machine.

portable usb external drives are much quieter and power efficient than a second internal drive, and can be be used to backup any machine

laptops tend to be better value nowadays.

HereAgain_2

Perhaps time for a de-clutter of the Lenovo.

paddyrg

I'm a fan of getting a new lappy - comes with a meaningful warranty and takes so much less space. Pretty much any new lappy will beat those reconditioned dinosaurs hands down. Those PC's are a few steps from landfill for the average user, and seem terribly expensive to me. Laptops have got much much better value over time

HereAgain_2

The Lenovo has more than enough life in it probably, just needs a tune up.

But if the OP would like to have a PC too, nothing wrong with that.

Though I do think they should try to get the best out of the Lenovo before taking the plunge.
I have a lower spec laptop that will handle though tasks with ease. So the problem may lie elsewhere.

VoucherMan

Time to thank the folks on here who convinced me to save my money for a later date.

I finally decided to get an extra monitor. After checking a few at work I decided on about 22" - any bigger would be a waste.

After having a look at Ebuyer, Amazon and one or two others I decided for the extra £10 or so I'd nip into Currys. They had 2 or 3 for £80 or £90.

Looking around I spotted a Samsung S20B300N. It hadn't shown up on their website search, though I later found it courtesy of Google. Not usually one for buying stuff without finding out about it first I decided to make an exception in this case. For sale at £40 with a further 50% discount as it was an ex display model. So at less than £20 I'm happy to take my chances.:D