Notebook - Purchase New or Used? ?

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kilobits

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Hi all

Would you recommend purchasing a New notebook or advise buying a 2nd hand notebook with waaaaay better specs for the same price... ?

There are a couple of really Killer machines on offer for around R7000 - and a new machine with similar specs would cost around R15000.

So... any thoughts on this??:confused:
 
New machines come with a warranty.
 
New... There is no question.

As bwana mentioned, the warranty will still be valid (which is a HUGE advantage). Aside from that, you will know how a new notebook has been treated (you are the only one that has owned it), and as such, you can be assured that there has been nothing dodgy done to it (modifications, etc that may blow up in your face later).

What are the specs of the second hand notebook vs the new one? No offense intended, but if you don't understand the way performance is measured, you may fall prey to good marketing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megahertz_Myth

Many people fall for this one. I still have people telling me that their Pentium 4 @ 2.8GHz will kick a Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz. They think clock frequency means everything. Then you have people claiming their Radeon X800 512MB will beat a newer card with only 256MB memory. And don't forget the people who don't understand why one would pay more for less memory (for example with the 8600GT that comes in a 256MB version and a 512MB version, the 256MB version having DDR3 vs the DDR2 in the 512MB version). Similarly, you have people who think a GeForce 9600GT will beat a GeForce 8800GT because the model numbers suggest that.

This stems from, at least, two main things:
1) People don't understand that performance should be measured as a whole. For your computer to perform well, it is necessary for all components to work well together.
2) Marketing lists specs that are usually not the only relevant information. As most people couldn't be bothered to read up on the products, they take the stated specs as being the best measure of performance.

What I'm getting at here, is that perhaps the second hand notebook has specs that SOUND better, but are actually not better at all. Remember, chipset plays a large role in notebook performance. And a Core 2 Duo based on Penryn may run at a lower clock frequency, but will still outdo a Core 2 Duo based on Merom.
 
Definitely new! The serviceable and usable lifespan of a notebook is from 3 to 5 years. But from the third year on the components are coated in dust and suffer from fatigue and over-use... especially the cooling fans, keyboard and screen. To pay for only two more years of medium level service is not worth it in my opinion... unless you are getting the used notebook for an absolute bargain price (R500 or R1000). All else is a waste of money. If the notebook is exceptionally clean and you can upgrade the RAM and Hard disk... they maybe. But I have noticed how all notebooks start to struggle in the third year... and their fans need to be cleaned more and more often leading to reduced performance and increased risk of heat damage. Rather spend R5K or R6K on an entry level notebook and upgrade the RAM and hard disk to full size. You will get much more lifespan out of your money!
 
sn3rd said:
New... There is no question.

As bwana mentioned, the warranty will still be valid (which is a HUGE advantage). Aside from that, you will know how a new notebook has been treated (you are the only one that has owned it), and as such, you can be assured that there has been nothing dodgy done to it (modifications, etc that may blow up in your face later).

What are the specs of the second hand notebook vs the new one? No offense intended, but if you don't understand the way performance is measured, you may fall prey to good marketing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megahertz_Myth

Many people fall for this one. I still have people telling me that their Pentium 4 @ 2.8GHz will kick a Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz. They think clock frequency means everything. Then you have people claiming their Radeon X800 512MB will beat a newer card with only 256MB memory. And don't forget the people who don't understand why one would pay more for less memory (for example with the 8600GT that comes in a 256MB version and a 512MB version, the 256MB version having DDR3 vs the DDR2 in the 512MB version). Similarly, you have people who think a GeForce 9600GT will beat a GeForce 8800GT because the model numbers suggest that.

This stems from, at least, two main things:
1) People don't understand that performance should be measured as a whole. For your computer to perform well, it is necessary for all components to work well together.
2) Marketing lists specs that are usually not the only relevant information. As most people couldn't be bothered to read up on the products, they take the stated specs as being the best measure of performance.

What I'm getting at here, is that perhaps the second hand notebook has specs that SOUND better, but are actually not better at all. Remember, chipset plays a large role in notebook performance. And a Core 2 Duo based on Penryn may run at a lower clock frequency, but will still outdo a Core 2 Duo based on Merom.
Click to expand...

Can you rate this notebook for me. I understand most of the stuff but you seem like the grandmaster of performance. I do not want to play games on this machine. Purely for surfing the net, general office work and some online poker:rolleyes:

* 15.4-inch (diagonal) WXGA high-definition Bright-View widescreen display, 1280 x 800 resolution
* 2.00 GHz AMD Turion X2 TL-60 dual-core mobile processor
* 3072 MB DDR2 system memory (2 Dimm), 200 GB (4200RPM) hard drive (SATA), NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M (UMA) with up to 1071 MB total available graphics memory
* LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with double layer support and 802.11b/g WLAN and Bluetooth
* Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, dims in inches: 14.05 (W) x 10.12 (D) x 1 (min H), 6.06 lbs.

The brand is HP

Thanks
 
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I wouldn't touch a used notebook with a stick - not worth the risk, I feel.
 
APoc84 said:
Can you rate this notebook for me. I understand most of the stuff but you seem like the grandmaster of performance. I do not want to play games on this machine. Purely for surfing the net, general office work and some online poker:rolleyes:

* 15.4-inch (diagonal) WXGA high-definition Bright-View widescreen display, 1280 x 800 resolution
* 2.00 GHz AMD Turion X2 TL-60 dual-core mobile processor
* 3072 MB DDR2 system memory (2 Dimm), 200 GB (4200RPM) hard drive (SATA), NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M (UMA) with up to 1071 MB total available graphics memory
* LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with double layer support and 802.11b/g WLAN and Bluetooth
* Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, dims in inches: 14.05 (W) x 10.12 (D) x 1 (min H), 6.06 lbs.

The brand is HP

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hardly the grandmaster of performance :o

Those specs aren't too bad. For the uses you state, they'll more than suffice. Vista will eat up a lot of your RAM.

But again, this brings me back to my original point (and what Garyvdh said)... You could rather get an entry level notebook for R6000 and pump up the RAM, which would cost an extra R500 at MOST, then you have a BRAND NEW notebook that can accomplish all the same things (aside from light gaming). The newer entry level notebooks will generally have Intel's X3100 graphics which, while not really suited for hardcore gamers, at least has hardware texturing (I think), and supports DirectX 10, which will allow you to at least PLAY newer games.

To sum up:
For what you say you want the notebook for, that notebook will more than suffice, but so will a brand new lower-spec notebook (which will cost the same or less).

Edit: You are not the OP :o Just saw that now. But what I said is still relevant
 
Messugga said:
I wouldn't touch a used notebook with a stick - not worth the risk, I feel.
Click to expand...

It's different if you know the original owner. I'd buy a notebook from my parents, say, because I know how they treat their hardware. Different case if from a complete stranger (or even a friend that you maybe don't know so well)
 
sn3rd said:
To sum up:
For what you say you want the notebook for, that notebook will more than suffice, but so will a brand new lower-spec notebook (which will cost the same or less).
Click to expand...

I paid just over R7000.00. Brand new.
 
New if you at all can't help it!

But then again, I am gonna buy a 2nd hand Apple laptop, but the price is pretty reasonable, and I'm in any case going to mod it into a tablet, so to each their own...
 
Hi Guys

Thanks for the input. The used laptop is an HP with an ATI MOBILITY FireGL V5000 dedicated graphics card, 2.13ghz centrino cpu, 2GB RAM, DVD Writer, WUXGA display, WIFI, bluetooth, not quite 2 years old and is selling for R6900.

Am so sorely tempted...

Find something similar new for under R13000.... sigh.

sob.

sigh.

P.s. My current notebook was purchased new... motherboard failed 1 week out of warranty... HP quoted R5500 for a replacement and the only thing that saved me was the 4 replacements that were faulty (one after the other) when the techie came out to do the repairs (and Hellopeter). So, I guess a lemon new is almost as good as a turkey 2nd hand??? :?
 
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I have not watched notebook prices lately but usually the secondhand ones is not that much cheaper than the same new one. Sometimes things look like a big bargain until one look deeper and find there is a reason why it is a bargain.
 
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