Is This 2nd Hand Laptop Worth It?

doctordv8 on 24/03/2016 - 09:34

Hi brain trust. Still researching for replacement PC and laptops for the family. I have just seen this, looks very impressive, but is it worth it, or out dated and not value for money already. I personally do not have an issue with 2nd hand gear, and the seller appears legit. 9 months old, advertised for $750, Win 10 is installed.

I want something around the advertised price, with the ability to not hang, freeze, crash or slow down(noticeably) with up to 50 windows/tabs open(this maybe bad, but it is what I do). Occasional short video, many pictures, and much multi tasking. To me it is a tool, and not a fashion statement, but I don't like wasting money on fads either. Darn, even my phone is an old Nokia 3350, but it does everything it has to.

http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/m20ProductDisplayView?cat…

Here is the link opened I prepared earlier. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Cheers.

The HP Envy 15-K242TX Touchscreen Laptop comes with an HP Control Zone trackpad which allows you to switch, snap and close apps quickly and easily. It has a full HD display to ensure your content looks great and Beats Audio, dual speakers, plus a subwoofer to deliver rich audio for your favourite music, games and movies.

Screen: 15.6-inch diagonal FHD Touchscreen Anti-Glare WLED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
Processor: 5th generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 5500U (2.4GHz, 4MB L3 Cache)
RAM: 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 DIMM)
Storage: 2TB (5400RPM) hard drive
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® 840M Graphics with 2GB GDDR3 video memory
Operating System: Windows 8.1 Standard Edition pre-installed, upgrade to Windows 10 available. ***** DONE *****
Connection: WiFi 802.11 (a,c) / BT 4.0 / 3 x USB3.0 / HDMI / RJ-45 / 3.5mm
Dimensions: 384.5 (W) x 260.2 (D) x 26.8mm (H), 2.49 Kg
Warranty: 1/1/0
Webcam: HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated digital microphone
Extra: SuperMulti DVD burner
Extra: HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
Extra: LED Backlit Keyboard

Computing

Comments

lexis999 on 24/03/2016 - 09:53

Seems like a good laptop for a reasonable price. Depends on what your family wants out of it. It has a dedicated Graphics card so it will play some games well but maybe not the latest AAA ones, for that you will always want to go a desktop and spend most of the money on the graphics card.
i5 or i7 is always good for laptops as they are usually clocked slower than desktops.
My only cringe is the 5400rpm HDD(slow access/loading), if you don't want to play games on it or only 1 or 2, it is an easy upgrade to install a 120 - 240Gb SSD which will revolutionise the speed/waiting for things to load. You or a family member will need to know what you are doing to either copy the HDD to SSD or reinstall windows 10.
With laptops it is always good to know what sort of warranty you have as a faulty part can be more expensive than the desktop equivalent.
Hope that helps a bit.
- doctordv8 on 24/03/2016 - 23:08
  
  +1
  
  Hey thanks. Barring solitaire etc, we are not into gaming at all, I play real games in real cars in the real world.
  
  I just like pages to load graphics, pics, text and page links kinda fast, as I lost my patience years ago. Anything newer than this tugboat I am using, hard wired only Compaq CQ60 with a intermittent screen and a real burning hot spot on my left thigh, I imagine would be faster.
  
  The info said 12 mth warranty, but 9 mths gone so far, and second hand has no warranty from private seller. That is always the risk but at half price, and all 3 of my laptops over last 8 years have been second hand, and lasted reasonably. I have enough knowledge to be dangerous, so swapping out to upgrade the HD is something I would try, after reading a bit more then if all fails, I can always pay a tech to fix it.
  Thanks again, Ripper Rita!
  - jv on 28/03/2016 - 00:35
    
    +1 for solitaire !!!!
fredblogs on 24/03/2016 - 10:20

Have you checked out the Dell Outlet too?
- doctordv8 on 24/03/2016 - 11:04
  
  Hi, yes I looked after seeing other threads and forums on this subject. I did not see anything very close, but I am not truly understanding of the little differences and comparisons. Was I actually seeing sliced cheese instead of block? Price wise though, nothing I saw was close, but that does not mean a techo would not be able to read the lists and compare them better. Thanks Fred.
  - fredblogs on 24/03/2016 - 11:17
    
    Ok I read your post more carefully.
    An SSD is an absolute must - the PC you listed does not have one, so you'd need to upgrade it yourself or get someone to help you.
    
    The Dell Outlet has some laptops with SSD's already if you're worried about doing this. http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/product…
    
    You also should aim for 8GB RAM or more, and at least i5 if not i7.
scrimshaw on 25/03/2016 - 01:26

Have you looked at this option
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/240215

Works out cheaper at $688 and has all the specs that a non-gamer will ever need. It does have less RAM, no touch display and half the storage than the system you're being offered (you'd really have to be running some very demanding applications to really realize the advantages of 16GB of RAM), but at least it's not a used product and you can buy with peace of mind.

The 6th gen i5 Skylake CPU is also faster than the 5th gen Core i7, thanks to a new and improved power efficient architecture. Although the CPU speed is the LEAST of your worries!
[Deactivated] on 25/03/2016 - 12:33

+1

Secondhand T420, add an SSD if it doesn't already have it. That thing looks ok, but consumer model's build quality is ass
- tonyjzx on 26/03/2016 - 16:57
  
  -1
  
  If they were smart enough to do that, they wouldnt be asking here.
  
  The above HP is fine but the hdd blows but you can fix that. One thing the OP doesnt ask is what the warranty conditions is like.
  
  Where's the receipt? If there's no receipt then its like a 2nd hand car.
  
  If there's 18 months left then go for it.
sharebargain on 27/03/2016 - 21:01

If you know much about laptop or pc hardware replacement, I would say 2nd hand maybe a good option to purchase, but if you dont, it would cost you more in the future. The specs is actually not that bad, the one that worries me much is actually the warranty, although you can test it for couple hours before trying, you should request a written specific condition that if something goes wrong in a week, you will be able to return it back. As this does happen to my friend.

I would recommend the low end Microsoft surface 3 if it is only used for family only. Firstly because it is a tablet and a mobile design or tablet means, it can be carried easier and convenient compare to any laptops which are heavier.

FYI, I found that any windows PC or laptop will getting slower and slower after use, this is due to the management software itself. For the first couple weeks you may find that your laptop is super awesome, once you add more programs into it, like antivirus etc, you will find the speed of your laptop turns from Jaguar to little squirrel. And this is basically normal, especially new software now requires more new hardware specs to run its program.

To sum up, if you do confident about yourself on repairing the laptop if it does go wrong, then go for it, otherwise, i would suggest just google best affordable laptop to start with and purchase brand new instead.

Is This 2nd Hand Laptop Worth It?

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