Refurbished Computer

[Gerry K]

Opinions please. I have the chance to purchase a refurbished Dell OptiPlex computer. It has: Intel P4, 2.4 GHz, 2 GB DDR RAM, 160HD 7200 RPM, Pioneer 18xDVD +R DVD RW dual layer, ATi Radeon 9550 AGP 256 MB DDR w/VGA, DVI, TV out. It comes with an 18" Dell Ultra Sharp flat panel LCD monitor, Harmon Kardon speakers, Windows XP PRO w/SP2, Windows Office XP PRO. 5 PCI slots, 8USB ports (2 frt and 4 rear), 2 serial ports, 1 parallel printer port, key board and mouse. Seller claims it is upgradeable to Windows Vista. All for $720.00. Question, I am an average user not into business computing just small time gaming and home style browsing. Is this a buy or is it a better choice to purchase a new Dell home PC and probably pay more. Thanks in advance.

 

[RamenNoodles]

Do NOT buy that computer. Its not that great of a computer expecially an optiplex with a P4 2.4. the 18" monitor is nice as well. But you can get a new dell with a 19" flat screen for like 699 and it comes with a warranty.

If you are looking to play some games, do not use Windows Vista. I have experienced this myself and it sucks for gaming. There are barely any updates and drivers for it yet. I reinstalled my XP for the time being. And for like 50$ you can get an OK video card off of www.newegg.com that will be better than that 9550 whichs sucks anyways.

With this Dell right here, it would beat the crap out of that used computer you were looking at.

It comes with;
19" Flatscreen Monitor
Pentium D Processor (Dual Core @ 2.8Ghz Which is basically 2.8 x 2 = 5.6Ghz)
1GB Dual Channel Ram DDR2 667Mhz
250GB SATA HDD (7200 RPM)
48X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3000
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Windows Vista Premium

Yes this computer only comes with 1GB of ram, but that is enough if you dont plan on doing any serious gaming. ANd As for Vista, call them up and tell them you want XP and not Vista, but if you really want Vista go for it.

You can mess around with that Dell setup and customize it a little to even make it cheaper or a little bit more to have some nice components.

VGA card - I would be willing to bet that is does not have PCIe x 16. More than likely it has an AGP slot and a PCI x1 slot. Go with an AGP slot because they are cheaper and have more of a selection.

Try this graphics card. It may look weak compared to other, but it does support 8 pixel pipelines which is double the 9550.

Give it a whirl and pick and choose what you want. You also get a 1yr warranty from Dell as well.

 

[Tedster]

You can build a very decent computer for $500 and a quite good computer for $700...

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Check out the TS Budget PC guide. Go with an Athlon 64 3600+/3800+ Socket AM2 for the CPU and this motherboard and the rest of the parts from the guide (except the mobo and processor of course), and you have a really good, powerful PC for real cheap.