{"id":24940,"date":"2019-07-18T22:51:21","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T20:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/blog\/?p=24940"},"modified":"2019-07-19T14:43:15","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T12:43:15","slug":"buying-a-secondhand-laptop-read-this-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/buying-a-secondhand-laptop-read-this-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying a Secondhand Laptop? Read This First"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buying used or refurbished electronics is a fairly trouble-free way of getting current, good tech at a discounted price. Although there a number of platforms on which to find them and tracking down a potential purchase isn\u2019t particularly difficult, it\u2019s not a great idea just to pull the trigger on an item because it\u2019s the brand or model you want. Whether you’ve got your hand on a killer Cash Crusaders laptop find or a tempting Gumtree laptop gem, it’s important to do your homework on the device you’ve set your sights on. Like buying a used car buying a used laptop<\/a> can quickly become an expensive disappointment if you don\u2019t look out for certain red flags.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot to consider when buying laptops cash. Let\u2019s go through the most important list of boxes to tick and functions to test before you finalise a used laptop purchase:<\/p>\n

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List the specs you\u2019re looking for<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Before you delve into the marketplace looking to pick up the first good deal you see, it\u2019s important to sit down and make a list of the things you\u2019ll be using your laptop for the most. Are you mainly going to use it for browsing and document editing and lighter work tasks? Or are you in a creative industry that will require you to do serious audiovisual legwork, like video editing? Since getting something used is mostly about being lighter on your wallet make sure you don\u2019t end up buying a super-powerful laptop that you\u2019re only going to be using to do the occasional Powerpoint presentation on and not much more.<\/p>\n

Check the Battery Health<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Replacement batteries<\/a> for most laptops aren\u2019t necessarily cheap or freely available, and since the primary benefit of a laptop is its portability you\u2019ll want to make sure it\u2019s capable of going places. Check the battery\u2019s health by going into the power management settings in its settings panel and specifically lookout for two things: 1) What the OS says about the battery health status, and 2) How much charge the battery is capable of holding. You\u2019ll want the battery to be in fairly good condition before you commit to paying \u2013 otherwise, it\u2019s perhaps a good idea to ask for a discount in the event that you\u2019ll need to buy a replacement yourself.<\/p>\n

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Check the WiFi and Bluetooth<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Wireless connectivity is pretty much the be-all and end-all of connectivity these days; wires and CD drives are a thing of the past now. This being the case, it\u2019s going to be crucial that the laptop\u2019s connectivity functions are working flawlessly. A good thing to do would be to turn your phone into a WiFi hotspot and seeing if you can easily connect to it and then test some websites to see if everything loads as it should. Afterwards, try sending it a file or two (of moderate size) via the Bluetooth connection to test that and make sure there aren\u2019t any hiccups.<\/p>\n

Scope out the screen condition<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Since the laptop\u2019s screen is the feature you\u2019re going to be directly interacting with the most it\u2019s important to have a look at whether it\u2019s functioning smoothly. The first thing to look for, and also the most obvious to spot, is whether there are any dead pixels. Using the browser or background settings in the control panel find a uniform image to pull up to make it easier to spot any sketchy pixels. Screen flickering, discolouration in certain zones, or problems with brightness settings are red flags to look out for.<\/p>\n

\"laptop<\/p>\n

Check out the software<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The hardware<\/a> is obviously crucial, but don\u2019t forget that without the software it\u2019ll just be a hunk of plastic. The most important software-related check to do is making sure that the OS is genuine and corresponds to the laptop. The second, and potentially more time-consuming step, is to check that the programs that are loaded onto the system are genuine. It might seem like a step too far, but ask for the original OS CDs and back-up material that came with the laptop and any of the other licenses.<\/p>\n

Buying a used device doesn\u2019t have to be a drag, but it\u2019s important to have a list of things to look for before committing to a purchase. Don\u2019t feel pressured to run through your list too fast, just make sure all the boxes are ticked and you won\u2019t suffer any buyer\u2019s remorse!<\/p>\n

Once you’ve secured a second-hand laptop at a steal, don’t forget to shop to stock up on laptop parts and accessories. From laptop bags to Bluetooth keyboards, headphones, and even replacement laptop batteries, shop online for a wide range of laptop accessories via PriceCheck and find the best prices for all your tech needs.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Go through this checklist before picking up a used laptop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2850],"tags":[4924,1434,4919,4921,4920,4502,4918,4923,4917,4922],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/laptop_coffee_shop.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24940"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24940"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24953,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24940\/revisions\/24953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}