A friends computer died. She can not afford a new one and I want to help. I am not rich either so I am looking for something cheap. Dell seems to make something in the right price range - $400 -$600ish. Specifically the Inspiron series (I am a Mac person, she is a PC). Are these fairly good computers? Should I order them from the Dell site?
Thanks
If your friend has a working monitor, she shouldn’t need to buy a new monitor. Might I suggest refurbished Dell computers, starting at under $200? They have varying degrees of components and all of them have enough “oomph” to get you through checking email and going online.
I’ve helped set these machine up for several friends and family members. I’m using one right now. It’s my main work computer - and I work in the computer industry - and I think the whole thing cost me around $400.
Definitely go for refurbished computers for a good deal and that is probably good advice for anyone. It usually just means that someone opened up the box and sent it back because they didn’t want it anymore. Dell is a good, no hassle, way of getting a good computer. The only downside is that certain parts are non-standard and hard to upgrade. They have some really cheap desktop computers but just go for the best that your friend can afford so that doesn’t become obsolete so quickly.
I should add that you can get some mighty fine Dell refurbished computers in the $400 - $600 dollar range. I work in IT and I got mine for $500 and it can handle just about anything. If you want to go budget, you can drop to the bottom of your range or even lower. If your friend doesn’t play cutting edge games or use netflix on demand, it may not make that much of a difference. Word processing and using the web doesn’t take that much computing power.
I’ve bought two computers in a row now for family members by just walking into a big box store, selecting something reasonably priced, picking up the box and paying for it. No hassle, no problem, low prices and all the computing power and accessories an internet surfer could possibly need.
Thanks all for the help. I used the link provided to find a good refurbished computer. She will be so happy!
I have a refurbished Dell that my friend found for me (sans monitor) for $279. It is SO AWESOME! I had been working on an old, low-end computer for years, not realizing how cheap they’d become, and can’t believe I waited so long to upgrade. I totally <3 my new computer.
To really take out any kinks those Dell pcs might have, you should buy some ram ($20-30) and maybe a video card ($30-50). The vast majority of performance issues would come down to those two components.
Question: I took a look at those refurbished computers, and the prices are amazing. But I couldn’t seem to find out any details. Specifically, what ports does it has? Where are they located? Are there available slots for adding a better video card?
Did I miss something? I think I clicked on every relevant link.
You’re right. There is a “system identifier” for each system, but it’s not a service tag. You can google the model number, but each system may be customized.
What’s really annoying is that Dell lists the “video ram” but not the actual video card (or even if it’s onboard). Ugh, yeah, video ram is really the most important graphics parameter… :rolleyes: Also, there’s the wonderful “USB Port: Yes.”
Note that the DFS Direct site is their site for “off lease” computers. So the machines are ones that went out in huge bundles to companies that leased them for a year or three, then returned them to Dell in exchange for newer models.
This site is different than the Dell Outlet which will have non-business machines that were purchased by general consumers and will have many more bells and whistles than DFS Direct machines.
So these are office-quality workstations, and you can expect the video to be onboard and the RAM to be minimal. These aren’t machines that were meant to ever see a video game, Photoshop or even an iPod. They’re more suited for opening up several spreadsheets at once, running Outlook and typing in Word.
While we’re at it, I’ll mention the last (?) of the official Dell second-hand websites: http://www.dellauction.com/