Is This A Good Used Computer For $300?

Factual Questions
1

I have a friend (whom I can trust not to sell me a virus-ridden POS system) that is selling this computer for $300:

**Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz
4 GB Ram
950GB Storage (1x200GB, 1x250gb, 1x500gb SATA hard drives)
Nvidia 8600 GT(pretty sure) video card might be 8800 ill double check nothing magical…
Memory card reader ad 2x DVD burners

Software: Vista Ultimate 64 bit
Adobe Creative Suite 3: Photoshop, Dreamwear, Etc**
The reason I’m considering buying it is because my computer at home needs upgrading pretty badly and it would cost at least as much as this machine, which is about 2 years old. Obviously the system specs are better than mine, but I’ve never used Vista and have heard about some compatibility issues with the 64-bit version.

He’s selling this machine because he’s converting all over to Macs and just wants to get rid of the thing. What do you think?

2

Quite a good deal.

3

Looks pretty good to me. The E6600 CPU is a couple of years old, but it overclocks easily and performs quite well even by todays standards. The 8600 GT GPU may be a little underpowered if you want to play the latest games, however, but it’s fairly easy to replace and the 8800/9800 models are relatively cheap these days.

4

It’s a good deal even if it is virus-ridden. That’s actually really easy to fix: format the hard drive.

5

Tell your friend I’ll offer $310. :wink:

6

I’d buy that system in a heartbeat for that price.

7

Good price, even if it does have more RAM than Windows can use - no biggie though.

Will you be getting the licenses for those applications? Even the “standard” version of CS3 sold for more than $300.

8

Anyone know anything about Vista 64 bit having software compatability issues?

9

I thought a 64 bit OS resolved the RAM issue?

And I’d have to ask about the licenses.

10

I’m pretty sure x64 can use some ridiculous amount you wouldn’t even be able to install like 128 (or I heard the cap was somewhere around there), anything above 8 is hardly necessary (Though I heard you may want to go twelve on mobos that support triple channel because it likes sticks in groups of three, not sure on the accuracy of that statement though). Either way that’s a great computer for $300, especially with CS3 installed.

11

PC shop owner note:

WARNING: Vista Ultimate alone costs almost $200 wholesale, I would bet you $20 that is a pirated install of Vista, and it will come back to bite you in the ass.

Upon Reading it looks like others are asking the same questions WRT licences.

12

Make sure it’s from a non-smoking house and looks reasonably clean.

13

I was just going to mention that. There’s someone advertising via flyers in bus shelters around here installations of Adobe CS4 for $110… given that CS4 Design Premium goes for $1800 and the CS4 Master Collection for $2500, I kinda think that something’s a bit off.

If the seller was willing to transfer his licenses to you, with original disks, serial numbers, etc, maybe I could see it, but then he’s charging way too little for them. I believe you can exchange Windows for Mac licenses and vice versa through Adobe as well, so it’s not even a case of having to buy the software all over again when switching platforms.

That being said, even without the questionable software, it still looks like a good deal for the hardware.

14

I don’t know him well enough to determine if he pirated anything, but I emailed him to see what the deal is.

Two questions along that line then:

If his OS is pirated, and it works fine for him, why is that a problem for me? (I also have an XP Home disc I could put on there if I had to)

Also, if all his sofyware is legit and he gives me the discs, what is the problem with licensing? Why would I need to do anything?

15

It’s just that Adobe likes to keep track of its customers more than, say, Apple. If you wanted to upgrade the software you bought from this guy, it would still show under his name (assuming he registered it). Easier to upgrade if it’s under your name.

16

Also, installing Windows XP can be a pain in the butt if you’re tweaking your system. If Windows thinks you’ve changed your system sufficiently that it is a whole new box, it may ask for a new activation. You then need to contact Microsoft and reactivate it. This is an automated process by phone when I did it; I didn’t need to speak to a human. (Why yes, I installed XP on a second partition on my Mac and activated it in a virtual machine.) Moral: don’t activate until you’re done adjusting things!

17

Well, how much of a problem will depend on (a) how good a pirating job it is, and (b) your moral/ethical position on pirated software.

First, even if a pirated version works now, there’s a chance that sometime in the future it will not work, and/or it will connect to Microsoft’s server and be found out to be pirated. I’m not sure exactly what happens then, but at the very least you’re going to constantly get warnings about not running a genuine copy of Windows.

Then there’s the issue of whether you should use pirated software. If you don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing that, there’s probably not much anyone here can say to change your mind, but you shouldn’t be surprised if some people have a problem with it.

Finally, while you might have an XP Home disc lying around, if that copy of Windows XP has already been installed on another computer, then installing it on your new computer will also give you problems with licensing.

Well, if he really did buy the software, if he really is the original owner, with all the original discs and stuff, then you might not, for practical purposes, need to transfer the license.

After all, the software is staying on the same computer that it was originally installed on, so you shouldn’t get any compatibility issues or license warnings from Adobe. Most of the time, the practical issue re license transfers is to facilitate installing the software on a different computer.

That said, it would probably be worth transferring the license anyway, so the software is in your name. That would make your life much easier in the future if you needed to deal with Adobe for any reason related to the software, including upgrades.

ETA: beaten to the punch by Sunspace.

18

he just told me all his software was pirated in the sense that he used corporate OEM discs for the Vista and Adobe that he borrowed from another friend at his job, so he doesn’t have any of the discs, but he said he has never had a problem and has had the machine for about a year and a half.

So, not downloaded piracy, but “borrowed” piracy.

He also is a pretty computer savvy guy, runs his own fiarly popular messageboard, etc.

Is my main issue going to be if I ever have any problems with the software then I can’t get support, is that the deal? No ability to update, etc?

What other problems will I have even if these programs are clean installs from actual discs rather than potentially sketchy downloaded versions?

19

Basically. I think that MS was allowing security updates to all copies of Windows XP for quite a while, on the grounds that patching the pirate versions at Microsoft’s expense was better than allowing them to distribute malware, but I think they’ve stopped that now that Vista is here. And I have NO idea of the situation with Vista; we don’t use it at work and I never installed it at home.

I do not know whether you’d be able to get updates from Adobe, and there have been a few.

20

I’d be curious to hear your take on the hardware, as well as the software situation and my potential problems, Drachillix.
Is the machine worth the money despite the non-licensed software?

Edit: no offense to Sunspace, mhendo and Telperion. I have seen Drachillix post some pretty knowledgable replies in other computer-related threads and I was hoping he’d elaborate a little more as you all have done already, thank you.