The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Beach_Stache on January 14, 2018, 06:45:05 AM
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Hi all,
I used to be somewhat up to date with computers and the technology, where to buy, etc. It's been about 10 years or so since I've bought new technology though and now I have no clue about anything... DW and Myself both have work computers that we used for most stuff as well as work phones and an iPad. We have an old laptop that is basically junk and over a decade old so we are looking for an upgrade. The uses would be maybe a few light games for the kids, nothing hardcore and classroom stuff, maybe school uses (Microsoft type stuff) in the next few years. Kids are 9, 7, 4, so I'm looking for 1 computer that the kids can use for some light applications, nothing too crazy.
Is it worth buying used, or is that a crap shoot?
Should I buy a desktop or laptop? It used to be that desktop's were a lot cheaper but now it doesn't seem that way? We have an ipad so I don't see a need for a laptop unless it is comparable price/technology but I imagine it would stay in our office for the most part.
Solid state hard drive or just the normal type?
Chromebook???
Where do I buy it? Once upon a time tigerdirect seemed to be the place, but no clue if that's the place to go? I find myself looking at bestbuy.com and amazon.com but I have no clue if that's even the best place to go and what type of hardware to be looking for???
I really just want a computer with a Microsoft OS, Microsoft Office Suite and reasonably fast internet browsing speeds, but don't need a gaming system. We have a monitor already, so really only need the tower, but if laptop is easier I could do that as well.
Any help would be much appreciated!
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I still use towers as they are easy and economical to keep up to date over the years. You don't have to buy a new shell / monitor everytime your computer starts to get slow. Just slap in some more ram, or a new CPU, or even start from scratch with a new motherboard when required. Now a days upgrading yourself can still be daunting, but it's really plug and play compared to 15 years ago. Google can answer all you need.
Newegg is still my go to for computer parts, and I think they do sell full computers if you need it. There's usually a mark up though, so if you're willing to learn you can buy the components you need and build an entire computer yourself. All you really need is a tower, a motherboard, a couple, ram, and a hard drive. All motherboards have built in sound that will be good enough for your needs, and some have built in video cards but that is becoming more rare.
Solid state hard drives are reasonably priced now a days, and are much faster and more reliable than the old mechanical ones.
If your daunted by buying parts manually for compatability reasons, find a prebuilt that looks good to you and just copy the parts they use. Ibuypower has a good system for designing computers from scratch in the process range you want.
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I have bought, for myself and my parents, a number of refurb desktops from Dell over the years. They've all worked well and lasted through years of use. We just bought last year a small form factor refurbed HP from a vendor on NewEgg as it was hardware I was super familiar with and had Windows 7 which I'm familiar with enough to support my mom over the phone, even when she's chatting away in my ear while I try to figure out what's going on --- all for under $100.
Microsoft Office is going to be the expensive bit I fear. You'd have to compare the OEM version cost if purchasing along with a PC from a vendor like Dell versus the same thing standalone from say NewEgg or Amazon. If you truly need MS Office versus something like LibreOffice, I'm sure you'll be price shopping to make sure you get a good deal for the version you need.
With the kids at their age, I'd personally go with a nice heavy tower that won't get bumped off the table or moved around intentionally. Just safer.
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Hi all,
I used to be somewhat up to date with computers and the technology, where to buy, etc. It's been about 10 years or so since I've bought new technology though and now I have no clue about anything... DW and Myself both have work computers that we used for most stuff as well as work phones and an iPad. We have an old laptop that is basically junk and over a decade old so we are looking for an upgrade. The uses would be maybe a few light games for the kids, nothing hardcore and classroom stuff, maybe school uses (Microsoft type stuff) in the next few years. Kids are 9, 7, 4, so I'm looking for 1 computer that the kids can use for some light applications, nothing too crazy.
Is it worth buying used, or is that a crap shoot?
Should I buy a desktop or laptop? It used to be that desktop's were a lot cheaper but now it doesn't seem that way? We have an ipad so I don't see a need for a laptop unless it is comparable price/technology but I imagine it would stay in our office for the most part.
Solid state hard drive or just the normal type?
Chromebook???
Where do I buy it? Once upon a time tigerdirect seemed to be the place, but no clue if that's the place to go? I find myself looking at bestbuy.com and amazon.com but I have no clue if that's even the best place to go and what type of hardware to be looking for???
I really just want a computer with a Microsoft OS, Microsoft Office Suite and reasonably fast internet browsing speeds, but don't need a gaming system. We have a monitor already, so really only need the tower, but if laptop is easier I could do that as well.
Any help would be much appreciated!
If you could get used off newegg,com I would go that route. Or maybe a $200 'notebook'. I wouldn't get a chromebook or anything like those because you'll need an internet connection.
Personally, I would get a Lenovo 11 inch ideapad notebook for about $170 new. Probably refurbished at bestbuy or newegg for cheaper. Unless you can find a liquidator, I bought a lenovo from a liquidator about 7 years ago for about $100 and had one of my IT friends give me a free copy of windows.
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I'm a fan of Dell Refurbished Latitude laptops - they are the 'professional' line, so have a metal chassis.
Usually they are three years old off lease.