Used Laptop Computer: Get The Basics Right

by Jérôme Dufresnes

With the economy taking a turn for the worse, buying a used cheap laptop makes more sense than ever. Most of us do not need the latest and greatest in terms of computing power. If you're a not a hardcore gamer, you would do well to check the second hand market to pick up a used laptop computer. Let's face it today's notebooks are no slouch and even the ones that are a few years old are more than up to par for 99% of what we do. Knowing this, how do you go about choosing the best used laptop for sale? It's not hard but you have to know a few things that we will discuss below.

First off, you have to take the operating system, the OS, into consideration. Windows is used on more than 90% of computers worldwide. Right now, Windows has two OS largely in use: Windows XP and Windows Vista. Windows Vista is Miscrosoft's latest OS while you can still find plenty of cheap used laptops running XP. And this may not be a bad thing as many think Windows XP is still a better OS than Vista so keep that in mind when shopping for a used notebook laptop. In any case you can always do a fresh install and change the OS if you want.

Another thing to take into consideration is the amount of RAM memory that comes with your used laptop pc .Basically the rule here is: the more the better. RAM memory plays en important part in the speed at which your computer handles tasks and to the overall feeling of speed from your used laptop. These days, try to go with 1Go and more although you can still do with 512Mo. However if you run Windows Vista, it is recommended that your used notebook has 1Go, no less. RAM is important when multitasking and it plays a bigger role in this case than a more powerful processor. Thankfully, RAM is cheaper too. If you feel your cheap used laptop is a tad sluggish, pop in an additional 1Go of RAM an watch the improvement.

These days Dual Core processors are popular although by no means do you need a monster of a processor to enjoy a good computing experience. Plenty of used laptops feature single core processors that are still more than fast enough for things like email, Internet surfing, home office tasks and the like. In conclusion, know your needs and get a used laptop computer that fits that need. Used laptops make it possible to get a decent machine at a fraction of the price, and these days, we need all the pennies we can muster.