Have you ever gone to buy a product and you were told that the secondhand of the product is better than the new one? And sometimes, it could be true! But can we say the same for laptops?
Let’s leave that question for another day.
The term ‘fairly used’ doesn’t guarantee that it was actually fairly used. It is just a sweeter way of saying second-hand.
Sometimes, it could be that the ‘fairly used’ laptop is giving the owner a lot of headache and they want to lay it off to the next available victim before it damages beyond repair. While there is no sure way to guarantee if a laptop is actually fairly used, there are some precautions you can take before paying for a fairly used laptop anywhere.
Here they are:
- Check the age of the system.
A good place to start is to check the how old the laptop is. This will give you an idea of how long the laptop has been in use and will also enable you estimate how long you could possibly use it.
A quicker way to do this is to check the nameplate under the laptop. But if the nameplate has been removed (which could be a sign), or the manufacturing date is not on the nameplate (some manufacturers don’t include this on the nameplate), there is another way you can check the age of the laptop.
You can do this by checking the BIOS installation date. The BIOS software is normally installed when the computer is ready for use so this can be a good indication of when the system was manufactured.
To check manufacturing date using BIOS installation date, hold the windows button and press “R” (that is Win+R) to open the Run dialog windows and type ‘msinfo32’ (without the quote), and click “OK” or press “Enter” to see the system information.
Look for the “BIOS Version/Date” in the next window after clicking OK to get the BIOS installation date.
- Check to see if the windows version is activated.
Some people are so bad with formatting a system that they even fail to activate the windows after formatting. This is also a way of knowing if a system has been formatted and how well it was formatted.
If a window is not activated, you will most likely experience a lot of problem while using it. If this is the case, you may want to tell the seller to put the system in order before paying.
To check if the windows version is active: right-click on “This PC or My Computer” and select properties. Then scroll down to see the windows status.
- Check the drivers.
A lot of things come with formatting a system. Formatting a system can also remove some of the drivers, that’s why it is a good practice to ‘drive’ the system after formatting.
If some of the drivers are missing, you will experience some problem when doing something that requires those drivers. The missing driver could be video card, audio card or anything else.
To check this, right-click on “This PC”, select properties and click on “Device Manager”. Inspect the drivers to see if there are any with warning signs.
Check the keys on the keyboard and the battery life.
This one thing that can go unnoticed and many people don’t remember to do this.
Quickly open any writing software like note pad and type all the laptop keys to see if they are all working. While you’re doing this, observe how well the laptops battery last when not plugged in.
- Check the status of the Hard disk.
A hard disk is an essential part of a laptop and can cost a lot to replace. You wouldn’t want to buy a laptop with a bad hard disk, would you?
To check the status of the hard disk: Open “This PC or My Computer”; right-click on the hard disk and select properties; then click on “Hardware” on the next window and check the “Device status”.
- What warranty is the seller giving?
If the seller is sure of what they are selling, they should be able to offer some sort of warranty. That is another way to know if the laptop is actually fairly used or unfairly used laptop.
Final Words
Sometime it becomes necessary to buy a fairly used product and laptops are not exempted. Maybe because of budget or because you found a good deal or maybe because of some other reasons. But a lot of risks come with ‘fairly used’ gadgets.
You can better still go for refurbished laptops online, with some Gearbest discount coupon; you can get good deals on refurbished gadgets with good warranty. What and what do you check when buying a fairly used laptop? How do you check if the fairly used laptop is genuine?
Guest article written by: Henry is a tech enthusiast and columnist in top tech blogs, loves to try out and review all kinds of gadgets. He blogs at i Use Coupon.