Things You'll Need:
- Internet connection
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Step 1
Before you buy a computer, you need to understand how much power you need in your computer and how much you will need three or four years from now. Every year new computer applications that come out require more power from your computer. In this respect you need to consider four things: the processor, memory, hard drive, and operating system.
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Step 2
The recommendations we're making here are based on a computer used primarily for things like word processing and surfing the Internet. If you want to do a lot of gaming on your computer, you will need more power.
For your computer to be working efficiently with applications that will be coming out in the next three or four years, your processor should have a speed of at least 2.0 gigahertz. (That is, 2 billion processes per second.) You can get by with a slower processor now, but you will need more speed in applications that will be coming along.
You will want at least 2 gigabytes of memory. (A byte is one letter, one space, or one punctuation mark in a document. Two gigabytes would be 2 billion bytes.) You need memory not just for the documents you're working on, but also for the applications that are open. If you have more than one application going at once, such as word processing and the Internet, you need a lot of memory.)
The hard drive is where everything is stored: the operation system, the applications, pictures, documents, etc. New computers are coming out with 320 gigabyte hard drives. If you are not storing a lot of videos on your computer, you probably won't need that much space on your hard drive. Pictures and music also take up a lot of hard drive space. If you don't have too many of those, you should be able to get by with an 80-gigabyte hard drive.
The operating system is a huge program that makes everything work. You will want a fairly up-to-date system. That means Windows XP or Windows Vista. Anything older than those are already out of date. Microsoft Windows' newest system, Windows Seven, is expected out in the fall of 2009. -
Step 3
Once you have a good idea of what you want in a computer, you can begin to look at refurbished computers. Refurbished computers are machines that have been returned or traded in. They have been cleaned of any files. Components that are not working properly have been replaced. They usually come with a one-month guarantee, but you can buy an extended guarantee if you wish. You can also have the machine upgraded by having more memory added, for example.
The least expensive refurbished machines are at computer repair shops. You can also find them online. The prices generally run from less than $100 to about $200.
You can get a computer with a little more power by getting an off-lease machine. These are usually typically computers that have been leased to business for a couple of years. You can buy these for a fraction of what they cost new. These can be found on the Internet, and the prices generally go from about $200 to $300.
The most up-to-date computers are those that have been returned to the manufacturer or used as floor models. These are like-new models, most of them have had very little use. They have been checked over and guaranteed to be in good working condition. They sell for about $300 on up. You can find these on the Internet and at computer manufacturers' web sites.
