10 things to check when buying a London used laptop.

Do you want to know what to check when buying a fairly used laptop? If yes follow our step to step guide in this article. It’s an undeniable fact that cheap but good laptops of a reputable brand are expensive in nature and not all of us can afford that. However, we cannot compromise with a lower RAM, lower speed, unattractive screen, or display. So what’s the solution to get an affordable laptop with great features? The answer to that question is simple. Purchase a “Used laptop.” First thing to do when buying a used laptop. You need to first define the purpose for the laptop, let me make it clear, the properties of any laptop needed by a graphic designer, web designer, UI/UX designer, architectural designer, gaming, app develop, programmers might vary from what a student or a someone who runs a cyber café business might need. So, the first thing is to know the purpose of which you need the laptop for. However, buying a quality laptop should be your major consideration no matter the purpose.

What to check when buying used laptop?

• System brand
• System type
• RAM capacity
• Check HDD OR SSD Health and capacity
• Processor speed
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• Battery
• Testing Keyboard and Track pad
• Screen
• USB Ports/other Ports

Let’s look at each of them one after the other.

1. System brand

Buying any laptop, you need to first ask yourself what brand will be suitable for my work. Of all the system brands, I highly recommend HP laptops, Again, when choosing any laptop brand, you should be in mind the cons and pros of the laptop brand and also the hardware parts availability including the chargers and batteries.

Top laptop brands:

1. System type

System type has to do with the bit of the operating system. There are two bit of operating system commonly seen in laptops 32-bit and 64-bit the question now what are the differences and which one do I need? Well, it all depends on the purpose of which you need the laptop for as I mentioned early. For a graphic designer, web designer, UI/UX designer, architectural designer, app develop, programmers I highly recommend 64-bit operating system. However no matter the purpose for the laptop you can decide to go for 64-bit. If you want to check the bit your system, follow the steps bellow:

Option 1.

• Use Window + Fn + SysReq.

Option 2.

• Step 1. Click on file explorer.
• Step 2. Navigate to THIS PC.
• Step 3. Right click on it.
• Step 4. Click on properties.

Option 3.

• Step 1. Search control panel, click on it.
• Step 2. Click on system and security.
• Step 3. Click on system.

If you follow any of the steps above you should see this:

1. RAM capacity

RAM is responsible for “helping” the processor in its operations, so that it “holds”, for memory purposes, all the instructions and data that the processor needs to use when running a program. The more your RAM capacity, the more work you can do simultaneously on your system. There are RAM ranging from 1G, 2G, 4G, 8G, 16G, 32G etc. Although Windows 10 has a minimum specification of 1GB of RAM to operate, you don’t want anything less than 4GB of RAM. It will make the system sluggish and keep your hard drive working away unnecessarily. It’s unlikely that you will find a computer with less than 4Gb, but if you do and you are interested in the computer, go and look up how much replacement RAM modules will cost. Some older RAM modules can be expensive. See How much RAM do I need for a laptop? for the rightful choice of RAM.

HOW TO CHECK YOUR LAPTOP RAM CAPACITY

Follow any of the option1, 2 or 3 above. see image:

1. Check HDD OR SSD Health and capacity:

A computer contains either a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD) as storage medium. Every hard drive dies eventually, and when it's near death, you'll see the signs. Strange noises, corrupted files, crashing during boot, and glacial transfer speeds all point to the inevitable end. This is normal, especially if your drive is more than a few years old. On older spinning drives, moving parts like the motor can degrade over time, or the drives' magnetic sectors can go bad. Newer solid-state drives (SSDs) don't have moving parts, but their storage cells degrade a little bit every time you write to them, meaning they too will eventually fail (though SSD reliability is much better than it used to be). Run a proper check on the health and check the HDD or SSD capacity following the simple step below:

• Step 1. Go to window file explorer.
• Step 2. Right click on local disk.
• Step 3. Go to properties.

1. Processor speed

Nothing interests me so much like using a device with a high speed. Am sure nobody wants to use a laptop that is fucking slow. This is the reason why you need to also per attention to the processor speed. Check if it is the actual processor speed on sticker of the laptop that is exactly what is in the inside property How do I check my laptop processor speed>/b> follow the steps above to the properties you will see the processor type and the speed in one line. You may also like to run some applications right there and if it takes a long time for a device to load the application and carry out a simple operation, there is a reason to be concerned.

1. Wi-Fi connectivity

Most challenges that people encounter when buying a used laptop is Wi-Fi and network connectivity issues. So right there before you pay for the laptop try connecting to Wi-Fi, modem and Bluetooth to ensure its properly connecting and having access to the internet. If you are encountering any challenge in accessing the internet check Wi-Fi and network connectivity issues and their possible fix

1. Battery

This is the most crucial part of it because no matter how good your laptop is if the battery does not last then it is as good as not having at all. Therefore you have run a proper check on the battery life. How will I do that? Ask a seller about battery life. After you get the answer and are satisfied, turn on a laptop and leave it working during your conversation. It probably won’t take much time, but if a seller has lied about battery life, it may start going off faster than needed. You may also agree with the seller to give you some times to properly use the laptop. Charge it and be sure that it lasts for you before making any payment.

1. Testing Keyboard and Track pad

Testing Keyboard and Track pad: Try the Keyboard Tester which is online and absolutely free. Find out which keys of the keyboard on the laptop work fine and which don’t. The Free Online Keyboard Tester helps you find out the health of your Keyboard in a matter of seconds. You want to know the best part? You don’t need to study or be an engineer for doing that. There is no complicated steps to follow for checking your keyboard. Find out the simple steps below and help yourself to be the house technician. You can also run so checks on your own by entering some keys in Search bar on word applications like MSWORD to ensure all the keys are working properly.

1. Screen and Display type

Check the laptop’s screen properly, and don’t go for a screen with uneven brightness or contrast. Also, check for the pixels, if you find white spots on your screen, it can be a result of dead pixels, so kindly don’t buy that product. A laptop with dead or stuck pixels can destroy the picture quality. HOW TO CHECK DEAD PIXELS To check, you want to get online and look for tools that can find dead pixels. Check Pixels and Dead Pixels Test are great examples of these tools. Remember, when you test your screen for dead pixels on a browser, press F11 to enter full-screen mode. General SCREEN CHECKUP Try to play a little bit with brightness and contrast levels, to adjust the screen to different conditions. If you are not sure any content left on a laptop, bring a USB flash drive, it will be helpful with checking inputs, too.

1. USB Ports/other Ports

Plug devices such as flash drive, earpiece, printer, microphone, to the ports and ensure they are working perfectly. Determine the version of USB ports on your computer Many computer manufacturers do not clearly mark USB port versions. Use the Device Manager to determine if your computer has USB 1.1, 2.0, or 3.0 ports:

• Step 1. Open the Device Manager.
• Step2. In the "Device Manager" window, click the + (plus sign) next to Universal Serial Bus controllers. You will see a list of the USB ports installed on your computer.

• If your USB port name contains "Universal Host", your port is version 1.1.
• If the port name contains both "Universal Host" and "Enhanced Host", your port is version 2.0.
• If the port name contains "USB 3.0", your port is version 3.0.

Conclusion: I realize that there may be many reasons why a second-hand computer would make sense. But, it may be wiser to have a look online at some computer prices. An entry-level new computer could last you a few years. You will have a warranty and someone to call if something isn’t running right. Just weigh up the risk vs the cost and think carefully. If this article is helpful to you share it using the share button below.