Reconditioned desktop PC

[runboy]

Looking to buy a reconditioned desktop PC for about £150ish - any pointers or reasons why it's a really bad idea? The units I've been looking at are i5/8gb ram/SSD/WIN10 and only needed for home use but I wondered if they have a habit of expiring having been used in an office and getting daily abuse.

[grumbledoak]

runboy said:

Looking to buy a reconditioned desktop PC for about £150ish - any pointers or reasons why it's a really bad idea? ...

No, not really. Used business PCs are pretty good value for money. You can even usually get a little graphics card into them for some gaming.

You can get them through Amazon

[AlexC1981]

For longevity, get one that will run Windows 11. Unlike all previous editions of Windows which will support any PC that is powerful enough to run it, Windows 11 has specific requirements only found on fairly new processors.

[Captain_Morgan]

runboy said:

Looking to buy a reconditioned desktop PC for about £150ish - any pointers or reasons why it's a really bad idea? The units I've been looking at are i5/8gb ram/SSD/WIN10 and only needed for home use but I wondered if they have a habit of expiring having been used in an office and getting daily abuse.

Not all i5’s are equal, it needs to be gen 6-7 to run win11

[mikey_b]

Captain_Morgan said:

runboy said:

Looking to buy a reconditioned desktop PC for about £150ish - any pointers or reasons why it's a really bad idea? The units I've been looking at are i5/8gb ram/SSD/WIN10 and only needed for home use but I wondered if they have a habit of expiring having been used in an office and getting daily abuse.

Not all i5’s are equal, it needs to be gen 6-7 to run win11

Indeed. Think of i3, i5, i7 etc as being the similarly numbered BMW cars. They come in a series of generations, and spec levels within those generations, just like the cars come with different engines etc. You need a bit more detail to tell whether they are sufficiently modern to give you a bit of futureproofing.

Other than that, no, there is no reason not to buy one. Unless you're into gaming or other heavy graphics work, PCs have been way ahead of what you need for general office type work for years now.

[buggalugs]

As above be aware of the age of the unit - people flog off 10 year old units with a dodgy copy of 11 on them.

[Hazuki]

Captain_Morgan said:

Not all i5’s are equal, it needs to be gen 6-7 to run win11

Not entirely, as I have a i5-7500 (7th Gen) in one of my laptops but it doesn't meet the Win 11 criteria, despite also having VPro. You can find if your processor supports Win 11 here https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-hardware...

However, I wouldn't make Windows 11 a deal breaker. Win 10 will be in support until 2025/2026 with a potential for extended support thereafter, and Win 11 compliant machines will be cheaper around that time too.

To the OP, I highly recommend used Dell Optiplex Business units which could be had for your budget. Just keep in mind that the Motherboards/Power Supplies in these machines are bespoke, so there will be limited upgrade options other than the standard RAM/HDD.

[sutoka]

buggalugs said:

As above be aware of the age of the unit - people flog off 10 year old units with a dodgy copy of 11 on them.

I sold a HP desktop to a woman on Gumtree for £80 about 6 years ago which had Windows 8 but came with a Beta of Win 10 .She actually phoned the police and reported I'd sold her counterfeit goods

I had the duty sergeant phone me and he was laughing they'd even taken a statement and gave her a crime reference number at the desk

[LunarOne]

I'm an IT pro and use a 2008 Mac Pro ancient 2.8GHz Xeon processor and a 2012 Lenovo Thinkpad T420 (2nd Gen i5-2520M, 2.5GHz) as my personal machines. Both have 16GB RAM and an SSD, and I got both of them used, albeit free via industry connections. Neither of them can run Windows 11, but I don't see that as a showstopper whatsoever. Neither are any good for gaming either, but I don't play games. They are both very reliable and the only time I'd have a new machine is if someone else were paying for it.

Computers, especially business computers that use enterprise-grade hardware and aren't overclocked or otherwise fiddled with, don't tend to die randomly, apart from the hard drives. Treat hard disks (both mechanical and SSD) as consumables and make regular backups and you should be fine.

[jonwm]

My last few laptops have all been ex business HP elitebooks, althought 3 to 4 years old they still all perform really well.

I tend to install new SSD, more ram and pay someone to replace the bios chip as rhey all seem to be bios locked (you can still use them, just not change bios features)

I can't see me ever buying a new laptop from Currys

[runboy]

Thanks all, I pulled the trigger on a HP Elite G2 with 6th Gen i5, 16GB ram and SSD for under £140 delivered. Let's see how it goes.

[AlexC1981]

That sounds ideal for basic home use.

If the power supply fails, you may need to get an HP one as a standard power supply may not fit or have the right motherboard connections.

You've got 2.5 years left of Windows 10 updates. Windows 11 will not officially install or support that PC, however it is pretty easy to get around that. I have Windows 11 running no problem on older PCs than yours and still receiving updates. Bear in mind that Microsoft could stop this if they want.

[paul.deitch]

If I got one of those could I just move my existing SSD into it and not have to install anything? Well, aprt from drivers...

[Funk]

paul.deitch said:

If I got one of those could I just move my existing SSD into it and not have to install anything? Well, aprt from drivers...

Technically yes, but no - it would possibly deactivate the Windows install as it would detect all the hardware had changed.

[grumbledoak]

paul.deitch said:

If I got one of those could I just move my existing SSD into it and not have to install anything? Well, aprt from drivers...

Almost certainly plug and play.

You can even "sysprep" the drive to prepare it for the move,
https://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-swap-windows-drives...

[Cupid-stunt]

My MiL wants a new desktop and the idea of refurbished sounds good.
If only I knew which one to go for.....

Will be used for basic surfing, documents and video calls.
Any more literate IT bods that have suggestions / links would be greatly appreciated

To add, she has an ipad for most day to day uses, but wants a more storage capable machine to hold files etc.

[julianm]

I can personally vouch for Airedale computers - https://www.airedalecomputerrecycling.co.uk/produc...
I've had various PC`s & laptops from them for around 15 years & they have been excellent. They also do a lot of training for youngsters to build up a career.
They have an Ebay shop as well.

[Brother D]

I'd say get a Dell optiplex, but you might find it hard to get something that will run Win11 at that price tbh. These are the ones that can run it if you want to look on ebay:

OptiPlex 3060
OptiPlex 3070
OptiPlex 3080
OptiPlex 3090 Ultra
OptiPlex 3280 All-in-One
OptiPlex 5060
OptiPlex 5070
OptiPlex 5080
OptiPlex 5090
OptiPlex 5260 All-in-One
OptiPlex 5270 All-in-One
OptiPlex 5480 All-in-One
OptiPlex 5490 All-in-One
OptiPlex 7060
OptiPlex 7070
OptiPlex 7070 Ultra
OptiPlex 7071
OptiPlex 7080
OptiPlex 7090
OptiPlex 7090 Ultra
OptiPlex 7460 All-in-One
OptiPlex 7470 All-in-One
OptiPlex 7480 All-in-One
OptiPlex 7490 All-in-One
OptiPlex 7760 All-in-One
OptiPlex 7770 All-in-One
OptiPlex 7780 All-in-One
OptiPlex XE3

(I run HP workstations personally), but for the couple of small-biz I support I've always just installed 2nd hand optiplex units and just upgraded with an SSD if they don't have one already.

[C G]

It'll run Windows 11. You can bypass the minimum requirements. Just done it on my old Dell Optiplex 7010. I bought that two and a half years ago for £80 and spent the same again on an SSD and more RAM. Still working perfectly for browsing and photo editing use.

[deanobeano]

Have you considered a new mini PC?

Win 11 already installed. N5105 processor would be fine for basic office stuff. 8 Gig RAM, 256 SSD and a spare SSD caddy. Dual HDMI.

5-10 watts in operation, so low energy use. Quiet.

I paid £140.

Example here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7WNRYZ8/ref=redir_m...