swellmomma Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I am looking at buying a couple of refurbished computers, but have no clue what counts as a good computer. I have a couple in mind and will post their details in a moment but I will fill in what I need them for first. I am looking for one for ds11, it will be used to do SOS cd-roms for school next year as well as for things like minecraft, scratch programming etc. The other will be for me. Mine will primarily for me to do my own school work on, facebook, forums, general type stuff. The requirements for SOS for ds are: System RequirementsMinimum Requirements: Windows XP Service Pack 3 Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 or higher 1 GHz or higher processor 512 MB Memory (RAM) Optimal Performance: Windows 7,8, & 8.1 Dual core processor 4 GB Memory (RAM) (2GB for 32-bit) 10 GB hard drive space 4 GB Memory (RAM) (2GB for 32-bit) Okay so here are the laptops I am trying to decide between. WOuld either of these do what I need them to for ds? Do they seem like decent ones? 1) Dell Latitude Refurbished Laptop (E4310), 14", 2.4 GHz Core i5, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Windows 7 Home, English PRODUCT DETAILS 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 520M 4 GB DDR3 Memory 250GB SATA Hard Drive DVD- Burner 13.3" WLED Anti-Glare LED Display Intel HD Graphics 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet, WIFI (802.11 a/g/n) Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (Reseller license) Network connector (RJ-45) USB 2.0 (1), eSATA/USB 2.0 Combo (1) Headphone/speaker out/Microphone in combo (1) 7-in-1 card reader, 34 mm ExpressCard, SmartCard Reader Docking Connector VGA 65 Watt or 90W AC Adapter English 2) HP Elitebook Refurbished Laptop (8440P), 14", 2.4gGHz Core i5 520M, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, DVDRW Windows 7 Professional, English PRODUCT DETAILS Processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 520M RAM: 4 GB DDR3 Memory Hard disk drive: 250GB SATA Hard Drive Optical drive: DVD- Burner Screen type: 14" LED backlit HD Anti-Glare Screen Graphics card: Intel HD Graphics WLAN card: 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet, WIFI (802.11 a/g/n) Operating system: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (Reseller license) Available ports: Network connector (RJ-45); USB 2.0 (4) – 1 USB/eSATA combo; Stereo headphone/Microphone combo jack, Memory card reader, 54 mm ExpressCard, 1394, Docking Connector, VGA Power: 65 Watt or 90W AC Adapter Available ports: Network connector (RJ-45); USB 2.0 (4) – 1 USB/eSATA combo; Stereo headphone/Microphone combo jack, Memory card reader, 54 mm ExpressCard, 1394, Docking Connector, VGA Thanks for the feedback guys. I am totally clueless with what I need. Last time I bought a computer was my desktop 7 years ago and I had a salesperson help me out. The refurbished ones I am looking at I can only order online from the store so I don't have a salesperson to ask. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 During the past 16 months, our family has purchased three (3) Refurbished Dell Latitude E6400 laptops from Blair Technology Group, which is in Covington, KY, USA. The first 2, we bought on Amazon (Blairtg), but now I know that they sell the vast majority of their stock on eBay and the 3rd one, we bought from an eBay listing. Blairtg on eBay. They also sell on their own web site, http://blairtg.com/ Blair is a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher and the units they sell are Enterprise (corporate) models that are off lease. They have a one year warranty on everything but laptop batteries. The first time you turn it on, you will have the same OOBE (Out of Box Experience) as you would if you had purchased a brand new box from Dell or another manufacturer. You have a license for a legal copy of Microsoft Windows, on a box purchased from Blair with a valid code for the license, when you activate Windows, during the OOBE. We are VERY happy with the 3 laptops we have purchased from Blair Technology group and will probably buy more from them in the future. We have been VERY lucky and all 3 of the laptops have had better hardware configurations than what was in the listings. That may or may not be the case for you, or, for us in the future. The Latitude E6400 is an Enterprise (Corporate) model and probably has higher quality components and design than Consumer grade models. Tons of them were built and spare parts are readily available. They are easy to service. None of the units we have have required service so far. The Dell Latitude E4310 you referenced, after Googling, seems to have a 13.3 inch display and to be a thin notebook. The E6400s that we have have a 14.1 inch display and I would not consider them to be thin. The E4310 seems to have an Intel i5 CPU which I suspect is a later model CPU than what we have in our E6400s. Whatever you go with, I would suggest 4 GB of RAM (Memory) which is what our laptops have. The first 2 laptops we bought from Blair (this one and the one my wife uses) have Windows 7 on them. The most recent one (for DD) has Windows 8.1 on it. They all work without issues. The majority of our experience is with Dell and I am accustomed to their Support web site, etc. Regarding the other model you mentioned, an HP, many years ago, I won a Compaq EVO Desktop PC in a raffle. Some years later, I believe the PSU (Power Supply) died and that it was proprietary I posted in the appropriate HP/Compaq Support forum, but nobody, not a customer, not an HP employee, replied to me. I am certain that had it been a Dell someone would have replied and that I would have gotten the information I needed, That box went to recycle and based on that one experience, I personally will not buy anything from HP/Compaq. Good product, but no support. That particular model was an Enterprise model, which makes the lack of support even worse. Whatever you go with, I hope you will be very happy! GL ETA: The majority of the Dell Latitude E6400 laptops (the model we have 3 of) have a DVD-ROM (Reader) not a Burner. I think possibly the one we got recently for DD may have a DVD Burner in it. It has some options that cost $$$$ when the corporate customer ordered it, and we were lucky to get it. If you buy a model without a DVD Burner in it, you can buy an External USB Samsung DVD Burner for $30 or less, depending on the model. I think the one I bought was $30 but that a less expensive Samsung Burner is also available. The E6400 has a DisplayPort for video. I bought a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter on eBay and that works fine for connecting wtih an HDMI cable to our Samsung SMART TV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I am not fond of Dwll computers, as my current one has had to be rebuilt twice in the last six months. We have an HP elitebook, and it is a workhorse. Love it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 Thanks you 2.. So that is 1 vote for each lol It might be one of those times that I just take a leap of faith and hope for the best in ordering :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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