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Our
Service Policy
: No Cure, No Charge For Chip Level Servicing of Laptops : call 9037730723 / 9447077370 |
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Buying Used LaptopsA few points to ensure that you get your money's worth while buying a used laptop.1. Check out the current market for new laptops : Laptop prices are falling all the time. It is best to know the lowest you have to pay to get a new laptop when bargaining for an old one. The new one will come with added advantages not available with the used one, which in monetary terms could be worth a few thousand. 2. Physically Check the device : Scratches are normal and par for the course. But, cracks are more than cosmetic, and could indicate a rough history. Areas to look for cracks (besides the top cover and keypad area) - the screen hinges, the back side of the laptop, the bottom of the laptop, near the battery compartment. Some cracks are more problematic than others - cracks near the hinges could indicate broken screws which can act up later since this is a pressure point. 3. Look for repair marks : this usually shows up as stickers for the repair shop, or missing screws, or prising marks between ridges. It is good to learn why the laptop was serviced. 4. Stickers, lables or grafitti : These could be used to mask defects, and it is safer to get a laptop without these artistic expressions. 5. Component testing : For this you need to carry along a diagnostic software like AIDA, it's free and can be run without installation on any machine with Windows. AIDA will show you a summary of the system, and also contains diagnostic tools to check different components. Another option is to get the Ultimate Boot CD prepared. This option does not rely on the laptop's OS and can be used on any machine that allows booting off the CD. It also contains many diagnostic software. In this light it is worth noting that it is prudent to handle laptops that already have a familiar OS installed. Laptops that either do not have an OS installed or have exotic OSs installed should be approached with extreme alertness. Insisting that the seller have a completely operational system (with OS and proper drivers installed, and all systems enabled) to test is a good idea. Things to check for : RAM defects - use Memtest, Hard disk bad sectors - chkdsk in Windows, Main subsystems - VGA, Audio, LAN, Modem, This can be checked through AIDA, if they are being detected, they are good to go. Additional features - Webcam, Fingerprint scanner etc can be tested only by using/running them. Optical Drive - It would be advisable to carry along different optical media as well to test the reading/writing capabilities of the drive. For reading tests, it is best to use a retail/original media and not one that has been burnt by the user since older drives need not be able to read media written at high speeds. Sockets/Ports - USB. Audio/Mic, Firewire etc can be tested only by plugging in the respective device. LCD - To check for dead pixels on the LCD, look for spots that remain stuck in the same colour even as the background colour is changed. Major LCD defects are easily noticeable. Keyboards - can be tested by depressing every key and viewing output in Notepad/command line. Touchpad/trackpoint - their sensitivity also should be tested. Battery Backup - this is a tricky area and the only way to be completely sure of the backup duration is to fully charge and discharge the battery. You can get a rough idea of the backup duration by doing a rough ratio-proportion calculation ; take out the mains, and check the battery status and the time, then go about testing the laptop, and after a fixed interval - 10 mins or so, recheck the battery status. The drop in capacity should be extrapolated to 100% to get the proportional max backup duration. This is a rough estimate, and battery life will vary depending on the workload, LCD brightness, Optical drive use etc. 6. Bundled goodies - Laptop Bag, original OS and software CDs are valuable. Drivers can be downloaded from the net, but if the laptop is particularly old, getting them need not be an easy job. Ideally we would recommend getting a used laptop with some return clause built in, since the true picture of the laptop's condition will only emerge after using the device for an extended period over a day or so, something that may not be possible in the pre pruchase testing phase. |