Is it smarter to buy a used computer or a refurbished computer, or a new motherboard?

Ok, ditch the old one, find a computer repair store. You could go to geek squad in Best Buy, but they wil probably charge you substantially more than a local repair shop. I think there base price is like, $40 an hour? Ridiculous. As far as the computer needing a new motherboard, unless it's brand new, right out of the factory (would someone give away a brand new computer?) a mother board will probably be pretty cheap. Maybe, $50 or less? The problem is it has to be compatible with the processor and the graphics card and everything else, however I'm sure a professional would have no problem finding a match at a good price. Then again, how do you know if the rest of the parts are okay? Maybe it's lacking enough memory, too. I would suggest buying a used, but fairly new computer, maybe locally off of craigslist.

One of the other people said buying a used one would be a horrible decision, but I disagree. There are lots of people selling decent computers that they don't want anymore. However, there's alot of garbage floating around out there too. Here's a few things to look for, and make sure you ask anyone you might buy from.

1. Windows XP. You DO NOT want Windows 98 or ME. 98 is too old, and ME is the worst operating system ever built. I know from years of fighting with it. Anything running Vista is probably going to be more expensive, plus Vista requires ALOT of memory, which is also going to shoot the price up even more.

2. Enough memory. You want 2 gigabytes of memory. You can run it with only 1 gigabyte (NO LESS than 1 though) but if you want good enough performance, your gonna want 2 gigabytes.

These are the most important things, in my opinion. Keep these specs in mind if buying a refurbished computer too. When considering used vs. refurbished, there's good and bad both ways.

If you buy used:

When your dealing with computers running Windows, you often run into a problem called "bit-rot". Basically after 1 year or so, Windows gets kind of wiggy. The computer runs very slow, and you will often get a number of different errors at any given time. It can be because you installed a really old program, or got a virus, all kinds of things. My dad pointed out that this may happen to people, they don't know what's going on, and think "Oh no, my computer's broken, I'm gonna sell it and get a new one". Needless to say, someone like you tries to buy this computer and things are not working right from the get-go. It is for this reason I suggest that if you buy used, the first thing you should do is re-install Windows. If you don't know how, have a professional do it. Ask the seller if they have the original XP restore discs they received when they bought the computer. If not, you'll probably have to pay for a new XP license and the labor to install it, but it's worth it.

If you buy refurbished:

You won't have to worry about Windows, as a new version will have been installed in the factory. However, there is always a possibility that the computer was not repaired right, or had multiple things broken that never got noticed. As long as it comes with a warranty, you should be fine. Find out what the warranty covers, and don't buy one "as-is".

I wouldn't try to fix the computer you already own, there could be more problems with it, which means more time and money. Whether buying used or refurbished, as long as you stick to the specifications, you should be fine. I wouldn't worry about the graphics card, any integrated one should be fine, don't let them sell you on anything fancy. Also, are you thinking a laptop or desktop? It won't make a huge difference, but remember if it's a desktop you'll need to buy a monitor, keyboard, and speakers, too.

Well, good luck in your search, and if you have ANY further questions feel free to contact me! ;D

P.S. I'll send you an email with my email address and an answer to the other Mario question.

Any computer can be a disaster zone if you don't know enough about them, even a new one. I have had PCs for about 20 yrs and laptops almost 8 and have never bought a new one. The closest to new was an open box system who's HDD was wiped clean and needed the OS, programs, and drives installed.After a few hours setting it up it is as good as new.Saved myself $1500 off the best buy price(velocity E2250). Most problems are caused by operating system corruption and not hardware failure. In other words keep backups of the files you want to keep, learn how to do a system recovery, keep all program and OS discs in a safe place, so everything can be reinstalled if you have a crash. Even if you have hardware failure most are fairly easy fixes. motherboard and cpu being the most difficult. Everything else only has a couple screws or just snaps in and out.

*Don't* go for fixing the motherboard. It'll cost you as much as the computer did, if you can find a new motherboard that fits that computer. The best thing to do is buy a refurbished computer. Anything used will be horrible, even if it is almost new. However, refurbished computers are almost always new except for a couple of scratches or something. And they can be up to 50% cheaper. It's like going to an outlet store- no problem but a few loose stitches, and yet it can't be sold as new. So that's my opinion- go for refurbished.

I would buy a new computer, Upgrading a motherboard might not be the only problem with that computer, and a refurbished might not last as long as a new computer. I just recently bought a refurbished netbook for cheap, if it has a nice warranty you can try the refurbished. But stay away from the motherboard, could cost 300+ dollars to get that fixed, and it's just not worth the trouble.

Motherboards shouldn't be that expensive, and would probably be your cheapest bet.

However I don't condone a furbished laptop. My mom recently bought one and its really not the best. Of course it could just be the brand. If you do go for a refurbished one then try to find a Toshiba or ASUS brand.

Also for your old computer it might actually be worth it to try and up the ram if it its that old [windows xp and up] If it's operation system is anything older then XP then it's probably a lost cause.

Now i'm not to sure if they will do it, but you should try to take that computer that was given to you, and go to best buy. Talk to someone either on geek squad or another worker their. They will know what to do, and how to help you.

I also highly condone and ASUS motherboard.

My parents just bought a refurbished Toshiba laptop, and I think they paid a little over $300 for it? I just bought a brand new compaq laptop from bestbuy and it cost me almost $500. From what I understand, the motherboard is going to cost almost as much as the computer itself...so it would be better for you just to buy a used one. Have you checked craigslist? You can find some really good deals out there. I sold an older laptop (that could have performed all the functions you want) for $240.....about a month ago.

Ok so you have two desktops. You can pull the model number on the motherboard to find the specs online for the one that's shot and find a comparable one for 50-60 bucks on eBay. Then take all the parts and drives you can use to upgrade the better system (if that happens to be the one that is shot). If you have a system that has a processor less than 2ghz I would recommend if your feeling up to it getting your hands dirty so to speak, a bare bones system.( click first link for an example of a bare bones system on ebay) You can get dual core processor 2.8ghz, motherboard, power supply then you can use the best two DVD w/r or CD w/r from either machine use both hard drives (dont forget to mark one as a slave drive see back of hd) and the only other thing you will need to do is get ram for the system. So for 250 + 39-50 for ram plus all your existing parts you can have a new computer that has some power to it. Two other places to look frys or newegg for bare bone systems and you can get the individual parts. If you are willing to get your hands dirty so to speak and touch the machine to release static electricity you can save big bucks putting the machine together yourself and save some of your other parts. I actually just did research and bought a 1terrabit HD, 3.4ghz dual core Intel, ASUS motherboard and 4g of ram, power suply and a video card on ebay and a case from new egg and build this monster for 550.00. So its up to you, if you feel savvy and want to match up all the different specs thats an option. I know I have a huge response for your question, it just depends on what you want and how much you want to spend.

ill start my answer with a story some key stuff

motherboard= electric eye that reads gamecube game disc

gamecube=newer comp and suck comp.

ok so i all ways played my sons gamecube when he at school and i played cod (call of duty) and one day it was like poof reading disc disc not found the electric eye burnt out i took it to best buy radio shack and game stop i asked them the cheapest way to get it fixed they all said "BUY A NEW GAMECUBE" SO I BOUGHT A PS3 CAUSE THEY JUST CAME OUT THE END

the story was a metaphor so now the straight answer a refurbished comp is sometimes made better then the original cause they put a more better motherboard more memory storage or or a new screen wich jacks the price up my advice is to buy a new one at sams club they have good prices and good selection :)

honestly, best way to do it is to build one yourself or to get a tech-savvy mate to build it for ya - or a pc store. if u already have all the peripherals - monitor, keyboard, mouse etc etc, then this path turns out generally about $400 cheaper . and no - the motherboard will not cost as much as a new computer. a normal price motherboard wont be that much for what ur looking for, but you would have to find one compatible with all the stuff already in the tower, which is trying if u don't know too much about it. try out newegg.com - good pc parts website.

you can go for refurbished or even older ones. Its picking something you can predict, motherboards depends on the manufacturer and they can get spoiled at any minute. So, if at all I am in your position, I would go for the used ones.