How to Buy a Computer - Comments Page 2

I am having to finance a computer and have bad credit. I have to go to one of those sites online that say they will finance anyone. So my choices are limited. When I try an check out the info and specs on the computer... to see if the match your reccomendations but the way they list them confuses me. My choices are Dell Inspiron 518, 530, 531 and also Dell Vostro 400, and HP Pavilion A6000. Would you reccomend any of those? I hope you can take the time to help out it is most appreciated and I thank you in advance if you can.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've looked into some of these computer financing companies, and they usually charge a HUGE interest rate and you end up paying much more than the price of the system. Since at least one of those Dell systems is under $300, I'd recommend that you try to save the money first and then pay cash.

I am wondering why you recommend purchasing Microsoft works when there are a range of free suites that provide these features, e.g. Open Office.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, I have written about free office suites (see http://askbobrankin.com/free_office_software.html) and should have mentioned them in this article. I will update that section, thanks.

Bob, you say "I suggest you purchase Microsoft Works, which will give you MS Word." I believe Word was bundled with Works Suite 2006, which is no longer available. Works 9 can "Share & edit Works Word Processor and Spreadsheet files with Microsoft® Office Word and Microsoft® Office Excel and vice versa."
http://www.microsoft.com/products/works/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=003&active_tab=Features

BTW, I enjoy your newsletter, and appreciate you sharing your expertise.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I guess I should say "something similar to MS Word." Thanks for the update.

Listen, we are talking about many senior citizens who are on a limited budget, but, want to keep in touch with family and friends. They won't be BIG gamers at LAN parties or heavy graphics users.

Off lease computers is the way to go. They have all the power, memory, hard drive size that most senior citizens will ever use. You can even find some with Windows XP Pro installed.

I personally recommend www.computer-show.com. This place has off lease Dell workstation computers with a variety of configurations and they sell them very inexpensively. Some computers are even 'bundled' with desktop/tower, monitor, keyboard and mouse and operating system. I have helped purchase about 8 computers for family and friends from Computer-Show.com.

They check out every computer and ship the computer in excellent packaging. They cover the tower/desktop with plastic and 'blow' in foam. All the ones that I have purchased have arrived in excellent condition and worked right out of the box. Yes, the ones that I helped purchase, had to have an operating system put on and I did it. Simple, just time consuming.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can save $100 or so buying a used computer, but you just never know how its been used or abused before you got it -- or why it was returned. And if you're going to (legally) install Windows on these boxes, that will cost around $100. So where are we left?

I love the direct straight forward info on your site. Please note that Gateway is in big trouble now and not providing any tech support at all. I have had 5 Gateway computers over the years and have always been fairly satisfied - until now. They sold their tech support division to a company that is now bankrupt! This - after Gateway sales sold me a 2 year extended warranty.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's true that MPC, the company that was providing Gateway warranty support, filed for bankruptcy in Nov 2008. And that has apparently left some customers with a worthless warranty. But I called Gateway today and asked about a warranty on a new computer. They told me that warranty support on anything purchased now will be provided directly by Gateway.

This is a good starting place for "what to know when deciding to purchase a computer". Thank you for the insight and recs!