Many people think they need a brand new laptop and want to purchase the latest and greatest. In most cases a refurbished laptop is more than adequate, unless your are a gamer or power user. Your connection speed matters more than the CPU or the amount of RAM. Read on to learn more.

When considering buying a used laptop, the first thing to do is to determine what you want to use the laptop for?

• word processing

  Requires minimal CPU, since you cannot type faster than a very old Pentium 90.

• e-mail

  Requires a minimal CPU, minimal RAM and the connection speed does not matter, unless you are sending or receiving very large files (photos).

• chat

  This depends upon which chat program you plan on using. AOL AIM: P2 200 MHz,128MB RAM, 20MB HD space, XP or 2K Direct X9; MSN Live Messenger: P2 233 MHz, XP or Vista, 50MB HD, 800×600; Google Talk: Vista/XP/2000; Yahoo! Messenger v8: Win 98 or later, 233 MHz, 128MB, 30MB, Windows Media Player 7 or later, Direct X. You need to look carefully at your IM program to figure out exactly what is needed.

• browsing web pages

  Requires minimal CPU, 64MB RAM performs ok, but 128MB better. The speed you are connecting to the Internet is more important than the speed of the CPU. 56K modems are slow and DSL or cable are at least ten times faster).

• moving from home to work

  Most laptops weigh around seven pounds. If this is important check out the weight. Laptops with a smaller display, typically 12.1" weigh less than four pounds.

• gaming

  You should review the Minimum Systems Requirements of the games you play the most. Some games require a very fast CPU (2 GHz, lots of RAM (maybe 2GB) and a specialized graphics chip.

• music

  Music does not require much in the way of computing resources. The amount of storage depends upon how many songs you have. The average song takes about 5MB, so 300 songs would be 1.5GB. 40,000 songs would require 160GB of storage. Most people do not listen regularly to more than 300 songs?

• photos

  This really depends upon how you operate. If you never delete your bad or old photos then it might require lots of hard drive space. It also depends if you use the very commonly used .jpg format or some other format. I recently took a photo of my son pitching in .jpg and it was almost a megabyte. So, 1000 photos would be a gigabyte. Backup drives are very inexpensive (less than $100) or you could put the photos you want to save on a CD. The other consideration is your photo editing software. You need to check out the minimum systems requirements that describe the hardware and the OS needed for the software you use.

• streaming video

  Streaming is a technology for playing audio and video files (either live or pre-recorded) from a Web page. A user can view the audio or video files directly from the Web server for immediate playback. In terms of systems requirements a 200 MHz CPU, 32MB RAM, a browser, at least 56K modem, although DSL or cable are much faster. So, most older laptops can support streaming video.

• on-line shopping

  This in essence is just like browsing the web. You should have at least 128MB. The CPU is not as important as your connection speed (56K modem is much slower than DSL or Cable).

• a database application or personal finance

  Simple database applications like Goldmine or other sales applications do not usally need much in the way of CPU or Hard Drive space. Again check the Minimum Systems Requirments of your application. A very complex or large database (like Quickbooks) might need a large hard drive and a very fast CPU.

Next figure out how you will be connecting to the Internet. One way that people have connected to the Internet over the years is via a modem. Laptops have either a built-in modem connection or modem card that has been added to the laptop. Modems today are typically 56K.

A much faster method of connection is via either cable or DSL. In this case you need an Ethernet card and an Ethernet cable to connect the laptop to the DSL modem or the cable modem. In some cases routers have been installed that connect to the DSL modem or the cable modem and then to the ethernet connection on the laptop.

Today many people have connected wireless routers to their cable modem or their DSL modem. The router will then transmit a signal that the antennal on a card or internal wifi can pick up the signal from the wifi router. Older laptops have the ability to have wifi cards inserted in them and typically include a CD-ROM that includes the driver, which allows the card to talk to the laptop.

Determine what applications you need for your computing environment. They will not come with the laptop, as refurbished laptops often only include the Operating System (OS). If they don't include an installed OS, then be prepared to install it yourself. This is not for those that don't know what they are doing, so research what is involved before buying one without an OS.

Once you understand what you really need, you need to determine your budget.

Most old laptops do not have working batteries. If you need a battery, shop around to figure out how much they cost. You should know that on older laptops, batteries don't last more than an hour or two, so purchasing a new battery for the purpose of longer battery life may not be worth the expense. And by all means, stick with a name brand … IBM, Dell, Toshiba, Compaq-HP.

If you are new to computers and you want to browse the World Wide Web, you will need to obtain the services of an ISP (Internet Service Provider).

There are basically two types of Internet access options: broadband (cable modem, DSL, satellite) and lowband (dial-up). Broadband is the preferred type since download speeds can range from 128kbs to 6000kbs. The faster the better, of course. But, if your budget is tight, dial-up works just fine for typical browsing and e-mail usage.

Your choice of ISP will be dependent upon two things: budget and location. If the budget allows and you don't mind paying upwards of $50/month, you can purchase a broadband connection. However, even if money were no object, your physical location will determine what types of services are available to you. Broadband is not available everywhere (with the exception of satellite). If you have a telephone line, you can always choose dial-up. AOL's bread and butter is dial-up users. Do your research to determine what is available in your area and compare costs.

And for you gamers out there, you definitely need a reliable broadband connection. Gaming over a lowband connection can be a frustrating experience and sometimes even impossible. You will need to check out the minimum systems requirement for the games you are interested in using to make sure the CPU speed and the RAM and graphic chip requirements will suppor the games you wish to play.

Once you have figured out your budget and your needs and the requirements of y0ur laptop it is time to search for the laptop of your desires.

Some people choose to search at www.ebay.com. If you be sure to check out the seller to be sure you will have a smooth transaction.

Many don't want the hassle of bidding, so will use their favorite search engine: www.google.com or http://yahoo.com or www.msn.com for the terms used laptops or refurbished laptop.

If you do you are likely to come across my business … www.usedlaptops.com. If you see anything you like at our website or any of the other refurbished laptop vendors call. Most of the vendors have 800 numbers, so it does not cost anything to call. If you happen to call us you will be pleasantly surprised that someone will answer the phone, as it rarely goes to call forward.

An important thing to come in mind is how will the vendor treat you should there be a problem. If you don't like their attitude or they don't pick up the phone shop elsewhere. Price is important, but if you have a problem and spent the least amount of money possible the vendor may not have any resources available to help you after you have purchased and spent your money.

If all the above seems like too much of a hassle, then buy a new computer. It will cost around $800+ (out the door) but will come with a new battery and a one year warranty, although some new ones seem to have only 90 day warranties. It will also have the latest Windows XP system and an 800 number to call the vendor, should their be a problem. I'd call the 800# first before buying to get an idea what kind of support they will provide.

A myth circulating is that wireless is free everywhere. In the United States wireless is mostly a localized service. Some people equate the cellular network (cell phone) with Wi-Fi, but they are completely different.

WiFi as defined by Wikipedia as: IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication, developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee (IEEE 802) in the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz public spectrum bands. This type of wireless service can be found in libraries, some cities, airports, some hotels, in people's homes, and many other places. You can find a list of Wi-Fi Hot spots at: http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/. It is estimated by Forward Concepts that by 2007 there would be 530,000 hotspots in the US.

In order to use a laptop with Wi-Fi you need an Internet Connection (internet service provider) and a laptop with a Wi-Fi PCMCIA card or an integrated (built-in) Wi-Fi chip. So, if you go to your neighborhood Starbucks they have set up a local Wi-Fi network that you can connect to with a 802.11 Wi-Fi card, if you have one in your laptop.

There are currently four types of 802.11 PCMCIA cards: 802.11a (oldest), 802.11b, 802.11g (most current) and 802.11n. The 802.11b and 802.11g work fine for most locations, such as your home Wi-Fi network and the local coffee shop or library. The newer 802.11n promises to deliver a fivefold increase in speed and double the range of 802.11g. The final version and agreement to this new standard isn't expected until 2008.

At the library, Starbucks and many other places this signal can be used free. At most airports and some hotels and many other places they charge $10 or more per day. Should you have DSL or cable at home and buy an 802.11 router and set up a Wi-Fi network the use of that network is free. You should also know that security is important and you should use a service like www.jiwire.com to make sure no one can see your data. Remember this is a signal transmitted via airwaves and others can intercept the signal if you do not have protection set up.

You can also connect to the cellular networks with your laptop by signing up for their service (paying a monthly fee). You need their specialized wireless card that installs in your laptop. As an example Verizon's monthly Internet and e-mail access charge is $59.99 per month. They have a $35 activation fee, require one-year minimum term, have a $175 fee for early termination and there might be a cost for the modem you need to connect to their network. Their network is not everywhere, so you have to check with them to find out if your intended usage areas has coverage.

If don't want to spend a fortune for the Microsoft Office suite there other alternatives. If you purchased a refurbished laptop for $300 or $400 why spend another couple hundred for Microsoft Office Suite?

Free is good, so you might check out the Google OnLine word processing and spreadsheet applications. Google Documents and Spreadsheets.

Zoho Writer is another free online word processor. www.zohowriter.dom.

Sun Microsystem's Open Office is free and has been around for years and and includes a very nice suite of applications. www.openoffice.org.

IBM announced in Sep 2007 that their Lotus Symphony Documents is available and FREE. IBM Lotus Symphony Documents

Other Office alternatives you can check out are:

ONE Special Edition for $50 ONE Special Edition

Celframe Office Pro starts at $99 Celframe Office Pro

ThinkFree Office is FREE ThinkFree Office

GoBeProductive is $50 GoBeProductive

Corel WordPerfect X3, which has been around for many years and starts at $99 WordPerfect.

So, consider the above and save a bundle. These applications all are compatible with the Microsoft applications as files can be saved in word and excel format.

People get hung upon what laptop is best, as the vendors push their features, but users should consider what they want to use the laptop for rather than trying to figure out which is the best one.

If you want to do word processing, browse the web and send e-mail and only use the laptops an hour or so every few days then that is quite different from a power user on the road that needs a long lasting battery and the latest and greatest with the fastest CPU and a huge display.

If you only send e-mails and browse the web and the laptop is always plugged in, then you can buy a refurbished laptops for $300. You can find one by typing "used laptops" or "refurbished laptops" into www.google.com and checking out the first few vendors that show up.

If you want a new laptop and are cost conscious type cheap laptops in www.google.com and check out the first few vendors that come up.

If you stick with HP, Dell, Acer, IBM, or Toshiba, who are the top five manufacturers of laptops, in order of who makes the most, then you can't go wrong. It is expected in 2007 that over 125 million laptop swill be manufacutered. Each company makes millions of laptops each year and they are all billion dollar companies with organizations in place to design, sell and support their products. Dell does the most marketing, so is the best known to consumers, but if you were to ask my techs, who have been servicing laptops for many years they are not the best made. IBM and Toshiba are the best made with HP next and are very well know and respected in the corporate world. However, this is relative as most parts are made by third parties and the laptops are often built by third parties.

There are a number of factors to consider. If you only have or want to spend $200 to $300, then the answer is maybe. A major consideration is your intended use and what features are important. You should also consider the importance (critical or use occasionally) of the laptop. If critical, seriously consider new or get an extended warranty on an older unit.

When browsing the web, you only need 128MB of RAM and even 64MB will work if you turn off graphics. Word processing requires very little in the way of CPU power, as you can't type faster than a Pentium 90. E-mail needs very little in the way of CPU power or other computer resources. Most software and hardware vendors will list the minimum systems requirements for their software or hardware. So, it is easy to research to understand if the inexpensive laptop you are considering work for the software and hardware you need.

Other factors to consider are size, weight, display size, battery life, how you will connect to the Internet, etc. If you are a frequent traveler you should buy a laptop that weighs four pounds or less. Older laptops often do not have working batteries versus a new battery for brand new. You might not care, as you may always use it plugged in. Older laptops often have no warranty or a 90 day warranty versus one year for new laptops. If you use it a lot and don't travel then get one with at least a 13.3" display. If you have only a telephone then most laptops include a 56K modem. If you have DSL or cable then your laptop needs to have an Ethernet card. If you have added a Wi-Fi router to your DSL or Cable modem you need a Wi-Fi 802.11 card in the laptop. You can easily add these to even older laptops for less then $50.

You should also consider the price of brand new laptops, but if you only have $250 to spend it may not matter. At the moment (June 2007) you can buy a brand new Dell Inspiron 1501 on their website for $499. However, that is the get started price and by the time you add sales tax and other needed options you most likely will be over $600. It might be worth it, but you have to check it out to be sure.

Next do some additional research to see what is available. Go to Google and search for "refurbished laptops" or "used laptops". Check out the first couple of vendors to see their inventory and check them out. Go to www.ebay.com and search for laptops. Be sure to check out the rating of the seller and if you want fewer hassles buy from a vendor, as they often include a warranty. Last if you aren't tired of looking check out Dell, HP and Lenovo's refurbished laptops. You will find few, if any, laptop deals from them for less than $500.

You can expect to get years of use out of a refurbished laptop. If they have been tested by an experienced laptop tech, a warranty, it works the first 30 days and you don't drag it all over the place and treated kindly it should work fine for 2-3 or more years or longer.