You must have come across articles telling you things to put into consideration before buying any laptop, what most of these articles fail to do is let you know what you need to check before buying any used laptop.
This is only meant for those who have decide to go for used laptop due to the increase in price of a new laptop, you are not allowed to test a new system unless you've paid for it,unlike a used laptop.
If you've decide to buy a used laptop and still don't know what to look out for before giving the seller your money, then this post will put you through all the necessary things you need to check before purchasing.
I believe you must have known the purpose of going for a laptop, choosen your brand type, know the best configuration suituatable to you and budget for the laptop.
1. Check the used laptop screen and flex
The screen is one of the important part of the laptop,it is fragile and can get broken easily.
Apart from that there are other things that can damage the screen.
You need to watch out for dents, burn in, white dots and inner stains that can never be removed, if you noticed any of this in the screen of the used laptop, you can easily tell the seller to help change it.
The flex which is also call signal cable connect the screen to the motherboard, without this flex the laptop screen will not display any character, to check if the flex is working well, bend the laptop hinges forward and backward for like 3-5 times.
If you notice any reddish sign on screen, or screen goes blank then the signal cable is faulty, also note that screen going blank can also be a faulty screen.
2. Examine the laptop carcass and hinges
The fact that you're buying a used laptop doesn't mean the carcass should be bad, look out for any body dent or broken parts before purchasing, also make sure the hinges is not loosen or broken as it might damage the screen or the down carcass on the long run.
3. Check all the USB ports and charging port
It's adviceable you check all the USB port of the laptop you intend to buy, to test the USB port, an external keyboard or external mouse is the best option to use.
Connect the external keyboard to the ports and click the window key or caplock button, if the responsd on the laptop then you're good to go, also make sure the USB 3.0 is driven in other for you to test it too.
The charging port is also important, connect the charger and make sure it's not shaking.
4. Look out for bad keyboard
Whether you want to use your laptop for graphic design, programming or chatting, you'll need a keyboard to perform this task.
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In other to make sure the keyboard is working fine ,search for notepad and press all the keys in the on the keyboard to confirm they are working, also check the function keys too expecially the boot menu and set up key.
5. All drivers must be driven
Drivers act as a translator between the operating system and the hardware, without the drivers being installad built in device like UBS 3.0, Wi-Fi, touchpad and bluetooth will not work.
You can easily check is the drivers are not yet installed by following this steps:
a. Press the windows + E button
b. System properties
c. Device manager
Look out for any yellow sign, if there's is any then that part is not get driven.
6. Observe the battery life
This one of the thing some people fail to observe when buying a used laptop, the backup of a system is very important, test the battery by playing a music or quickly watch a 20-25min movie to see how fast it drop.
Connect a charger and make sure the battery percentage increases and it's "plug in charging".
If you see "battery not detected or pluging not charging" then request for another battery.
Note that "plug in not charging" might be the charger fault or motherboard, that's why it's adviceable you test the charging.
7. Ask for a better charger,chord and invoice
The reason most laptop get damage is due to bad charger, when the charger get burnt it will affect the charging IC of the laptop and in some cases damage the motherboard which may result to buying a new motherboard or laptop.
Always ask for original charger in other to avoid unnecessary stories.
I have seen a situation where, an invoice is written without the serial number of the laptop, just writing the laptop configuration or seeing the office address is not enough, the serial number of the laptop is very important.
Make sure it is written on the invoice ,and it is correct.
You can locate the serial number at the back of the laptop, inside the battery compartment or setup menu.
Conclusion
Buying a used laptop doesn't mean you shouldn't go for the best, after all it's your hard earn money, it's advicable you check out for all the above listed points before handling over your money to the seller.
If you've bought a used system before, you can kindly share your experience with us in the comment box for others to learn from it too.
