and have given several as gifts with no complaints received.

If Certified Like New - go for it!

It was all I could afford at the time and I got quite a few good years out if it.

It was a Mac so it had lots of years of useful life. Not sure I'd risk a Windows computer since they don't have as many useful years as Macs.

Or open box items from Best Buy

I wouldn't buy on eBay or from a private seller, but that's just me.

Look up businesses on Yelp the BBB.

I used to routinely buy Sony laptops that way, and while I bought my Lenovo new at Best Buy, I wanted a backup laptop, given tariff changes.

So, I found that major universities have great deals on surplus electronics. Lest you think they all buy one type, one brand, one set-up of laptops or any other bit of equipment, you would be incredibly wrong Mine buys according to department, whether it is a science, math or other department, special requests, and they have a very wide range and variety of laptops. They check them out, remove everything (albeit you will likely find the license authorization will still be recognized if you load Windows 11 on it and at least in my case, the group had folks more than willing to upgrade RAM or other aspects. While the warranty they offer is fairly short, they don't want bad feedback, so I've found they really do check them out thoroughly. If you go this route, you will need to pretty adept at setting it up and loading the operating system back (or have someone to help you).

You may be surprised what little you might have to pay for these refurbished units, and in my case, it has been a very good deal. Maybe a small scratch or two, but that's going to happen soon enough anyway.

So, yes, I would absolutely consider it.

That's not to say older computers are bad, as that has not been my experience.

Just an idea offered for you to consider protecting your investment.

From a company called Back Market. Both run current software, have decent batteries and perform as expected. Both were in the $400 range. No regrets and I’m thinking about replacing an iPad that needs a battery with one from them. The price is close to a battery replacement for the one I have.

Newegg.com

The company and its ownership sucks.

They have stores nationwide but I shop at the Cambridge location. They have real tech support if you need it.

Also, using different OSs on different hardware to do different things.

Some of my best purchases have been from thrift shops. I'm still using one I bought for $80 years ago. It's running Linux, on an old Pentium 4 processor, so not cutting edge, but it supports GPU cards released much later. GPU computing is about all I use it for though; I can't find the memory to upgrade it to max RAM (it exists, but is a rara avis, so sellers jack up the price). Just bad timing -- larger DIMMS weren't released until the next memory standards were in all newer computers.

Several others I bought at auction online. If you have a distro of Linux you like, there's not much reason not to buy used computers. Oh, and I've picked up some put out in the hallway at work, and some our neighbors set on the curb, including an old LeNovo workstation which supports three full-length, full-height PCIe cards. Flushed the installed Windows, installed Linux. Have upgraded the twin CPUs twice (including from four- to six-core) and filled all twelve RAM sockets -- older server/workstation parts are abundant on eBay, and I've upgraded more as the prices have fallen.

I currently have two all-in-one iMacs (o o o o l d models) but won't buy any more Macs, new or used. Apple seems to have decided all hardware is use-once-and-dispose. Ironically, Mac was the first PC I learned to use, and my first four computers were new Macs, thanks to Apple's discounts to colleges and universities.

I absolutely DO. NOT. have to have the latest version of software, whether apps or OS, so my experience may be very different from what you're looking for. Take with a grain of salt, or so, but I'm pretty sure I've spent over $100 on a computer exactly once in this century.




ETA: University surplus property sales, often at auction. (Hat tip to hlth2be for the reminder!) Downside: they can be pretty-out-of-date models. Upside: I've bought a pair of fully functional computers (good for their day) for $5. Yes, per pair. If there's a college or university near you, find out what office handles these, and get a schedule or email updates.

They’ve been great. Mac and DOS, laptop, desktop, tablet. Only had one problem - a laptop trackpad didn’t work properly. I sent it back and they replaced it, no prob. Just make sure you get a warranty and it will be fine.

has reached the point where it's cheaper than building your own, but ensure you can upgrade...

Some of them were literally other people's trash that I diverted from the e-waste bins.

Linux makes it easier.

The last "new" computer I bought was a shop-worn 386 for $300. It came with Windows 3.1 pre-installed. That's the most I've ever paid for a computer.

The last Microsoft product I used at home was Windows 98SE, just so I could use the Opera Web browser, which is what I first logged onto DU with.

I switched to Linux soon after Opera offered a Linux version.

I used to like refurbished Chromebooks but the newer models no longer allow the site blocking, script blocking, and ad blocking software that makes the internet tolerable for me. They've also made upgrading these machines to Linux difficult. They still may be fine for people who use their computers mostly for internet browsing, email, and some writing.

Our Best Buy used to have a shelf of open box and refurbished computers clearly marked with very reasonable prices. You could just pick one up and buy it. But now you have to go through a sales person simply to learn the price, which is very annoying because they will try to sell you something more expensive.

My favorite place to buy from is BackMarket. I haven’t had any negatives with getting equipment there. The only problem I have had was a seller being out of the machine I ordered, but they replaced it with a better one, so I can’t complain.

But you always have to be careful about brand. I’m a Mac person. I know what I’m getting. If you are shopping among the many used PC lines, make sure you have researched the specific one you are buying. A refurbished bad machine can be even worse than when it was new.