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At school in my Tech class theres a kid who doesn't want his Alienware laptop anymore, so I am thinking of buying it off him. I was wondering if you guys had any tips about buying used products, for example a program that could scan the laptop for viruses and such. I don't want to buy a laptop and the have it not work because it has a massive virus, but I would like to be able to play fallot 3 and World at War on the PC (GECK and custom maps).

Don't buy it unless you are getting a mad deal on it.

Fuck pre-builts, fuck gaming laptops, fuck Alienware specifically.

To search for Virii, install Windows Security Essentials.

Give specs.

SłappyMcGee wrote:Don't buy it unless you are getting a mad deal on it.

Fuck pre-builts, fuck gaming laptops, fuck Alienware specifically.

To search for Virii, install Windows Security Essentials.

100% agree with this post. Regardless of the specs, avoid anything branded as a "gaming laptop" cause that's just screaming for a 10 pound overheating paperweight within a few months.

Ask for specs and post'em here.

But, uh, Alienware + Laptop sounds like the making of a Easy Bake Oven, unless it's a m11x or a newer model.

You should base your decision on his reason for not wanting it anymore.

T̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư wrote:You should base your decision on his reason for not wanting it anymore.

Basically that, and make sure not to accept "I want a better laptop". Maybe have him bring it, (and specs), and give you a test run for a little.
And make sure to buy a cooling pad if it's below m11x, as Techno said.

What OS does it come with? If it's Win7 then you can use the energy config tool to see the temperature when you run a game... or just use the BIOS. Or any other program, really.

I asked him for the specs/model type today but he didn't know the specs but the model type is m15x Area 51. But these are the default spces
OS: Windows (7)
Processor make: Intel
CPU family: Core i7
CPU model: 720QM
Processor speed: 1.6 GHz
Number of cores: Quad-core
Cache size: 6 MB L2 cache
Graphics adapter: Discrete
Graphics (discrete): NVIDIA (GeForce)
GPU model: GT240M
Video RAM: 512 MB

Why not ask him why does he not want it anymore and if there are any problems with it.

I asked him and he told me that the hinges creak when he opens it. I thought that was kind of suspicious though. My laptop finally kicked the bucket though. it was like 5 years old and used to be my sisters.

Avoid. Creaking hinges will eventually give you problems.

What kind of problems could creaking hinges lead to?

Slayr wrote:What kind of problems could creaking hinges lead to?

Oh, sure, maybe now only the hinges creak and you think it's no big deal.
But it'll only be a matter of time before your creaks start hinging. Go ahead and act like you'll know how to handle that.

Slayr wrote:I asked him for the specs/model type today but he didn't know the specs but the model type is m15x Area 51. But these are the default spces
OS: Windows (7)
Processor make: Intel
CPU family: Core i7
CPU model: 720QM
Processor speed: 1.6 GHz
Number of cores: Quad-core
Cache size: 6 MB L2 cache
Graphics adapter: Discrete
Graphics (discrete): NVIDIA (GeForce)
GPU model: GT240M
Video RAM: 512 MB

From what I remember, the base processor for the m15x was a Core 2 Duo, unless he customized and upgraded a massive fuckton. If it's the same m15x I remember from Q1 2008, this thing would've cost him upwards of $5000. If it's any less than $1000, I'd consider it a relative steal, as you can't find laptops with these specs for under $1000 on-market even today.

It can't be from 2008, it has to be at least under a year old. The 720QM came out September 23rd, 2009.

On a related note, I'm considering getting a new laptop. For someone who knows next to nothing about putting together computers, I think I'm going to stick with a so-called pre-built. What I was wondering was how good is this laptop, especially for its price range? Is it worth it?
http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668531.php

Horrible gfx card, DDR2 667 RAM is like 4 year old technology, outdated CPU, low res for the screen size. Avoid. What's your budget?

Scrivener wrote:On a related note, I'm considering getting a new laptop.

Don't. Get a desktop and netbook; some computer sites (e.g. cyberpowerpc, which will bundle an MSI wind with any desktop) sell precisely this combo.

Scrivener wrote:On a related note, I'm considering getting a new laptop. For someone who knows next to nothing about putting together computers, I think I'm going to stick with a so-called pre-built. What I was wondering was how good is this laptop, especially for its price range? Is it worth it?
http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668531.php

Fuck Gateway, specifically.

While you're at it, avoid Dell.

Slayr it's kind of hard to offer advice on buying it if we don't know the price, alienware might be overpriced new but second hand it -could- be worth it.

What are the pros and cons of upgrading a desktop comp?

Slayr wrote:What are the pros and cons of upgrading a desktop comp?

Well, the main pro is that it's upgraded, and the main con is that you probably paid money for the components. So if the loss of money to acquire the new components is worth the tradeoff in improving your desktop's performance, it's probably a good idea to upgrade.

I mean that what are the pros and cons of buying a cheap desktop comp and upgrading as opposed to just buying a new one repeatedly.

pros of buying a cheap desktop PC: Large paperweight.
Cons: Obsolete, low end models offer extremely limited upgrade paths, offer crap hardware... what may look like a great deal usually skimps on something important, (eg. a good CPU, RAM, but integrated graphics and no PCIe slot) etc.