AboutBobbert Expertise General purchasing questions, in areas regarding price to performance ratios and future expansion, drawing from roughly a decade of experience and numerous unique situations for customers and myself, I'm willing to help you get the best computer for your money.
Experience I have been an enthuiast of PC's for many years, and can answer most questions about purchase of a new computer from personal knowledge or experience through other online Q&A services in advising on the same topic.
Question Bobbert
Amazon has some good deals on laptops, but they wont answer my questions so I hope you can help?
1.What is the differance between used and reconditioned?
2. Wil it still come in a box with instructions,etc.
3. My daughter uses a PC. Does that mean I cant get an apple?
Thanks again!
Answer I'll go ahead and answer your questions in a list, if thats alright.
1. Used compared to reconditioned, used means it was returned and is being resold, much like a used car, warranty and support conditions vary wildly, so be clear on what kind of return policy exists and what is and isn't covered. Reconditioned means it was returned to the manufacturer and any needed service was performed, and the unit is being resold, much like a "factory certified" used car, warranty and support conditions are usually comparable to a new purchase, returns are generally easier, and equipment condition is usually better.
2. Regarding inclusion of instructions and other media, it may or may not, generally a reconditioned item will, however this varies by manufacturer (for example free included software may be absent), while used packaged equipment is generally even more "hit or miss". Again, check the advertisement or the labeling, generally this information is posted. Furthermore, anything essential to the system (such as a user manual or drivers) will be available online, very often for free (you should never have to pay for drivers, and only rarely have to pay for user manuals (generally if the only option is a printed copy, will you be charged)).
3. Compatability is quite uniform across the board, by "PC", I'm assuming you mean a Windows based computer, and as long as your version of Windows is recent enough (Windows Me/2000 or later, although XP or Vista would be better candidates), compatability with a recent version of Mac OS X should be no problem, depending on what kind of compatability we're talking about. Regarding the ability to network the two systems together, it may take a bit longer than two Windows systems or two OS X systems, although file sharing and resource sharing shouldn't be an issue, although across the board software compatability is another story (for example, there are many applications which are Windows only, or OS X only, and some which have specific versions for each operating system, on Windows you may use Microsoft Outlook for e-mail, while on OS X you may use Apple Mail, while the internet browser on both systems may be Opera, simply the correct version (either Opera for Windows or Opera for OS X)).
