Recommendations for what? It’s gonna be old and slow (Win10, HDD), but probably fine for office use. Win7 or Linux plus a cheap SSD would make it a little nicer (assuming it has a SATA connector). Also I’m a display snob (poor quality displays hurt my eyes and make me tired), so I’m always concerned when display specs (resolution, panel type) aren’t mentioned.
A cheap SSD should make this fast enough for non-gamers.
I like the two USB 3.0 ports.
Am a little worried about doing business with TD, though. And what exactly is the difference between the TOOS B grade refurb in the OP and this completely OOS A grade version of the same laptop?:
Wonder how much that one cost back when it was available for purchase.
Finally, this being TD, I wonder if they charge your CC instantly when you order even though they will not be able to ship for a couple of weeks . . . . or even longer than that.
What do you base this assessment on? I never had a bad experience with Tiger Direct back in the day (5+ years ago). Haven’t ordered from them recently, but have they changed significantly in the past few years?
Is display acceptable display for everyday use (not gaming)?
TD was great in the past but I haven’t bought anything from them post BK (no rebates )
It’s temp. OOS now, not sure if it’s good to use Amazon pay b/c I believe they don’t charge till shipping or for buyer protection
would Win7 make it truly faster? I might do SSD+Memory upgrade instead.
Depends. Win10 is a POS. I have a 10 year old Core2 Duo (with SSDs and 6GB RAM) that runs Win7 nicely, but Win10 is almost unusable on it, and that’s after disabling or removing all the unnecessary and unused services and software. The downside of Win7 is that extended support ends next year. The upside of Win10 is improvement is bootup time – 5-10 seconds instead of 15-30.
I already put together a new PC, but I’m dreading it because I can’t stand Win10.
Then I’d just install Linux on it. For TurboTax, a Windows guest in a virtual machine
January 14th of next year, actually. I’m gonna die a mean and ugly death that day. All my computers are running 7. I have no interest whatsoever in anything newer.
Agreed. That is what I’m thinking. I have not used Linux since about 2001, but it might soon be time to return home. That said, I will be remaining with Windows 7 until the very last dog dies.
Amen. But you can probably run it past expiration for a few years, depending on use. Windows Updates are not necessary if you know what you’re doing (I disabled Windows Update circa 2013). The end only comes when you need some software that decides to no longer run on it. TaxCut still runs fine on Windows XP .
If anybody cared, I bit the bullet and installed and started using Win10 (on the new PC, so it’s fast). It took a few long nights to get it under control using free tweakers (ClassicShell, Ultimate Windows Tweaker, Winaero Tweaker). I’ve also tested the latest versions of ZoneAlarm and Comodo free firewalls and decided to switch to Comodo (I’ve used an old version of ZoneAlarm forever, mostly because the newer ones became more annoying with built-in features I didn’t ask for, and Comodo is more advanced, more finely configurable, and not annoying so far). The tweakers supposedly disable all telemetry / data collection, but I’ve also gone through all the settings, services, and task scheduler to remove/disable anything that looked related. Firewall is there as the last line of defense. Now I just have to cross my fingers in hopes that Windows Update (which I didn’t disable) doesn’t break anything or reverse my changes (this already happened to me once).
Yeah, but you do not have it set to automatic. Right? You still make the final decision manually, to install or not, after it advises you an update is available . . I hope.
I have all but given up on Windows Update. Micro$oft is just a bunch of wankers who want total control of everyone’s computer. You take it out . . . . they put it back in . . . . with full malice of forethought. They are completely disrespectful of decisions computer owners make which do not agree Micro$oft’s idea of the way things ought to be. It’s like Big Brother on steroids. Screw 'em!!
I hope 10 works out for you the way you want. But frankly I think you have zero chance for a good outcome. They will spy on you, not tell you, and refuse to 'fess up even after you catch them red handed.
Wrong. In Windows 10, you can delay for 30 days. But you can’t (in a straight-forward manner) disable Windows Update.
I don’t disagree with everything you’re saying about Microsoft. But I submit that Apple, Google, et. al. manifest the same arrogance in different ways.
I used to be nerdier about computers when I had more time on my hands. I bought one of the first netbooks and did a custom install of windows with as many components removed as possible and it ran as smoothly as a normal laptop, so I know I could do what you guys are talking about. I used to root and install roms on my phone too. But man did my life get easier when I just gave up fighting Microsoft, Google, Samsung, et. al. and let them have their bloatware and custom UIs. I’ve gotten to a point where I just buy decent enough hardware now that doing all those customizations is overkill. Give it a shot on your next big purchase. You might find that the aggravation of having to customize everything isn’t always worth it.