20 checklist: Before buying a used Laptop with tips and tricks of cmd Commands

4 min readMay 15, 2020

Why I am writing this article? Being an IT graduate I have to go with my friends or friends of friends to buy used laptops at least 5 to 10 times a month to assist or recommend them. Here in Pakistan used laptops or Mobiles purchasing is one the most common thing now. Before final purchase gets some trial time at least 5 to 10 days to examine, to test, or get to know about the machine so the existing problems may come out.

Size

Although weight under 4 pounds with 13 to 14 inches are best for portability and usability. But the standard size ranging from 14 to 16 inches screen as bigger is better.

2. Sound system

Before buying used laptops always check sound systems like speakers with handsfree or headphones, even low and high volume, also low quality and HD videos.

3. Internet Connectivity

Nowadays without the internet, no one needs a laptop, check with wire, and wifi also sometimes there can be problem in wifi or wireless connection.

4. Keyboards

Thoroughly check all keys on the keyboard with shift and control keys and even numerical keys, navigation keys with function keys on the top.

5. Ports

From headphone port to printer, check each and every port by your own hand like mouse, USB, SD card, charger, printer. They can be damaged or not working properly.

6. Heating

One of the biggest issues mostly found in the used laptop is heating, heat up quickly while using. To catch this problem use a laptop for 4 to 5 hours or run multiple functions, audio, video, internet at the same time.

7. Screen

Blur, Dim and with scratched or cracked screens can create problems in the future.

8. Webcam

Check webcam video and voice by calling to someone that would be best practices because many times they stopped working after a few days.

9. Inspect Body

Properly check body parts from front and back sides even if the upper side covered with any animated cartoon there can be hidden scratched or damaged so the salesman removed that cover. Check either the system has been opened or not I mean sealed hardware.

10. Software

Yes, most people do not check software while purchasing used laptops. You should always check it, by installing and running different software because you can catch some problems through software test.

11. Hard Drive

Everyone must check hard drive mostly seller or salesman will tell you or show you wrong. Often 300 or 550 even 750 GB you can hear. You check it through either cmd or PC properties.

12. Generations

The age of the CPU, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 7th generations, etc you'll hear from the seller or salesman along with core i3, i5, and i7. The latest-gen is best as well as costly. You can check it through cmd commands or PC properties.

13. Model

You must check the laptop model or product number on some laptops, which will tell you the releasing year. You can check it through cmd commands or PC properties.

14. Battery Health, life & connectivity

One of the most common issues of the used laptops is battery health, timing, and charger problem also. Some time it'll tell you charger plugged in but not charging. You can check it through cmd commands.

15. System type

Either 65 Bits or 32 bits operating systems are installed on all laptops. Just telling you this because it can affect other software installations. Mostly one can’t install 32 bits software on 62 bits. You can check it through cmd commands or PC properties.

16. Processor

The process tells us about the speed of the laptop, how capable it is to perform functions. Better processor means the better speed with better function executes quickly with multiple functions at a time. 3 to 4 GHz speed considered to be good for gaming. You can check it through cmd commands or PC properties.

17. CD/DVD ROM

CD ROM can be damaged or not read properly so check it with the different discs.

18. Company

The name of the manufacturing company can affect the used laptop because spare parts of most companies are hard to be found in the market except Dell and HP. You can check it through cmd commands or PC properties.

19. RAM

Mostly 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB RAM you can hear this can affect not only your laptop performance but can also limit or allow many features and many programs or software can’t run on 2GB and 4GB particularly for gaming. You can check it through cmd commands or PC properties.

20. Touchpad and Mouse

The touchpad of a used laptop can be slow, damaged, and not functioning from any part so touch every part of the pad and try left right-click buttons. Attach external mouse also to check properly