One good thing about Acer's is that you can find replacement parts very easily...

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-51.../dp/B004IM95Z2
http://www.amazon.com/BrandNew-Gloss.../dp/B002IAR7QA

Acer's are pretty easy to fix.

Should be ok, did computers for 20+ years, the most that will break is the hard drive which is easily replaceable. Everything else is pretty solid, if you take care of it, shouldn't have any problems..

I do this part time and you save so much money buying new, yes the warranty isn't there, but half the time, its never used..

Pawn shops are also a good place to get a laptop cheap, most of them are fairly new and they wipe the drive so no porn...

Yep...have 2 refurbed gateway towers that work just fine.

aol is slow a shit on mine.

Acer's aren't bad. Apple and Lenovo are at the top, followed by asus and acer. HP is really hit or miss. Dell's don't live up to their big name.

I use a refurb HP tower... It isn't anything fancy but runs like a champ

dont buy one, I thought i needed one in college so I bought one before it, its better to just hit the library up, forces you to do your work instead of dicking around in your room on your own laptop

We've been buying off-lease, refurbed Dell 6400 laptops for a year at work and have had no issues. Just got an email yesterday for 6410 models at $379.

We are also heading in to our third year of rolling out DakTech Discovery 61 desktops. http://daktech.com/build/144 You can't beat the price and a 7 year warranty. (PM Bob Dole if you want his sales contact.)

if you would like a quality used apple puter, my friend has this place and he's been doing folks right a very long time

http://www.dvwarehouse.com/

Not worth it 95% of the time. Risk/reward is high. There are so many laptops for cheap, it's really not worth it.

Find a laptop that is out of style or one generation behind.

NewEgg, Best Buy, Amazon, and Wal-Mart all have great deals on NEW laptops. Don't waste your time on used crap

I only buy refurbished, but directly from the computer maker's refurbish store. Never had a problem yet. One Acer and two Dells.

I just bought 6 refurbished Dells, haven't even received them yet. I'll keep you posted. They will be in a tough environment so it will be a good test.

Asus manufacturer refurb sold at Tiger Direct for $299. Hard to pass up at that price.

I just placed the order; we'll see how it goes....

I've bought 2 refubs from Dell and one was great while one crapped out. I bought no extended warranty. Lesson learned.

I then bought two Lenovo refurbs and they are doing fine. I also bought two Squaretrade warranties which will cover them after the manufacture warranty expires.

If you are buying a refurb buy some place where you can get it warrantied for an extra time period from some place like Squaretrade and I think it can be a pretty good deal.