HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) – As college students are headed back to school and families are looking for new computers to start out the school year, there are plenty of scam tactics to look out for when shopping for a new computer.
Many are looking for the best deals on a new personal computer, but according to Shayne Raitt, General Manager of Computer Hardware, you need to be careful between balancing a good deal and avoiding a computer that may not suit your needs.
“If you’re looking for something that’s cheap and it seems like it’s the best thing ever, it could be refurbished or a previous model,” said Raitt. “I always think about when you look at something and it’s a $199 computer. If it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true. You’re racing yourself to the bottom to see if you can get the best deal when in reality, it could be a scam. It could be something that it’s not.”
One problem with these inexpensive computers is that they are marketed in a manner that makes them seem like a good entry level computer, when they may come with hardware that is no longer viable.
“There are over promises on a lot of product, where sometimes there’s a big hard drive in a computer, but the processing speed and the RAM and stuff are less,” said Raitt. “So you’re buying something that you think that is, like, over the top, when in reality, they made it look like it was over the top, and so we find that out all the time. That is a big problem in our industry right now.”
According to Raitt, there are signs that you can look for to see if a computer is too old.
A key thing to look for, especially with Apple laptops, is if the machine comes with a CD/DVD drive. Apple stopped shipping CD/DVD drives on their desktops in 2012, and laptops in the model-year of 2012, which were sold until 2016. Some Windows machines still come with CD/DVD drives, but they are few and far between.
Another indicator of age in a computer is whether or not it has a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD). HDDs are a spinning disk that all of your data is kept on. While they come in much larger storage options, they are far slower than SSDs, which involve storage chips that a computer can quickly access.
Something that Raitt said is very important is that the computers are designed to run the most modern operating systems.
Windows will be ending support for Windows 10 on October 14, except for users who pay for an extra year of security updates. This means that any PC you purchase should either run Windows 11, or be able to run Windows 11.
The most modern version of macOS is macOS 15 Sequoia, which will be replaced with macOS Tahoe 26 around October. (Apple is changing their operating systems so that they are now numbered after the year they will see the most support under.) A list of supported Macs can be found at the bottom of this page.
Raitt added that if you are unsure of what computer to get, you can always visit a local store who can help.
“Come in and let us help you,” Raitt said. “Even if you don’t buy something from us, let us help you consult on it. At the end of the day, we want you to get the right stuff, whether we can provide it or not. That is who we’ve been for over 40 years.”
Some shops, like Computer Hardware, are able to run diagnostics on computers to make sure they are functional, and might be willing to be a meeting place, if asked.
When asked about buying a computer off Facebook Marketplace, Raitt said that you have to be careful of the listings, and to make sure that if you do buy on marketplace, you buy from someone trusted and local.
“If you don’t really know who these people are, I would not to it,” Raitt said. “Something brand new in the box but half priced, or something lightly used, I would say there is a flag there,”
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