Buying a used laptop can be a great way to save a lot of money, especially if you’re looking to buy one that’s pretty powerful. The best laptops can be very expensive brand-new, so buying used (or refurbished) can shave off a non-trivial amount — and you still get to enjoy all the same features and performance advantages. But buying a used laptop can also be fraught with risks. What if the seller lied to you about its condition? What if the battery has been cycled too many times? What if there’s a dead pixel or two on the display? Or what if it doesn’t come with a valid Windows license key? I addressed a lot of these concerns in my previous article on whether buying a used laptop is safe. In this article, I’m going further with mistakes you need to avoid when buying a second-hand laptop. Mistake #1: Ignoring the warning signs You probably already know what I mean by this one. Does it seem too good to be true? Then it probably is. There are enough scammers, scalpers, and gray-area resellers on the web that any sufficiently good deal is going to catch interest. The chances of you being the only one who found that laptop at that spectacularly low price with all those impressive features before anyone else did… well, the chances are quite slim. Maybe if you’re browsing through your neighbor’s garage sale. But online? Forget about it. Maxim Hopman / Unsplash Any laptop that’s priced extremely low is either an outright lie or there’s something wrong with it that isn’t being disclosed. The laptop itself might even be in fantastic condition, but perhaps it’s stolen. Or maybe it’s been unofficially repaired and has voided its warranty. The same warning goes for any seller who has a poor reputation (or none at all). Don’t buy from new accounts (on open marketplaces like eBay) and don’t buy from non-reputable online stores that rank poorly on Trustpilot. Go one step further and don’t buy from anyone who clearly doesn’t know much about what they’re selling, and don’t buy a used laptop from anyone who can’t, or won’t, disclose details. When in doubt, walk away. It’s far better to get an okay deal on an okay laptop than to get a great deal on a bad laptop or to get scammed. Mistake #2: Not asking any questions I know it can be awkward to be a hardball buyer, but when you’re buying a used laptop, it’s really important to get as much information from the current owner as you can. How long have they had it? How hard have they run it? Does it have any physical defects? Can they send you a picture of the screen turned on? Can they send you a battery health report? (If they don’t know how to, send them to our quick guide to checking battery health.) Ashkan Forouzani / Unsplash If you’re buying a top-end laptop and you’re worried about performance loss, get them to run a few benchmarks for you, too. Don’t forget to get warranty information and, if they still have it, ask for a copy of the receipt from their original purchase. If the seller is evasive or overly combative about any of this, look elsewhere. The risk isn’t worth it. Mistake #3: Overlooking hands-on time Whenever you’re buying something you intend to use day in and day out, the gold standard is to always try it hands-on yourself. Nothing beats the ability to look at the screen up close, run your own performance and battery tests, check that none of the keys are sticky or broken, listen to the fan noise, feel the chassis and make sure it doesn’t overheat, etc. It’s all invaluable information. Vardan Papikyan / Unsplash Of course, hands-on testing isn’t always possible when buying online. But if you’re buying locally — such as on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist — and if you’re going to do local pickup, then you may as well negotiate a little bit of hands-on time when you go to pick it up. If you find a problem during hands-on testing, you’ll be in a much better position to decide whether to go through with the purchase, or haggle for a discount, or walk away altogether. Mistake #4: Buying an outdated model Laptop makes and models can be confusing, especially in cases where a certain laptop model has the exact same name across multiple generations. But even models within the same generation can have wildly different hardware under the hood despite similar names. This issue makes it riskier when buying a used laptop because the seller may have it listed as one thing when it’s actually another — and they may not even be doing it intentionally or maliciously. You might be paying the price for a 2024 model but getting the 2023 or 2022 model, which is likely outdated and flat-out worse. Even if this laptop is in brand-new condition, it’s still several years old — and even back when it came out, it was entry-level! Avoid.Asus Make sure that you’re certain of the laptop model you’re buying and what hardware it should have inside. Get the seller to send you a screenshot of the system’s specifications, then check laptop reviews for that model with that hardware to see how good it performed when it was new. If you can, look at reviews for comparably priced new laptop models, too. If it’s more than a couple of years old, you might find something newer that’s equally capable but with fresh features and a longer warranty. Mistake #5: Skipping the return policy Unless you’re okay with the idea of buying a laptop and receiving a total brick that you have to toss, always make sure to buy through a site or marketplace that offers a proper return policy and protections. Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, eBay, Swappa, and even Facebook Marketplace are pretty good with returns. You can even use these return policies to try out laptops at home before committing. Markus Spiske / Unsplash Be wary of buying big-ticket items like laptops through sites like Craigslist, as there’s little in the way that protects you as the buyer from outright scams and lies. If you have to use a site like that, make sure you test the laptop yourself in person before handing over any money. Mistake #6: Expecting perfect battery life If the used laptop you end up buying has been used a non-trivial amount, it’s unlikely to have the best battery life. Every time a laptop battery is recharged, it loses a tiny bit of its overall capacity — so the more often it’s been used, the more its battery will have deteriorated. That said, it’s probably not going to be terrible, either. A MacBook Air that had almost 20 hours of battery life when brand-new is still going to have plenty of battery life even after hundreds of hours of use. Panos Sakalakis / Unsplash For most used laptops that aren’t beaten into the ground, expect something like 50 to 85 percent of its original battery life. Gaming laptops might be more noticeable, though. Those usually only have a few hours of battery life to begin with, so once their batteries are worn down, you might only have an hour or two total capacity. Related: Is it bad to leave a laptop always plugged in? Fortunately, there’s a simple way to check any laptop’s battery health. if you’re really worried about it, you can ask the seller (see Mistake #2) to generate a laptop battery health report for you. Hopefully it’s been looked after well and hasn’t deteriorated too much. Mistake #7: Not securing a valid OS license When buying a used laptop, make sure it comes with a valid license (also known as product key) for whatever operating system it ships with. You’ll need the OS license key if you ever make hardware upgrades to the laptop or if you ever reinstall the operating system. Alexander Grey / Unsplash In most cases, the product key is on a physical sticker on the laptop. Otherwise, you should ask for a paper copy. (Rarely, a laptop’s OS product key is tied to the machine as a “digital entitlement,” in which case you don’t need it as it’ll auto-activate.) If the seller doesn’t have it, or if they provide it as digital text only, then the operating system might be counterfeit, stolen, or pirated. Sure, you could always buy a retail product key on your own, but that’s an additional expense to bear. Plus, it could be a red flag that the laptop isn’t as legitimate as the seller is letting on. Proceed with caution. Get Windows 11 Pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro Mistake #8: Forgetting to wipe and reset Whether you buy a used laptop from a person or an online store, it will probably have been wiped clean and it almost certainly won’t have been loaded with malware to steal your data. But there’s a non-zero chance of that happening — better to be safe than sorry, right? FeriDhaniHasri / Shutterstock If you have even the slightest doubt as to whether your newly acquired used or refurbished laptop is completely clean, then you should go ahead and wipe it yourself with a factory reset. Better yet, zero-fill the drive and manually re-install the operating system just to be sure. It’s probably not a bad idea to physically wipe down the laptop with something anti-microbial, too, since even the best used laptops can come with a side of ickiness, especially in the keys. Further reading: How to properly clean a disgusting laptop Read...

Hitachi Vantara has unveiled new features for its Virtual Storage Platform One, enhancing data management to meet the soaring demand for storage solutions. Read...

The platinum and gold watch features precious stones including rubies and sapphires. Read...

New features and subscription tiers help Kiwi customers see more, know more and protect more with Ring Home. Read...

Siemens has expanded its partnership with Microsoft, bringing the NX X software to Azure with advanced AI features to enhance user experience and productivity. Read...

BlackFog has unveiled its next generation enterprise platform, enhancing ransomware protection with features like air gap security and AI-based monitoring. Read...

Fleet has unveiled expanded multi-cloud features enhancing observability for servers and Kubernetes containers, aiming to improve data access in production. Read...

Tech Data has enhanced its StreamOne cloud platform with new features to improve customer experience and support partner growth across Asia. Read...

Guidewire has unveiled AI-enhanced underwriting and claims applications, aiming to boost insurance productivity with features like Claims Intel and Las Leñas. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros 1080p at 60Hz, which adds to a “TV-like” feeling Excellent utility software doesn’t compete with other apps Solid image quality, if maybe a bit dim Excellent zoom function Cons No integrated mic HDR didn’t noticeably improve the camera quality AI features require Nvidia SDK A little pricey Our Verdict Elgato’s Facecam Mk. 2 addresses a number of shortcomings of the original, excellent 1080p, 60Hz webcam. The lack of an integrated mic is its only major shortcoming. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Elgato Facecam Mk. 2 Retailer Price $149.99 View Deal $149.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket If Elgato’s Facecam Mk. 2 sounds like a sequel, that’s exactly what it is. Unfortunately, the lack of a key feature — a microphone — still hasn’t been resolved, leaving this 1080p webcam still a little overpriced. Otherwise, it’s quite good. Our review of Elgato’s original Facecam noted several features were left out, including a privacy shutter and HDR. To its credit, Elgato listened, and those features have now been built in. The Facecam is one of the few webcams that captures at a TV-like 60Hz, though at fixed focus. It also maintains its Sony CMOS sensor, a strong point in favor of the original Facecam. If 1080p resolution is too limiting, Elgato also sells a 4K60 “Pro” version for $299 — though that webcam lacks a mic, too. (Elgato’s argument is that these mics were originally built for streamers, and streamers will have already purchased an upgraded, standalone mic anyway.) If the Facecam’s MSRP of $149.99 is too much, Elgato also has a cheaper 1080p model, the Facecam Neo. Our Facecam Neo review found it somewhat limiting, however. This review informs our ongoing list of the best webcams for your PC. Elgato Facecam Mk. 2: Build quality The Elgato Facecam Mk. 2 is of average size, about 3 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep. It’s about 1.25 inches high, when the mount is excluded. A removeable USB-C cable plugs into the back of the webcam, connecting to a USB-A port on your PC. I took a yardstick and confirmed the cable’s 79-inch (about 6.5 feet) length. Elgato recommends that you plug the cable into a USB 3.0 (5Gbps) port on your PC, instead of a hub; this shouldn’t be an issue on a new PC, but double-check if you use an older one. Elgato’s Facecam Mk. 2 wasn’t heavy enough to overburden my laptop.Mark Hachman / IDG The Facecam clamps onto your monitor using a “tooth” that juts over the top of your display or laptop; a pair of “jaws” allows the webcam to rest against the back of your display. You can then manually adjust the webcam down or up to center yourself. There’s nothing especially unique about the design, although I prefer webcam “jaws” to be made out of something soft or sticky, to prevent the webcam from jiggling around — the Facecam Mk. 2’s plastic is a bit smoother than I’d like. I don’t ever detach a webcam to mount it separately, but there’s a standard 0.25-inch threaded hole in the base of the webcam for a separate mount, along with a thumbscrew to detach and secure it. A small LED lights up when the camera in use. Otherwise, you can crook a finger or thumbnail to drag the privacy shutter from one side. Since the webcam lacks a microphone, you don’t have to worry about being heard. Mark Hachman / IDG Elgato Facecam Mk. 2: Performance Elgato recommends that you download the Elgato camera app (Camera Hub) before you start using the webcam, and the app was one of the highlights of our earlier Facecam review. Why? Many webcam apps contend for control of the video output, including preview. If you’re in Zoom or Teams, for example, and decide that you don’t like the way you look, you often must shut down that app to allow the webcam’s preview function to work. Elgato’s Camera Hub software doesn’t operate like that — you should be able to make real-time adjustments to brightness, contrast, or zoom in the Camera Hub app, and see those show up in real time in the other application. It’s worth noting that the Camera Hub software has advanced fairly significantly over the past few years. As it does now, it offers both manual and automatic controls for the picture, exposure, white balance, and more. But the camera now has an adjustable field of view/zoom function, which zooms in from 85 degrees on in, and can cut out most of the background. Elgato’s omission of an integrated mic really hurts this webcam’s appeal for a mainstream audience. Otherwise, the Facecam Mk. 2 performs quite well, with utility software that’s truly excellent. A shot using Elgato’s Facecam Mk. 2, using the Camera Hub software. It’s essentially the same as the image below, but zoomed in with the camera controls visible.Mark Hachman / IDG For that matter, the webcam now includes face-tracking features, blurring and background replacement. It does so (at least on my laptop, which included a discrete GPU), using an Nvidia video SDK. Installing that SDK tripped my laptop’s Local Security Authority protection, a security feature within Windows 11’s core isolation, and blocked the installation. Microsoft’s support documentation says that Windows is supposed to analyze when this happens, but I had to manually override it to get it to install. I was quite impressed with the photos that the Elgato Facecam Mk. 2 took. I actually took this photo first, in afternoon side light. For some reason, it looked much brighter on my laptop’s display as it took this shot than in the screenshot that I captured — bright, well exposed, with great color accuracy. At default settings, the field of view is at its widest at 82 degrees. Flipping on the HDR didn’t really do anything in dimmer lighting situations, but it’s quite useful to even out the shadows and lit areas under these conditions. For 1080p, it was quite good. Mark Hachman / IDG About the only thing I didn’t like was that the webcam doesn’t really seem to make any adjustments when changing the exposure. My indoor, office shots (a bit down the page) use a screen because there’s a window directly behind me, which affects the exposure. A good camera will adjust for my face, blowing out the window’s light. I didn’t quite see that, and adjusting the controls for spot or average metering didn’t really make a difference. You can’t specify a spot (such as my face) and use that as the “correct” point to adjust the lighting. What you can do with this camera is manually configure the ISO and shutter speed, which allows you to brighten up the image without the need for external lighting. This is fairly unique. Note that the Camera Hub software has color temperature controls, which allows you to make some adjustments for skin tone. My example shots leave it in the “auto” mode, however. Downstairs in my dimly lit cave of an office, most of the light is artificial. Perhaps it was just the brightness of my monitor, but the images looked a bit more vibrant on my screen as I was taking screenshots. I can’t deny that the images are a bit dimmer than some of my other test webcams that I used for comparison, so you’d be best served by taking photos and video in brighter light. Mark Hachman / IDG Since the Elgato Facecam Mk. 2 lacks a microphone, I was unable to test it. Should you buy the Elgato Facecam Mk. 2? The lack of an integrated microphone is a big omission — not for streamers, but for the average user. On the other hand, your laptop probably includes an integrated microphone — desktops don’t, however. If you reside in the former camp, you may be able to get away with buying this webcam, which is otherwise very good. I honestly think the screenshots, for whatever reason, undersell the quality of the camera’s shots. Elgato’s Camera Hub utility is straightforward and practical as well, and adds value. I still feel like Elgato is charging too much for this webcam, especially as it’s missing a key piece. But I was also quite impressed with what it did deliver. If you have access to a standalone or integrated mic, Elgato’s Facecam Mk. 2 is absolutely worth a look. Read...