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Question

Evaluating performance of 2nd hand laptop purchased

Feb 16, 2016 2:15PM PST

Hi guys,
I have recently purchased Lenovo T430S (used) with the following specs:
Core i5 3rd gen
4gb ram
500 gb SATA hard drive
plus i have 15 days warranty

a). Can u guys please suggest me different tests that i can perform on this laptop to make sure that it's defect free

b). Secondly, i have been using for half a day now.
It is taking little long in displaying webpage when i switch pages in chrome. Is it normal ? i am not having good feeling about it.

c). With the specs mentioned above, should i except the system to "held" at any point ?

d). The shopkepper offered me that SSD drive is faster than SATA and hence i should keep Windows on SSD Drive and install SATA drive for space purposes. Do you guys agree

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Anyone ?
Feb 17, 2016 5:52AM PST

Anyone please answer my questions ?

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Used gear is just that.
Feb 17, 2016 7:30AM PST

As we can't be sure of it's prior history, no one can predict it's life span or if it will be problematic.

That said, I don't like dual HDD setups. Not that they don't work but I find most can't deal with it. For 120 bucks I've picked up 512GB SSDs and my work and more fits with 100+GB empty space.

That said, I like laptops with i3 or better, 8GB RAM and SSDs. The users tend to be happy with them.

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Considering to switch to SSD
Feb 17, 2016 7:56AM PST

At that time, shopkepper was offering me to install 180 SSD instead as per him it would provide better performance. I am also convinced that current HHD is not providing up to the mark performance.
I am considering to switch to SSD option and then upgrade it later. what other test can i perform to check performance of laptop


moreover, please suggest me software to check hard disk check, if any available

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Hard disk test software
Feb 17, 2016 8:03AM PST

Is from the HDD maker. As I don't see a maker, I can't be specific.

500GB HDDs here are 45 buck items. Testing costs more than that in the shop so we replace rather than test.

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Driive maker
Feb 18, 2016 12:46AM PST

how can i chek maker of hard drive. can u guide me little so that i can tell u .
is 160gb ssd good bargain for 500gb sata ?
mean speaking price wise. do they both cost same ?

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Re: drive
Feb 18, 2016 12:55AM PST

To determine the maker of the hard drive look at the label on the drive (you have to open the case for that), in Device Manager or in the output of msinfo32 (from the start-run box). If you only see a model number and not the name of the maker, google that.

For prices of drives, look at a few shops where you consider buying them to get an idea. But I doubt if you can still buy a new HDD as small as 500 GB.

Kees

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Hard disk specs
Feb 18, 2016 11:56PM PST

Toshiba MQ01ABF050 - hard drive - 500 GB
This hard disk is currently installed in the system and it is not performing well for sure. the response time of window explorer is lagging big time.
So i have decided to replace SATA with SSD.
Kindly suggest me how to test system after replacing hard drive to ensure that system is performing fine and hard drive is not making any issue

and what are the good companies making SSD ?

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Now that SSD is out of the woods.
Feb 19, 2016 9:53AM PST

I have picked up many brands of SSD such as Silicon Power, Emtec, and the names on sale. Mind you the performance boost is such that I don't fret that I'm not seeing the high end numbers such as Samsung's EVO Pro but I'm not paying that much either.

Seems I can get 480 to 512GB SSDs on sale in the 120 to 130USD range. These are usually more than ample for everyday users.

But today I find folk expecting performance like they see in stores or videos on plain old HDD equipped PCs. I wish I could write a treatise why but with 4GB ram and a standard issue HDD you will wait.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Toshiba&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=Toshiba+drive+fitness+test finds the drive test.