[M.D. Holloway]

Got this advice from a friend...seems sound:

It should always be considered a 3 yr investment. So whatever the final price is divide by 3 and if you can’t get a real low end computer for that then it might not last you more than a year or two. On average I expect to spend $600-700 for a decent computer (desktop) and a couple hundred more for a laptop. ($700-$900).

Keep in mind that although you may not use the computer for much you still have to be able to power the applications of the future (all those updates that you are forced to install) if you want to continue to use it even for simple things like banking.

Look through online reviews of the model number to see what the most common complaint is. People will always give poor ratings but if you see things like “Freezes constantly” and “Locks up” repeatedly. Then it safe to say that you probably don’t what that machine. The reviews are usually pretty safe to buy if there is a decent number of them.