I currently own the following desktop:

HP p6644y
4gb RAM
64-bit
Pentium Dual Core CPU E5500
2.80 GHz

I bought it in 2010 and it has served me well. However, in the past year, this PC has slowed down greatly. Even though I have plenty of memory, it takes forever for some pages to open, and whenever I'm on Facebook, that site will freeze after about 10 minutes. Even local applications take a long time to open.

I've done all the usual maintenance - scanned for viruses and malware, cleaned my cache and registry, etc. But none of this had any impact.

I want to keep Windows 7 as I have no interest in the mess that is Windows 10. Best Buy has many refurbished PC's that are in the $200-$300 range and have a lot more memory than my current one. I also want another desktop.

Has anyone used a refurbished PC in the past? What do I need to look out for?

Thanks!

I've purchased refurbs from Dell in the past and had no problems with them. You might want to check what is available on their web site. They come with factory warranty and support, or at least they used to.

Whatever you buy, if it comes with a warranty from a known provider (e.g. Dell, Best Buy) then you can buy with confidence. Even a 90 day Warranty is better than a blind purchase from ebay.

What kind of specs can you get with $300?

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