Our Favorite Links

To refurbish means renovate, make new, or to clean.

That defines Bob Johnson's Computer stuff in a nutshell. At Bob Johnson's we buy desktops/laptops from different companies, and we clean them up, we repair, and make them just like new...in other words, we refurbish computers

Our staff works very hard to get the Dell, IBM, and Panasonic laptops that we receive in to work just like they just came off the assembly line.

The difference between buying new and buying refurbished today is:

With new brand new computers today the first downside is the operating system. Vista is a good OS however, like all new programs there is a lot of holes. The second downside all of your peripheral's (camera, some ipods, printers, scanners etc.) are not going to be compatiable with Windows Vista.

With refurbished laptops or desktops you are more likely to get one with Windows XP, an OS that you are familiar with, and that you know everything you have already (printer, scanner...) works with Windows XP.

I recently read this article about cheap desktop computers that are just as good as those $2,000.00 computers they sell in BestBuy. Now I understand not everyone can afford to spend that kind of money on a computer, but listen... When you go to Wal-Mart or KMart to buy this $300 desktop computer that you saw in Sunday's newspaper ad's you're getting what you pay for. With todays computers and their "Warranties" you need to be extremely careful.

Let's talk about that $300 desktop you saw in the paper.
*NOTE: THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL*
Specs:
Processor: Core Duo 2.6
Hard drive: 200g
Memory: 2040
Optical Drive: CDRW/DVDRW
Operating System: Windows Vista
Warranty: 30 days
Price: $299.99

Okay so you think this computer is steal because of everything you are getting for the low cost of $300 so you buy it and take it home for your family. A week you're having a problem, the computer just shuts it self off and on. So you give the warranty number a call and they say send it in for repair (since its under warranty you dont pay for the repair, only the shipping to Timbucktoo for it to get fixed.) So you send it in and 2 weeks later its back in your family room working like a charm. Now a couple of weeks later you have a really bad thunderstorm and there is a power surge, now your computer won't turn on at all! So you give that handy little warranty number a call, and here are two possible scenarios:

1) You have to send it in again, you spend an outrageous amount of time on the phone talking to someone you can barely understand to find out the problem you already know and you pay an arm and a leg for it
to get fixed. And you're out of the computer again for another 2-3 weeks.
2) They don't want a darn thing to do with you.

See, now I bet you're re-thinking this great deal on the $300 computer.

So you paid all this money for a piece of crap computer that keeps bugging out on you...how is that a great deal?

Why not pay less then that, for a great computer?
We have refurbished desktop computers..of course they are used but why does that rule them out of the equation? Computers are computers, and if they work just like they would if they were brand new, than why not spend less money for better quality?
Our refurbished computers are in great condition, they run fast, and work just like the would if they were out of the box new. Honestly, I don't see a difference between these refurbished computers and new ones..if anything I would buy a refurbished one.
Now Bob Johnson's Computer Stuff has great deals on desktop computers.

We have a great little Compaq Evo D510S. This desktop computer is $174.99.

We also have a Dell Optiplex GX260. This desktop is $189.99

Did I forget to mention the BJCS warranty?
The computer is warranted by us for as long as you own it. The first 30 days is parts and labor, then after the 30 days labor is covered forever. So if you just needed say another stick of memory you would only pay for the stick of memory, not labor. Or if you just needed a fresh OS (operating system) because the old one is cluttered, just send it in and let us know...that service is free of charge.

So besides all of the bells and whistles the $300.00 laptop offered, how was it actually a good deal? You spent a load of money shipping it there and getting it fixed. Now I have to say and no offense, but that really isn't a great deal at all if you ask me.
The $174-$189 desktops are a great deal. And if you wanted a cdrw or dvdrw we can order one, they only cost about $45.00. And memory is not that expensive to upgrade.

So I am currently reading this article about PC's in the back of Airline seats. Now as intriguing as this sounds to not have my laptop as a carry on, its a little odd. Not the fact that I don't need my laptop as a carry on, but the fact that they are putting computers in the back of airplane seats. I'm not going to downtalk todays advancements in technology because there has been a lot of good ones, however I can't get security issues out of my mind, and expenses.

Plane tickets are already expensive, but if we hae a computer in the back of every seat...won't the prices just increase? Also, in this article I was reading, this gentlemen paid for food, music, and a movie or two through this computer. This is very convienent, however you're entering you Credit Card information into a computer system...let's say there is about 100 seats on the airplane, give or take...you have to imagine at least one or two of those 100 people are very knowladgeable in computers. With todays terrorism issues, fraud, hacking etc. would you honestly feel comfortable with this?

I know for a fact that I would be far from comfortable inputing my credit card information into a computer network that would allow people to do basically whatever they choose to do during the flight.I think as great of an idea this is or could be, there are many, many downfalls to this idea.

So I read that Microsoft was being sued (big suprise) because before Vista was actually launched, Microsoft marketed some computer systems as being "Vista Capable." I guess that the consumers who bought these "Vista Capable" units didnt know that "Vista Capable" in Microsoft terms meant that this computer is only capable with Vista Home Basic, which is basically the red-headed step brother compared to the other versions.

Now if I were actually a Windows Vista consumer, I would be very disgruntled with Microsoft for allowing me to buy a computer that was only capable with one type of Vista. When you & I both know that in another month or two, they will have yet another version of Vista that we still wouldn't be able to use! That's crap! Apparently the people at Microsoft are only interested in making money, seeing how if I bought Vista today, I would most likely have to go out and buy a new printer, camera etc. because none of it would work. That's crazy! You know, I'm paying an outrageous price for a brand-spakin'-new computer I expect all of my equipment to work with it. I don't want to go out and spend more money on things I already have.

When I played with Vista in BestBuy it seemed like a great operating system. Or at least had that potential. But I don't understand why Microsoft makes these things so difficult for the modern user. People like myself, who grew up with a computer in their household, are very knowladgeable with computers, however most older people, like my father for example, just want to use the computer to talk to their relatives they don't see very often, to play an airplane game or two, and to peruse the internet for cool motorcycle parts. They don't want to burn dvd's or cd's, download music, create a slideshow of pictures...they just don't have that kind of experience to do those things. However Microsoft will make a computer that does pretty much anything you can think of, but can't make it simple enough that even my father can use it. But it seems that the only problems occur when someone tries to do these things and maybe has an error or two and then Vista decides its not going to work at all. I am completely baffaled by that. This is the force driving people back into Windows XP.

Understandabley Microsoft wants to introduce new products and ideas into the market to make some more money that they obviously need. (HA!) But they need to realize they are going to have a lot of dissatisfied customers once they stop releasing XP into the market. If I'm happy with XP why would you force me into something I don't like, and potentially lose a customer. Heck I may just be one customer that won't make much of a difference, but soon it will be thousands of customers, and potentially more. Once people realize that Windows is not the only operating system. Linux for example is an outrageously awesome OS, and the MAC OS is good too... I feel as if Microsoft didn't think this totally through. They should've made Vista more "User Friendly" or waited until all the kinks were worked out to release it.

BJCS does NOT support Vista, at least not yet. All of our refurbished computers come with Windows 2000 or Windows XP Pro. So you wouldn't have to worry about the problems of Vista. We have a CF-51 that is just as good as these brand new computers, but it comes with Windows XP Pro, and I know a lot of people want more memory and a bigger hard drive...people, these things aren't necessary, you can always upgrade them! Which we do offer.