Madmarch

A quick post about buying cheap tech and installing useful software. I work as a designer and I need a reliable, moderately powerful computer for my day job and my hobbies. 

In November 2025 I bought a Dell laptop for £229.99 fron IT Monsters Ltd on eBay. It’s the third second-hand PC I’ve bought in 10 years. I buy computers and phones second hand because it’s cheaper and better for the environment.

Here’s the specs for my new machine:

1. Model: Dell 7420
2. Operating system: Windows 11
3. RAM: 16GB
4. SSD capacity 512 GB
5. Chip: i5, 11th generation

I’d been using a 10-year old Mac but the operating system no longer supported Teams, which I use a lot in my daily work. That’s a good sign it’s time to upgrade.

I bought a refurbished laptop which could run Windows 11 – Microsoft withdrew support for Windows 10 in October 2025. Using an old operating system means you could be vulnerable to viruses so you need a computer which can run the latest version. Computers designed for Windows 10 can’t run Windows 11 properly – I’m taking Microsoft’s word for this.

I originally asked for a model with an i7 chip but the company didn’t have any in stock. They supplied me with an i5 chip which is more powerful than a lot of the more modern i7 chips on the market, and so far it’s worked fine.

I’d need a more powerful PC if I needed it for something which takes far more power, such as video editing or gaming. For my needs, an i5 chip is just fine. 

Software 

I use PCs for my work as an interaction designer, as well as my hobbies: music and art. I avoid software built by corporations where I can. 

Here’s the software I use: 

1. Firefox browser – an open-source browser which is run by the independent Mozilla foundation
2. Inkscape – a vector design program similar to Illustrator
3. Reaper – music recording software
4. Flashback Pro – screen recording and editing software
5. Github Desktop and VS code – software for writing and testing code
6. Slack – for work messaging

I don’t need a particularly powerful computer to run any of these. I have a 15 year old Mac that can handle all of them. 

I use the following software online, through Firefox:

1. MS office – Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams
2. Figma – design software you can use in the browser, mainly for work
3. Photopea – an in-browser clone of Photoshop, for touching up and editing images
4. Openprocessing – a JavaScript playground for artists and designers

I’ve also used Libre Office as a free alternative to Microsoft products. Most of the companies that hire me use Google or Microsoft software for regular office work so my PC needs to be able to handle them. 

Buying a Mac versus a second-hand PC

If I’m going to be honest, Macs are better-quality computers than PCs and last longer. Emily’s MacBook Air cost around £100 a month over two years and is likely to last us for 10 years. Buying a refurbished PC as a one-off payment is a short-term investment that usually works out.

I bought a PC for around £250 in 2015 that lasted me until 2021 – by then it was so decrepit it barely switched on. I’d used it almost daily for around 6 years so I consider that a good purchase.

On the other hand, I bought a PC for around £800 in 2021 because it had a powerful i7 chip and it gave me plenty of problems: the casing would pop open and I had to replace the batter and power supply, for around £100 each. It’s currently sitting at ‘blue screen of death’ which means there’s a serious problem with the operating system.

So, I’d avoid forking out that amount of money for a second-hand PC. If you spend less money on a properly refurbished machine it’s still likely to last you for a few years.

Hope this has been a useful post. Happy computing in 2026.