I bought a 30,000 baht lap top in 2018 when I was travelling a lot more but since covid hit I rarely use it, probably used less than 50 times, its an asus a550v, intel core i7(3.5gb), 8gb ram(I had an extra 4gb added), 1tb hd, just sits in its case now, doubt I will ever use it again. Was a great buy at the time just not needed anymore.

On 7/23/2022 at 9:09 AM, Pdavies99 said:

Most 2nd hand laptops are for sale because:

They are outdated

Have charging issues

Can not handle user requirements

Etc

 

Lets face it, why are they for sale?

Corporate downsizng or upgrading.

 

I bought a Fujitsu i5 with Radeon graphics and USB3 for around 4600 baht on lazada. Maybe a 4 or 5 year model?

 

Nearly new, minor cosmetic damage, 14" display.

 

Runs Linux great and at 4600 baht, is considered disposable.

18 hours ago, Bruno123 said:

 

I doubt that you have ever encountered a 'BIOS virus' in your whole life, let alone encountered one on a second hand device. Windows 98 anyone?

 

People seem to just take the opportunity to post the most ridiculous things they can think of that they have read and then put them in writing here.

 

Unless you are an activist or some such, forget about any such scenario. If you want to be sure, Kaspersky offers a Firmware Scanner.

 

rrrr...  my best mate in the USA gets paid large sums of money to do penetration testing on various devices.  Have they infected me directly?  No, I'm pretty careful with my devices.   Have I seen them, and what they can do?  Absolutely.  The nonsense he was able to get even a simple cable TV box to do was insane!

 

Above statement aside, the likely reason no one on here has experienced it is the same reason I have not experienced it:  We are small-fry, no real returns on attacking us.

 

I recommend giving this a listen if you like IT security subject matter.  Insane how good some 'hackers' are nowadays (and this is from 2016!)  https://radiolab.org/episodes/ceremony

 

Oh, and here's some up-to-date info on your Kaspersky recommendation.  They have always been very good, but Ukraine situation changes that quite a bit:

https://cybernews.com/best-antivirus-software/kaspersky-antivirus-review/

14 hours ago, n8sail said:

Above statement aside, the likely reason no one on here has experienced it is the same reason I have not experienced it:  We are small-fry, no real returns on attacking us.

Exactly, nothing to worry about.

Main worry for the old fossils here is a phishing email with an offer for curing erectile dysfunction, BPH, or growing dementia. Or, say, a fake demand from facebook, gmail, or a bank that they change their passwords and info at a fake site.

 

14 hours ago, n8sail said:

Oh, and here's some up-to-date info on your Kaspersky recommendation.  They have always been very good, but Ukraine situation changes that quite a bit:

Get an earlier version. But then, being ultra cautious, you'll want to be sure you ignore this warning from Kapersky that came in today, obviously a plot by the Russians:

 

A report from Kaspersky today provides technical details about CosmicStrand, from the infected UEFI component to deploying a kernel-level implant into a Windows system at every boot.

The entire process consists of setting up hooks to modify the operating system loader and take control of the entire execution flow to launch the shellcode that fetches the payload from the command and control server.

     --CosmicStrand UEFI malware found in Gigabyte, ASUS motherboards

 

On 7/23/2022 at 7:52 AM, The Hammer2021 said:

Obviously Tuc Com...

Here is the OPs reply

 

I have just looked around tucom at the battered second hand laptops on offer. I have to agree, the used machines look pricey and they also look as though they suffered through a tornado.

 

So what is obvious about Tuc Com?

 

Sounds like you have no idea what you are talking about?

On 7/26/2022 at 11:52 PM, BigStar said:

Exactly, nothing to worry about.

Main worry for the old fossils here is a phishing email with an offer for curing erectile dysfunction, BPH, or growing dementia. Or, say, a fake demand from facebook, gmail, or a bank that they change their passwords and info at a fake site.

 

Get an earlier version. But then, being ultra cautious, you'll want to be sure you ignore this warning from Kapersky that came in today, obviously a plot by the Russians:

 

A report from Kaspersky today provides technical details about CosmicStrand, from the infected UEFI component to deploying a kernel-level implant into a Windows system at every boot.

The entire process consists of setting up hooks to modify the operating system loader and take control of the entire execution flow to launch the shellcode that fetches the payload from the command and control server.

     --CosmicStrand UEFI malware found in Gigabyte, ASUS motherboards

 

And UEFI was supposed to be the 'very difficult to compromise' fix for BIOS!

Luckily the affected motherboards from the article are all older 2015-2016 models and certainly wouldn't be purchased 2nd hand by anyone around here  ????

 

A comment on the article says that more than 40 new UEFI Rootkits have been discovered so far in 2022 alone, so it appears that this could be a growing concern.

The buffalo market (2nd hand market) on Thepasit rd usually has a couple of guys selling 2nd hand reconditioned laptops. 

A couple of off-topic troll posts and replies have been removed.

On 7/23/2022 at 7:16 PM, The Fugitive said:

Need to tell my Mrs that. She proudly presents me with 'bargain' laptops she's sourced. Now have 3 twin core 2.1 Ghz machines all with 4GB RAM dating from; 2009/2011/2012. 

I'm reading this forum on a 2010 Sony Vaio. I recently thew away a 2009 Compac laptop. Our 2011 MacBook Air has just gone beyond repair with a display sceen and battery problem that wouldn't be worth reparing. My main PC serves me fine, of 2010 vintage. I have some newer equipment too, but old laptops can serve you well depending on what you need them for. On average, a computer will serve me for over 10 years. The old machines do get some upgrades along the way and I also pull them apart and give them a good clean, and some fresh thermal paste.