In fact I'm quoting the current price. Said box immune from the M$henanigans re: new chip no updatey.
No, not married to hardware. I have upgraded hardware multiple times already in my same main system.
The hardware I am using is WAY better than what you just recommended. I “built” my favorite system myself. I have something like 5 other computers as good as your suggestion, but the system I like best was my complicated fast Vista 64 system, may her system now rest in peace.
What I WAS “married to” was maybe 100 programs and packages installed on that system, many of which have long installation procedures, and have very complex “settings” that require a lot of steps to tweak properly. I wanted to upgrade Vista 64 “in place” without disturbing many of those installations. The reason I spent $450 on two Win 7 Ultimates (I thought I lost one when I moved so bought a second Win 7U while I could) + Win 8.1 Pro was because it would cost me more in many days of time than to replicate my system on a new OS. Now I will have to do all that anyway, sigh.
If I had actually been able to upgrade to Win 7 Ultimate “in place” I would have later gone on to upgrade that hardware to a new motherboard and Skylake processor, but since that is now blocked CAPRICIOUSLY WITH PREJUDICE by Microsoft, it would have been an even worse waste of time for me than what happened.
I agree with you that (though only for average users) the refurbished systems like the Walmart system you mention are a very good value. It’s like buying a new car for most people to get a “new” computer: bad idea.
Sometimes new good deals do drop: A while ago I got two brand new Acer I5 2.8 GHz laptops with 8 mb memory, a 1 TB drive, a DVD writer (uncommon now), SD slots, a lighted wide keyboard, and a TOUCHSCREEN with Windows 8.1 and it was microsoft certified straight from MS with no crapware for $320 each! They had Windows 8.1. (That is the one I left plugged in when I went on vacation and when I came back it and much later ran it, it had been (illegally - Win 10 is a virus!) upgraded to Win 10 against my wishes. I had gone through steps to stop the upgrade, no thanks to MS, but must have missed some little thing.)
I gave the other one to my daughter.
I have since used the Acer Win 10 one as a “clean” system so that I would be better up to speed on Windows 10. Yep, it’s a virus. Runs OK, dumbed down a bit like a Mac, and SO annoying as a result. Windows 8.1 was better, Vista fully updated was the best (though they let it languish). Win 7 is OK but is not as good as everyone seems to think.
Unix based systems do not have the software I need - and other issues, it is not what I program for.
However, after I retire, I may well “marry” a -nix OS. I never plan to marry hardware.