If you are a gamer then you already know this machine isn't for you. For anybody else it's probably fine. I needed to replace my old desktop that cratered. I scrounged the memory and 1T HDD from the old unit and added a USB wireless which pimped this one out pretty good. So far with the SSD it boots quickly and runs everything I want it to (Office apps, Photoshop). Not bad for about $200. I could have bought a new machine but that would have been $500 more butI doubt there would have been $500 worth of performance to go with it. The packaging was that expanding foam stuff - it basically locks the unit in the box. There were a couple of minor scuff marks (nothing unexpected from a used machine) but the inside was spotless, no doubt from a quick cleaning). For some reason it came with a Dell keyboard and mouse. I wasn't going to use them anyway, but they need to remember that some of us have OCD and mixing names on the system isn't following the OCD rules.