Refurbished vs. New

[niquee__niquee]

Anybody had experiences with Refurbished computers before ? I was contemplating on buying one and still am. I'm interested in knowing how long your laptop lasted with a refurbished model?

 

[Eximo]

Well, you will never know why it was refurbished in the first place. So there is always a bit of risk.

Many refurbished laptops come from businesses. This means daily 8-10 hours of use. Fans and hard drives tend to fail easily. Others are customer returns, for any reason. Damaged product re-paired, (new screens, keyboards, drives, fans). Or they'll just take a whole bunch of non-working systems, strip them for working parts, and build a complete system.

Keep in mind they are trying to maximize their return, so they will cut corners whenever possible.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I picked up a scratch and dent from Dell a number of years back. It lasted without issue about four years. Then one of the RAM slots died. It survived on just the one RAM slot and the end of Windows XP support for another three years before finally failing. Perhaps not typical, but that was my experience. I'd consider getting another one if the deal was right.

-Wolf sends

 

[iBUYPOWER - Jason]

To be honest, refurbished products aren't too bad. They may have faced issues before, but the tech teams have fixed them to near perfection. Like Wolfshadow said, I'd opt for one if its a significantly lower price than a new similarly-configured PC.

Otherwise, I'd spring for a new PC to mitigate some risk (even new PCs can fall victim to failure). Also, keep in mind that the warranty for refurbished products are significantly shorter.

 

[niquee__niquee]

@Eximo @Wolfshadw @iBUYPOWER-Jason

Guess it's safe to say that a $170.00 mark down for a refurbished model isn't a grabbing deal if the original price is $599.99 and refurbished is $429.99

See I now have my eye of this Toshiba 14 in. i5 6GB 750 Hard Drive memory. I'd love to know if either of you had own this model before ?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-satin-gold/6863116.p?id=1219241420808&skuId=6863116

What I liked about the computer was its Satin Gold finish and it wasn't a bad price for it to be an i5 and have the substantial memory I needed . I'm only using it for Sims 3&4 and light researching .

 

[Eximo]

Relatively new computer with a 1 year parts warranty (meaning they will still charge you for any repairs)

i5-4210U is a decent processor. 6GB of memory is a little odd, but fine. Standard 5400rpm 750GB drive. 1920x1080 on the onboard intel graphics. The sims should run okay.

I tend to stick with mid-range laptops with discrete GPUs myself. My work laptop has those same basic stats as that Toshiba, but with an SSD.

 

[niquee__niquee]

@Eximo

What computer do you use for work?

 

[morgilroka]

Refurbished isn't all that bad tbh. I've bought laptops in the past refurbished. The way i look at it... After being refurbished you're getting something that the repair guys have had to personally look over (ensuring it's fixed/works)... Compared to factory line assembly.

Refurbished is a loose word anyway. Not only do they classify them as fixes.. but refurbs can also be a simple open box that must be sent back to the supplier. They can't mark this as brand new when someone has had the chance to tamper with it.

Obviously it's nice to have something brand new, but don't let refurbs scare ya, especially if the price is right. Just my $0.02.

 

[Eximo]

@Eximo

What computer do you use for work?

Dell Latitude E7440, i5-4200u, 8GB of memory, 240GB Liteon SSD, 15" 1920x1080 screen. It has some enterprise features that you won't want to pay extra for.