Why You Should Buy Refurbished Computers

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Raise your hand if you would buy a refurbished computer for you or someone you love. I suppose it depends on the situation but computers are so cheap nowadays, there really isn't much incentive to go the refurb route. Besides, a real [H]'er is supposed to build his own.

This is nothing like buying direct from a previous owner—the kind of scenario you'd get with eBay or Craigslist. Generally, this is a bargain you can trust. Why? If it comes from the manufacturer, it'll once again have a guarantee—at least, for a while. So if something goes wrong—and that usually happens early—you're covered.
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Steve said:
Raise your hand if you would buy a refurbished computer for you or someone you love. I suppose it depends on the situation but computers are so cheap nowadays, there really isn't much incentive to go the refurb route. Besides, a real [H]'er is supposed to build his own.
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If you need a basic box with a valid windows license, the off-lease stuff you find on the 'net is by far the best deal. I've seen P4's with xp pro licenses for $99 before....
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Robstar said:
If you need a basic box with a valid windows license, the off-lease stuff you find on the 'net is by far the best deal. I've seen P4's with xp pro licenses for $99 before....
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Yeah, just something to surf the net etc. etc. wouldn't be so bad ;)
 
If I didn't have so many 'spares' that I'll be giving away for Christmas, I would have bought my work's refurbs. Pentium-D for $49, Core 2 Duo for $89; $99 with Radeon 3540 graphics rather than Intel integrated.
 
Wholesale lots from the State surplus are always good too. I've bought plenty of those boxes (IBM) from there to give to family and less fortunate folks aswell. ($40-$100)
 
I've bought "used" parts on occasion, to upgrade an older system cheaply get another year or 2 out of it.
I've also bought a few "open box" systems for work, due to the manufacture no longer offering the system we had standardized on, and the newer system not being what we wanted.

Otherwise, I've sold a few "used/refurbished"" systems on ebay, and alot of old "used/refurbished" parts.
 
I've bought a Dell XPS M1530 from Dell Outlet Store which afaik are computers that are bought back after leasing them out to businesses and swapped constantly all the time. It was pretty reliable for me until I had the genius idea (retarded idea) of replacing it with an MSI GX670 which I will never buy from them again.
 
A good deal is a good deal. This is often a good way to beef up a relatives system for cheap.
 
just plan on replacing the hard drive and having no warranty on parts... then again I always build my systems because the warranty on the individual parts is cheaper and tends to be better than what comes with a system.
 
If the computer has a good motherboard and memory, it can last a decade plus, before stuff starts dieing on it. Refurbed computers can be a huge savings.
 
I have found the Dell outlet to be a awsome value when comcbined with the 15-20% coupons they give out every few weeks. Got my dads office 3 quadcore amd 4GB ram and 750Gb HD PC's for under $1000 shipped last summer. Great systems to toss a midrange videocard in for family imo.
 
I would buy one for my family members but for me? Fucking never.

But most people use the internet in such a sparing way so a super fast expensive computer is useless. I just setup my cousin who hardly ever uses the comp except to check email , surf and post on FB with a ASUS netbook , it was dirt cheap (250 bucks) and required little to no manual labor on my part.

People who barely use the internet = Buy a smart phone or a Netbook.
 
Money spent on an old computer is wasted money.

Yeah, maybe you can get a XP licence with a $99 computer (often these licences are tied to the old motherboard, making them worth much less). But, you can get a new copy of Widows 7 for $99 (which works with any motherboard). You can get Linux for free. Besides, don't you already own an old XP license, or was 2010 the first year you ever owned a computer? Ditto for any other part of the old computer.
 
I absolutely would. Both for family and me. Honestly - when you buy new there's this chance something just is broken and somehow didn't get tested (like some memory I recently had to return for 1 stick of the kit being completely dead), but with refurbished it's like the manufacturer had a 2nd chance. They've fixed it, and hand tested it to make sure it is working (something that might not have happened the first go around). Retailer refurbished might be iffy, but manufacturer refurbished? I see no reason to avoid it if you're getting a discount.

Take the Nook - $199 new, $99 refurbished. Refurbished one has same warranty, even comes in a RETAIL box with stickers and everything the exact same as retail. Are you really going to say 'Nah, I'll go with the $199 one because I hate the idea somebody touched this before me'?
 
I bought a laptop refurb a few months ago. I got a killer deal. Its a Gateways NV5378U. It's got 500 GB HD and 4 Gs of ram. I only paid $400 from CompUSA. I haven't had any problems with it. Seems super fast for internet use. I use it mainly to play poker and surf the web. I'ts got an AMD processor. If I wanted to buy a similar laptop new would have cost me almost $550.
 
I bougth my gateway refurb I7 for a great price at the time. If it was today I would ahve passed but at the time I couldnt have built the same rig for the price, next rig tho Im definately building cuase of the slight limitations provided by a Retailers release (cant overclock, low rated PSU)
 
forget buying refurbished. find some old crap computers and make your own, i have been doing this for years. my parents are STILL using my amd athlon xp 1600+ system after i abused it for 4 years. i think we'd be over 9 years later now. and guess what? works great for xp and email.
 
For laptops, without a doubt.
For desktops.... It be an option, but prolly not my first.
 
I bought an HP TX 2000 laptop/tablet refurbished a few years ago. It lasted about 9 months before the northbridge on the motherboard overheated and melted. This wouldn't have been a problem with a normal 1 year warranty, but the refurbished PC only carried a 6 week warranty.

There are some good deals from refurbished parts, but I won't buy a complete refurbished PC again without at least a 12 month warranty on the system.
 
The idea of buying a refurb desktop always brings back the nightmare of a lemon that my old packard bell pentium 60 was, that was supposedly "new" and required replacing the motherboard, modem, cdrom, keyboard, mouse, floppy drive and even the CRT monitor it came with all on separate occasions within the span of 3 years(only part of it happened within the warranty). Only to find out eventually years later that packard bell had a stint of selling "new" computers packed with junk refurb parts and mine was from that batch. My next system after that was a local company built new celeron 266, that I eventually upgraded to a 300a, found out I could hit 450mhz with it and I've built my own since. After that various batches of my old parts have been frankensteined into basic workstations for family members, and the only big name computer I've bought was after I got sick of being the family techsupport guy so I got mad and bought my mom a dell.

But a refurb system? Hell no. The occasional good deal on a refurb component here and there maybe, but system? I'd rather go poke aerodynamic speed holes in my car with a pick-axe.
 
Refurb for a desktop is probably fine. there are WAYY too many things that can go wrong with laptops (plus the possibility of physical abuse that didn't leave marks) for me to ever consider buying a refurb laptop.

Well, maybe if I got a 1 yr warranty and used a credit card that doubled the warranty.
 
Can't think of a reason to buy an old PC for a multitude of reasons. High-end: won't find 'em. Mid-range, new is cheap. Low end, new is cheaper. Doesn't matter if you use them for web-serving, home-control, etc.

HOWEVER...they make awesome gifts for those who otherwise can't afford them (the poor, and the poor schools), but only if you conscientiously QC them first, and stand behind them for a year.
 
accidentalsuccess said:
Well, maybe if I got a 1 yr warranty and used a credit card that doubled the warranty.
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Credit card "buyer's assurance" policies (what gives the doubled warranty normally) do not apply to refurbished items. :p Just wanted to point that out.

My last few laptops have all been from the Dell Outlet. I'm happy with my current XPS 16 with i7 720m, 1080p RGB LED screen and BD drive I ordered for $820 several months ago. It's incredibly awesome, and I got it for about 1/2 the price it would have cost new.
 
Merc1138 said:
The idea of buying a refurb desktop always brings back the nightmare of a lemon that my old packard bell pentium 60 was, that was supposedly "new" and required replacing the motherboard, modem, cdrom, keyboard, mouse, floppy drive and even the CRT monitor it came with all on separate occasions within the span of 3 years(only part of it happened within the warranty). Only to find out eventually years later that packard bell had a stint of selling "new" computers packed with junk refurb parts and mine was from that batch. My next system after that was a local company built new celeron 266, that I eventually upgraded to a 300a, found out I could hit 450mhz with it and I've built my own since. After that various batches of my old parts have been frankensteined into basic workstations for family members, and the only big name computer I've bought was after I got sick of being the family techsupport guy so I got mad and bought my mom a dell.

But a refurb system? Hell no. The occasional good deal on a refurb component here and there maybe, but system? I'd rather go poke aerodynamic speed holes in my car with a pick-axe.
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I had one of those Packard Bell Pentium 60s, except mine was new. That thing ran for over 10 years before it gave up the ghost. Bought it in '94, died in '06.
 
seems like the only way to go if you want a cheap laptop without getting some lame Walmart bottom feeder. And then 90% of idiots on craigslist overprice their outdated laptops.
good laptop with BIG hard drive! no problems! has XP and office loaded! Only $270!
 
A good deal is a good deal. It's all relative. I do think folks with CF current generation GPU's running Eyefinity shouldn't be using the word cheap. :)
 
A couple years ago a friend of mine bought a new Gateway gaming laptop for $1200. Two months later I found the exact same laptop refurbished for $600.

Both our laptops are still working just fine to this day, 2.5 years later.
 
The only decent refurbs I would buy would be from Directron.. they have some really cheap p4 type systems (single core, but still 3Ghz and fast enough for most consumer web users)

They come from schools usually I think, just throw in a cheapo 2GB ram stick to replace to the low ram and you can get a system with crappy CRT for like $140.....
 
Dylan80 said:
The only decent refurbs I would buy would be from Directron.. they have some really cheap p4 type systems (single core, but still 3Ghz and fast enough for most consumer web users)

They come from schools usually I think, just throw in a cheapo 2GB ram stick to replace to the low ram and you can get a system with crappy CRT for like $140.....
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wtf:rolleyes:
 
haha, here's what they say on all their refurbs.... answers the topic title with many users too :)

Applications for This Inexpensive Computer: (1) This computer makes a perfect system for "waiting room computers." You can place this computer in the waiting room of your office, so your visitors can play simple games, it will make the waiting time to faster. (2) The computer also is an excellent choice as the first computer for small children - little ones then won't fight over computer with the parents or older kids. (3) Use these in classrooms, these actually came out of classrooms. They are ideal to be used in various class rooms for entry-level computer usage. They are networked and can access Internet! (4) Buy these to donate or ship overseas. (5) This once powerful Pentium 4 system will work perfectly as kiosk stations for order taking, Internet accessing, and many other applications. (6) This system is a great low-cost replacement for Pentium II and Pentium III machines out there. (7) A few more great applications: call center work stations, Internet access stations, web hosting, data center, and terminals. A local call-center ordered hundreds of this product as a much more cost-effective way to add workstations to their office. With such a low cost, they don't care if their people beat up / abuse the equipment quickly.
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freshmtb said:
wtf:rolleyes:
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WTF what? Those systems are good for grandmas, aunts, etc.... they even come with crappy dedicated nvidia cards for playing youtube video decent. For $150 shipped I'd like to find a better deal... so point one out thats cheaper, if you can, in a PM.
 
Ive been buying refurbs (laptops) from the Dell outlet with the usual 20% coupons for myself and relatives for quite awhile now. No complaints or problems except a screen issue on one that was fixed quite quickly by Dell.
 
Dylan80 said:
No way, I figured a place like this tech forum would build their own for much cheaper. :D

I like Dell outlet though when they have those killer deals on monitors, but I build my own systems. I am surprised you don't build them but maybe you have a Dell corp discount or something for the [H] company.
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If you're running a business you usually don't want to build your own servers or desktops. Spending time troubleshooting or rebuilding a system can cost you a lot of time and money, and prevent you from making sales or providing a service.

It's much easier to have an OEM send you the replacement part overnight or have someone come out to fix it on-site.
 
canna said:
I had one of those Packard Bell Pentium 60s, except mine was new. That thing ran for over 10 years before it gave up the ghost. Bought it in '94, died in '06.
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Mine was also "new", it wasn't until a few years later PB got called out for selling "new" computers made with refurb components as if they were brand new and scamming consumers. It's entirely possible your new system was also actually loaded with refurb components, consider yourself lucky it actually lasted any length of time.
 
Merc1138 said:
Mine was also "new", it wasn't until a few years later PB got called out for selling "new" computers made with refurb components as if they were brand new and scamming consumers. It's entirely possible your new system was also actually loaded with refurb components, consider yourself lucky it actually lasted any length of time.
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Actually, several large companies were doing the same thing, and the parts in dispute weren't necessarily "refurbished." I worked for a major computer OEM at the time and the settlement affected the company I worked for too. To start, the refurbished label is a bit misleading. What the parts actually were is very different from the concept of repair & resell that usually is equated with refurbished.

What would happen (at PB and the company I worked for) is that unsold inventory could come back, and the parts that were never touched or used by consumers were stripped out and put into "new" computers. It was also possible that some computers were returned to the stores and then returned to the manufacturer, and the parts that tested good had the same thing done. The settlement forbid both practices since it was decided after building a computer, the item is no longer new. It totally makes sense in the second case, but the first case is kind of a dumb ruling.

It was common at the time for computer companies to salvage the good parts, and as I mentioned it wasn't limited to PB. To understand why companies did it, it was and still is fairly common for people to buy something, declare that it doesn't work, then return it when in most cases there is nothing wrong with the product. (My stat from when I worked in a returns department when I was younger: 80% of the products did not have the stated problem when returned and stress tested fine, and that was from professional integrators. LOL n00bs.)

In the data I saw at the time, relatively few computers used any such parts. So "possible" is true, but it's unlikely that any computer purchased in a new box at a store used refurbished parts in the repaired sense. It was "possible" that a "new" computer may have had parts that were never used by a consumer or that had been returned with nothing wrong with it, but assembled in another system. Yeah, it's pretty straightforward now that they shouldn't have done it, but it was a common practice at the time. It's also strange that only PB takes the fall on it too, probably to the relief of other companies.

This was something clear at the time that seems to have been forgotten and replaced with exaggerated lore since. Just thought I could fill in a little history. ;)
 
I buy all my macbooks and macbook pros refurbished. They always come good as new, often better as new, as was the case with my current mbp... Came with 2x 2gb sticks of RAM when the specs simply listed 2gb. Bitchen.
 
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