Refurbished Laptops?

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SpicyCurry

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Does anyone have experience with refurbished laptops? There's a refurbished laptop I'm looking at that has great specs for the price.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6089226&CatId=4965

I've only bought refurbished video cards in the past. With video cards, I can understand that people may return them without the product actually being defective (e.g. their power supply couldn't handle the card, the card doesn't fit in their case, they realized they wanted a different card, etc.).

However, refurbished laptops make more hesitant because I would think people would main return laptops if there actually was a defect. Anyways, does anyone have personal experience to share on the matter? Thanks.
 
If I was goin to buy a used laptop I would always buy from the company website, like Lenovo outlet or Dell outlet stores

Since it's their laptop they will recertify the warranty and will handle your concerns
 
I've seen better laptops at Staples for cheaper when they are on clearance.
 
I only buy refurbs, you can save SO much money, I just bought this Alienware M17x R2 for $3k (includes 2 years of Complete Care which added $300 to the price as well as tax and S&H), if you spec this out on Dell's Site it will cost about $4,600 (w/ 2 years of Complete Care which covers accidental damage).

i7-920XM (8MB L3, 1MB L2, 2.0 GHz)
17" RGB LED (1920x1200)
4GB Ram
320GB HDD
Win 7 Ultimate
Blu-ray combo (not burner)
Crossfire 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5870m
Intel 6300 Wireless-N
9-cell battery
 
I bought my dell laptop 3 years ago which was a refurb and its still doing well.
also got a toshiba satellite laptop thats been going 2 years and well.
i guess its just little bit of luck?
 
Gagnon said:
I only buy refurbs, you can save SO much money, I just bought this Alienware M17x R2 for $3k (includes 2 years of Complete Care which added $300 to the price as well as tax and S&H)...
Click to expand...

$3,000 for a used laptop? My god... I like the specs on it but, even so, that to me seems insanely expensive even with the extended warranty on it. Hell, for that much I would have demanded 8GB of RAM and at least a 640GB hard drive (yes, they exist for laptops) and a Blu-ray burner too... ;)

If I look for refurbs I go to the source itself, typically Dell Outlet, HP's refurbs online, or Lenovo's outlet as well. Also, there's always pawn shops too - I recently picked up a Dell Latitude E4300 which is a fantastic little 13.3" machine at a local pawn shop for $200+tax. Had some minor cosmetic damage to the casing/cover/hinges, and when I got it home I transferred the warranty into my name and was happy to see it had nearly 575 days left on it. Called Dell, said it's busted and I need it fixed, they sent out a tech 3 days later and replaced the damaged components, now it's literally like brand new again.

Best part? Dell still sells that E4300 in the same exact configuration today for $1800+... ;)

As for what hahajung said with respect to luck, it's definitely a factor in such purchases. Sometimes you get duds, so it's always a good idea to keep that in mind. I spent nearly 2 hours at the pawn shop giving that machine every diagnostic test I could come up with - I shop there with alarming frequency so they didn't have an issue with me hanging around so long. Not one issue with the laptop from the functional perspective, and I care about function over form so it was a no brainer buy on the spot. :D
 
Also had a great experience with one of my Alienware m17x R1 never had problems with it! and saved back then around 1500$ on it! so i think it's a study!
 
<Devil's Advocate>
A quick search shows the last 3 "UL50VT" sold on ebay went for around ~$400. I didn't check spec for spec, but I bet they are all in the ball park of the machine you're looking at. Tiger is giving a 3 month warranty. You could get this machine off ebay (just going buy the recent $ trends), add a squaretrade warranty and still be ahead $100 (and 9 months extra warranty). I'm just sayin...
</Devil's Advocate>

Refurb just means you pay less markup IMO. If they were selling it "As-Is", then I'd worry.
 
Gagnon said:
I only buy refurbs, you can save SO much money, I just bought this Alienware M17x R2 for $3k (includes 2 years of Complete Care which added $300 to the price as well as tax and S&H), if you spec this out on Dell's Site it will cost about $4,600 (w/ 2 years of Complete Care which covers accidental damage).

i7-920XM (8MB L3, 1MB L2, 2.0 GHz)
17" RGB LED (1920x1200)
4GB Ram
320GB HDD
Win 7 Ultimate
Blu-ray combo (not burner)
Crossfire 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5870m
Intel 6300 Wireless-N
9-cell battery
Click to expand...

Agreed. Almost all of my laptops (and all of my Dells) were purchased refurbished. Consider it like buying a slightly used car... once the new car is driven off the lot, it depreciates 15% in resale value regardless of it still being "new".

Hate to break it to you, but I just got that exact same spec'ed m17x +6GB RAM and 500GBHD - the extra care (only got 1 yr warranty) for $1900. Only drawback for me is it is lunar silver, not the black I was hoping for. Dell outlet coupons are your friend, especially if you have a stackable one :)
 
I bought a used laptop on ebay, turns out it was refurbished and the thing was brand new with plastic wrapping and everything, i assumed it was opened, but never used and returned. dont immediately overlook a "refurb" just because, but be careful.
 
I would also ass that if you buy used, make sure you can fix a laptop and tear it down. You will usually be on you own for repairs.
 
I just picked up a recertified ASUS G73JH-RBBX05 off newegg. I'll let you know how it goes, but it does come with a 30 day return policy from newegg and a 90 RMA policy from ASUS so I'm good for 3 months atleast lol :D.
 
Just bought an 15" Inspiron from the dell outlet store for $362 total. Not a bad price, and other than a few smudges (wiped off easily), it looked new. Came with a one year mail-in warranty. As harmattan said, Dell Outlet coupons can come in handy. I used a 20% off coupon.
 
My old man bought a refurbished Gateway from TigerDirect about 3 years ago and it's been great. No problems at all.

Like schizrade mentioned though, it's a good idea to be at least somewhat comfortable with tearing down a laptop. I think it's been 9-10 AC-power connectors (HP computers) that I've had to de-solder, replace and re-solder on various out-of warranty laptops. Most repair shops will charge you for the price of a replacement motherboard+labor and then wont actually do the swap, instead electing to botch the solder job. One customer mentioned a potential $500 repair bill. :eek:

It can get expensive if you're a rook, but replacement components are plentiful on ebay and tear-down/rebuild documentation is available for almost any notebook if you search correctly.
 
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