Author Topic: Refurbished laptops... (Read 2839 times)

K Frame · « **on:** September 17, 2018, 06:56:08 AM »

I mentioned that my HP tablet was having battery problems. Well, it's now got a much larger problem... I dropped it and apparently that has largely killed it. I can get it to turn on, but I have to flex the screen to get that to work. And, after it warms up a bit, it shuts down again.

I liked the tablet, but it was never as functional for my purposes as I had hoped that it would be, so I'm thinking that this time I'm going to get a laptop. I don't need much in the way of powder, as it will really be a surfing unit and to use when I travel, so I'm thinking refurbished.

Any thoughts?

Dell is going to be the likely choice, but there are a lot of vendors.. Dell, Zoom (Walmart), PCRefurb, there are a ton of companies that deal in this stuff.

Right now I'm looking at a Dell 5500s, 6400s, etc.

OS doesn't much matter to me, either 7 or 10 is good.

So, what says the hive mind?

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #1 on:** September 17, 2018, 08:12:17 AM »

I've had nothing but good luck with Dell Outlet products. Direct experience with both refurb and scratch & dent items. Go for it.

Brad

lee n. field · « **Reply #2 on:** September 17, 2018, 08:19:58 AM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on September 17, 2018, 06:56:08 AM

I mentioned that my HP tablet was having battery problems. Well, it's now got a much larger problem... I dropped it and apparently that has largely killed it. I can get it to turn on, but I have to flex the screen to get that to work. And, after it warms up a bit, it shuts down again.

I liked the tablet, but it was never as functional for my purposes as I had hoped that it would be, so I'm thinking that this time I'm going to get a laptop. I don't need much in the way of powder, as it will really be a surfing unit and to use when I travel, so I'm thinking refurbished.

Any thoughts?

Dell is going to be the likely choice, but there are a lot of vendors.. Dell, Zoom (Walmart), PCRefurb, there are a ton of companies that deal in this stuff.

Right now I'm looking at a Dell 5500s, 6400s, etc.

OS doesn't much matter to me, either 7 or 10 is good.

So, what says the hive mind?

Win 7 reaches end of life (no more security updates) in a short year and a half.

Ben · « **Reply #3 on:** September 17, 2018, 08:21:05 AM »

I bought a Lenovo refurbished, a 400T, a couple of years ago as an "experiment box". I got it on Woot! for $150 and didn't expect much. I was very pleasantly surprised when it arrived. Worked like a new machine, and the only giveaway that it was refurbished was that the "N" key was worn. I also liked that it was a clean OS install with no bloatware. Especially good since I needed it as a sterile machine. Had I bought new, I would have had to wipe and reinstall.

While I might not go refurbished for my main computer, for a travel laptop or what have you, I would have no problem doing so.

Edit: Lenovo not Dell. No coffee before posting again.

Kingcreek · « **Reply #4 on:** September 17, 2018, 08:42:58 AM »

I bought a nice refurbed laptop from newegg business. They have a regular consumer division too.

K Frame · « **Reply #5 on:** September 17, 2018, 08:48:53 AM »

"Win 7 reaches end of life (no more security updates) in a short year and a half."

Hum... That I didn't know.

Not really sure if it's a factor to me given how I'm going to be using it, but I'll have to keep that in mind.

K Frame · « **Reply #6 on:** September 17, 2018, 08:50:37 AM »

Looks like you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a dealer in refurb laptops from Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, etc. Wow. I didn't realize that it had grown that big.

230RN · « **Reply #7 on:** September 17, 2018, 09:13:45 AM »

"Any thoughts? "

Get one with a lanyard.

brimic · « **Reply #8 on:** September 17, 2018, 09:20:40 AM »

I typically buy a refurbed Lenovo Thinkpad every few years off amazon.

RocketMan · « **Reply #9 on:** September 17, 2018, 09:27:08 AM »

I bought a refurbished HP Elitebook 8560P from one of our members a couple of years ago. Aside from the worn 'L' key on the keyboard, it was in good shape. It's the machine I use for church functions and travel, and it works well.

Hawkmoon · « **Reply #10 on:** September 17, 2018, 10:06:13 AM »

I used to buy Toshiba Satellites from Toshiba Direct, but it seems that Toshiba has dropped out of the consumer laptop market and is strictly focused on the business market. No more Satellites. I hope the ones I have will last me for a long time, because I don't know what else I'd buy. I don't like HPs, and I haven't heard much good about Dell laptops (other than one happy customer in this thread).

Ben · « **Reply #11 on:** September 17, 2018, 10:13:00 AM »

Quote from: Hawkmoon on September 17, 2018, 10:06:13 AM

I used to buy Toshiba Satellites from Toshiba Direct, but it seems that Toshiba has dropped out of the consumer laptop market and is strictly focused on the business market.

I have always found the "business" category of laptops to be much better bang for the buck than consumer laptops*. Better processors, often with discrete video, non-soldered in memory, etc. Also often not nearly as much bloatware from the manufacturer.

*Not counting gaming laptops, but then you're way up there in price.

Calumus · « **Reply #12 on:** September 17, 2018, 10:20:57 AM »

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=711408&utm_source=20180917_Desktop_Notebook_R5017&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=R5017&MccGuid=cbbd42ab-47d5-4fd7-b3c0-46add3e65637

I've had very good luck with Elitebooks. Durable and easy to work on.

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #13 on:** September 17, 2018, 10:23:59 AM »

Looking at the Dell Outlet page now and see an Inspiron 5570 with really solid specs, enough to make it a viable home machine. It's doubly attractive given the 35% price reduction. Don't know if $560 is in your price range but it's certainly worth a look.

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ArbOnlineSales/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&sign=PXhcOSHtr1T4IOw%2fPR7UdfXXq%2bkLchLoU9nqUc5dODKQptljXeRru716VtMW%2fPUerrBvr4xNhE0NbD47Ql44kWpDLYAWzG50iU0nIIricPc48aBxaNNg2Et%2fBHVkLahtvSvkdI%2fnruNrCT4%2bGE20H9y%2bbp2NwGKQKNLgIJRN1NagWqasDxQ04fDCOyUg17PFdH7AiVRr2GJMFWqxSJAx8FgelELbkKLU

Only downside to the Dell Outlet is you better be ready to buy if you see something you like. Stock is what you see. There is no warehouse full of the same model waiting to be sold.

Brad

Phantom Warrior · « **Reply #14 on:** September 17, 2018, 11:18:51 AM »

Another vote for business grade laptops. My HP ProBook is still going strong after six years.

K Frame · « **Reply #15 on:** September 17, 2018, 11:29:52 AM »

I'm looking cheap and functional. Really don't want to spend all that much.

I'm looking seriously at this one: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Refurbished-Dell-14-E6420-Laptop-PC-with-Intel-Core-i5-Processor-4GB-Memory-320GB-Hard-Drive-and-Windows-10-Pro/37403500

Solid specs, Windows 10, and it doesn't appear to have a bunch of bloatware preinstalled. And it's big enough for my needs.

K Frame · « **Reply #16 on:** September 17, 2018, 11:32:03 AM »

Then again, there's this one...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Refurbished-Dell-Latitude-E6410-2-6GHz-i5-4GB-250GB-DRW-Windows-10-Pro-64-Laptop-CAM/196515394

dogmush · « **Reply #17 on:** September 17, 2018, 11:34:00 AM »

I recently bought a referbushed Dell of of Ebay to be my dedicated 3D Printer machine. Paid like $120 bucks and got an 3 year old business class Dell with a Windows 10 license. It seems to work pretty well, although it is noticeably slower than my 5 year old Gaming laptop. But it web searches and runs 3d modeling and slicing software just fine.

Go for it if you don't need a powerful machine.

I got mine from this guy: https://www.ebay.com/usr/tampa_laptops?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Also of note, while it shipped with 32-bit W10 installed, it had 64-bit hardware, so I reinstalled 64 bit Windows 10 and it works fine with the same license.

K Frame · « **Reply #18 on:** September 17, 2018, 11:35:34 AM »

Hell, there's a crap ton of choices with Windows 10 that meet my rather rock bottom requirements.

dogmush · « **Reply #19 on:** September 17, 2018, 11:39:35 AM »

Yeah, I was a little surprised when I started looking. $100-$150 can get you a pretty capable laptop these days.

K Frame · « **Reply #20 on:** September 17, 2018, 11:59:49 AM »

I'd forgotten about NewEgg... They've got pretty good stuff at decent prices...

And the warranty that comes with their stuff is 1 year instead of 90 days.

This one is a serious contender right now...

https://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-34-298-861

Kingcreek · « **Reply #21 on:** September 17, 2018, 12:02:46 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on September 17, 2018, 11:59:49 AM

I'd forgotten about NewEgg... They've got pretty good stuff at decent prices...

And the warranty that comes with their stuff is 1 year instead of 90 days.

This one is a serious contender right now...

https://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-34-298-861

I've purchased quite a bit of computer equipment from their business side with no complaints.

K Frame · « **Reply #22 on:** September 17, 2018, 12:05:49 PM »

Hum... that one on the business side doesn't appear to have a wireless card in it....

I'm also finding a couple of good possibilities on the consumer NewEgg side...

Way too many possible choices.

Hawkmoon · « **Reply #23 on:** September 17, 2018, 12:30:30 PM »

You can get USB WiFi dongles for under $25. They work fairly well -- I've used a couple of them to add WiFi to older desktop boxes that didn't have the capability built in.

lee n. field · « **Reply #24 on:** September 17, 2018, 12:35:55 PM »

Quote from: Ben on September 17, 2018, 10:13:00 AM

I have always found the "business" category of laptops to be much better bang for the buck than consumer laptops*. Better processors, often with discrete video, non-soldered in memory, etc. Also often not nearly as much bloatware from the manufacturer.

*Not counting gaming laptops, but then you're way up there in price.

Usually far easier to work on, if one does need to. They're made to be put together once.

I just put an SSD into an Inspiron laptop. Take the thing apart, get the motherboard out, because the hard disk is on the bottom of it. Then put it all back together.

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Author Topic: Refurbished laptops... (Read 2839 times)