Simplify your laptop buying
Community Newsletter: Q&A: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers
- 2/29/08 3:23 PM
Refurbished HP desktop Computers.
by lvincent45 - 3/1/08 2:15 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Recently my wife's tower, which had been on it's last legs for sometime, finally went to "Tower Heaven!" We looked around and, since she only needed the tower, we decided on a HP "Refurbished and Certified" tower. She purchased it on line at HP and received it in a few days. When she installed and booted the tower it remained on for about 10 seconds and the monitor went blank. After several attemps to get it operational she dedcide to call tech support since she also purchase a two year "In House Service Agreement!"
This was a two hour "Terrible Experience" for her. The techs involved in trying to "fix" her problem, there were three different techs by the way, had a hard time communicating because their English was so poor. Of course these techs were from India as are nearly all tech support personnel are these days.
Finally, I called tech support and was fortunate to get an individual who spoke fluent English and was able to resolve the issue and get a "new" tower sent to me in about a week.
I don't think I will buy a product like a computer on line anytime soon. There are too many headaches involved.
Bottom line is, whatever your choice, my experience has been, have a lot of patience if you ever need tech support because almost every product you purchase has tech support in another country where English is the 2nd language and most of then don't have a very good command of the language.
Do Your Homework and a Refurb Computer CAN Be the Solution!
by drakkar91 - 3/1/08 2:24 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I recently purchased a Gateway MT6821 Refurb for under $600 DELIVERED from TechforLess.com. I am 100% satisfied with the product and the purchase experience. But I spent hours doing research before doing this. First of all, make sure the seller offers some form or guarantee, exchange or return policy (all are provided by TechforLess). This made my purchase "risk-free" knowing I could return for full refund a defective product. And of course read the fine print. Although my laptop came with 90 days Labor/Parts from Gateway, I did not want that as my only option for service (which is the case with many "refurb" sellers).
The MSRP of my Laptop is $1100, so I got mine for nearly 50% off - and it is virtually like new.
To reinforce this experience - before going for the refurb purchase, I (sort of) chickened out and purchased a NEW in Box HP Laptop from a "big box" store. It had a defective DVD/CD burner! HP offered to send me a new drive - provided that I gave them a credit card number, and installed the new drive myself! Nonsense. I took the Laptop back and got a full refund. I then went with my original plan and acquired a refurbished unit from TechforLess.
In speaking with a sales agent at a big box store, he actually said about 1 in 20 Brand New laptops come with a factory defect. With those odds, a refurb purchase seems to be on an equal playing field - and you save $$$.
I'm not sure all refurbished have even been used.
by DamSamIam - 3/1/08 2:39 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've purchased several "refurbished" items, from stereos to computers. I recently helped a friend purchase a Dell desktop and couldn't find any evidence the unit had been used the first time. Maybe it was an overstock, or discontinued unit. I try to stick with buying direct from the manufacturer.
I was glad to read there was one HP customer in the world that was satisfied with their customer service. When I asked for help with burning a picture on a Lightscribe CD with my HP Lightscribe DVD burner, the advice ranged from "Try changing the printer cartridge, to cleaning the print head."LOL" I never did get the HP software to work correctly.
email author
by sg-max-mp11 - 3/1/08 2:41 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
massage field is manual
HP supremacy?
by jmoriari - 3/1/08 2:42 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Julianne, I read through the first page of replies to your post so far and gave up, so I’m not sure if someone said this in a reply after that. No one seems to be answering your questions. They all seem to be replying based on their personal vendettas with or love for HP. Purchasing a computer brand other than HP would not give you any issues with your HP peripherals. The only thing you should look out for is if you have peripherals with a parallel connection instead of USB, to make sure that the new computer you are thinking about purchasing has a parallel port.
I do not have any personal information to share with you on recertified PCs, but as a brand I trust HP with printers and that’s about it. Speaking from experience, they make cheap digital cameras. Most of the unbiased computer people you would talk to would probably recommend against getting an HP/Compaq. Toshiba and Sony are quality brands, but they are quite expensive. My sister’s boyfriend (a computer programmer) will only buy from these two brands, for laptops anyway. I have always built my own desktops since my first, but my mom and sister both have Gateway desktops and I have a Gateway laptop currently. They are good computers and the price is definitely right on them. Good luck and I hope you find what you need at a price you can afford.
HP Computers
by chunkybick - 3/1/08 3:19 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi.
May I suggest you have a go at building your own desktop computer. It isn`t all that hard and there is plenty of help and tuition on the internet.
By doing this you can build a system as fast and with as much hard disc storeage space as you require taking into account your purse allowence.
Selection of the components does need some research for the absolute beginner but in the end the rewards are worth the effort.
Most printers and scanners these days connect via a USB interface and are supplied with a cd with all the necessary software. No matter which printer or scanner you decide to buy just follow the instructions for installation. Usually you have to insert the cd and follow the on screen instructions. Wait for the installation wizard to ask you to connect the printer or scanner and it will find it and install the appropriate software.
Installation of the operating system is also straight forward. Just boot the computer up with the system disc in the cd drive and follow the on screen instructions. Again there is loads of information on the web to help proir to starting to build your perfect desktop.
Hope you do consider it.
Refurbished or Recertified Computers
by fudgieee - 3/1/08 3:39 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you know enough about building and fixing your own computer, a refurbished & recertified computers is a great deal. HOWEVER, If you don't know much about the inner workings of a computer, you're better off buying a new computer.
Why you should buy refurb, or maybe why not...
by TechMad - 3/1/08 3:39 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It's easy to determine if you should buy a refurbished PC or not. If you are comfortable with troubleshooting PC hardware and software, possibly have an interest in troubleshooting any possible problems, or have a friend that is and doesn't mind helping you out, then by all means, buy refurbished, you can save a ton of money. If you are not comfortable, I would suggest either you buy a new product, or buy your refurbished item from a reputable dealer, along with an extended warranty.
I Never buy from the big names
by gbswales1 - 3/1/08 3:46 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There was a time when I would have said to anyone - "for a reliable PC and good service buy a Dell - if you can afford one!" but this was before Dell began competing for the home market - now unless you pay a high premium for on site service the support you get is no better than anyone else and as someone else has said here - upgrading them is very expensive.
Nowadays components for most PCs (unless you buy something like a Dell or HP!) are all pretty generic, cheap, easily replaceable and upgradable. Remember it is components rather than PCs which fail and it is often more convenient and sometimes even cheaper (if they charge carriage) to repair something yourself rather than invoke the warranty.
I would start from the spec that you want and find an assembled base unit that meets this - if you want something well made then I find ACER units are easy to work with - however there is nothing wrong with cheaper generic computers. What I look for is to have the fiddly stuff - case, power supply, motherboard and processor (and maybe memory) all pre-installed. These are the components that need to "match" - for everything else Hard Drive, Optical Drives, floppy drive (if you need one) I will shop around for exactly what I want. This does of course mean buying windows OS rather than getting the pre-installed OEM - however this is money well spent as it puts you in charge of any future software problems without being dependent on the supplier - remember nowadays you dont get complete installation disks with OEM operating systems. Lastly most of the bundled systems come complete with keyboards, mice an monitors - all of which have been chosen to keep the cost down. Think for a moment how important these are - they are your main interaction with the computer -doing it my way you can choose the one's that suit you and which will look and feel good in your home. Also if something goes wrong then each item has its own warranty and can usually be replaced quickly.
Even if you decide to go with a warrantied complete PC I would suggest buying the box only and adding the perifpherals of YOUR choice
Not a good idea...
by Ravenshoe - 3/1/08 3:50 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I only buy refurbished electronics if I was the one who repaired it. I see a lot of botched repair jobs, by people inexperienced enough to repair them properly. Plus you never know just how refurbished a component is.
Example: If you purchase a new motherboard for your IBM/Lenovo laptop, it will come with an orange sticker on it, saying "serviceable used part." Just how used is that serviceable used part? How many times has it been in and out of the factory? Who knows! I'm sure the other manufacturers, not just Lenovo do the same thing.
Buy new. It costs more, but if you take care of it, it should last longer.
Depends on the use...
by tbwillardatl - 3/1/08 3:53 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Basically the computer is a box with plug and upgrade/renew parts. For typical home use, word processing, small databases, uploading & downloading images and music, a refurbished and certified computer fom a reputable dealer can save hundreds and really will only lag a generation or so behind the newest stuff. Often, the computer will be loaded with applicable software that is installed on multi-user licenses, again saving big bucks. These caveats:
1) Get recommendations on dealers from certified nerd friends. 2) Get a careful explanation on how the certified limited warranty works. Get it in writing. 3) Ensure that you buy a machine with adequate memory, not less than 256K, 512K preferred. At least 80 Gigs on the hard drive. 4) Ask about the age and condition of the hard drive. Has it been replaced? When? 5) Brand specifics do not generally matter, so long as it's a major manufacturer rather than a boutique box. 6) Most important is the connection speed. If you're still using a 56K modem, internal or external, seriously consider upgrading service. Dial-up with a good to great machine is like driving a Porche with a governor on it. DSL is OK, cable is best. In most areas they are comparable. 7) Regardless of which brand you buy, it is possible you may have to download drivers for your specific peripherals. Take a model-specific list and ask the shop to load 'em for you.
On the other hand, if you use professionally, save your money and buy new.
What do you intend doing with it
by seafm - 3/1/08 3:54 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
From a personal point of view I would consider anything above 1.6ghz a reasonably fast computer but it all depends on what you want to do with it. In Australia there is a chain of stores called The Computer Market and they specialise in refurbished pc's and laptops. All their stock is ex government and lease equipment, they don't accept anything from off the streets. All government departments religously replace equipment after probably three or four years even if there is nothing wrong with it. We replace it when it blows up. I bought a IBM Thinkpad from this company last year and it works like a dream although the wireless technology in it is a bit old (11mb). As for preffering HP the only thing that would be HP on a pc or laptop would be the badge on the front. Motherboards,ram,hard drives etc get sourced from wherever, if you pull the cover off your pc I could almost gaurantee that you won't find HP stamped on anything, so brand name isn't really an issue apart from backup service and warranty. Refurbished stuff will also have XP installed which I am sure many people will agree is still the benchmark OS as Vista still has some way to go to be a viable replacement operating system unless you are a fan of Linux. If new is still the only option why not build it yourself. If you or a friend are pretty computer savvy this is the way to go, You can choose the processor, motherboard etc to suit your own needs or go to a specialist computer store to customise a system for you with XP installed of course as I believe genuine OEM's for XP are still obtainable.
I hope this bit of laymans advice helps in some way.
julianne
by nogosejtr - 3/1/08 3:59 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Leave them alone! I deal with this problem every day. I do not advise buying a used or RE-CERTIFIED computer! They are always out of date...
Used/Refurb computers
by M Blazer - 3/1/08 4:01 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've purchased 2 Dell desktops and 1 Dell laptop. I purchased the desktops from a local store that specializes in refurb/used Dell systems. Both work very well and I'm very pleased. I purchased the laptop off of e-Bay and it was not as advertised. After some upgrades, it has worked fine for the last couple year.
To sum it up, I've had good luck will second hand Dells, but definitely buy from a reputable local store. First put hands on it before you buy. Then make sure you can take it back if you have a problem.
used? refurb? recertify?
by daglow - 3/1/08 4:45 AM In reply to: Used/Refurb computers by M BlazerUsed is when someone gives you a “hand me down.”
Refurbished is when they clean the inside and outside.
Recertified is when they clean the computer and wipe the hard drive install a new OS and test the components for about a minimum of 24 hours and replace any parts that will become defective soon.
A reputable company will not violate the Eula and will not reuse an old sticker without the Original software. A reputable company will lease you new equipment every year for B2b and not sell you used equipment every year because the failure rate is high and repairs can be costly. A reputable company is one that has been around for a few years and is close to you.
You buy a used computer because you are:
1.) 6 to 12 months from getting your new one and you need one now. (Short on cash or credit)
2.) You need to learn a little more about the computer before you make a major purchase.
Yes, we have all heard the Horror stories about Dell, HP, Gateway, Acer, and Fujitsu and so on and so on---There is no way for these companies to certify all of their computers, so they use a plan or formula to build their computers. Sometimes they get bad parts and the first time they hear about it, is from the customer. All of these companies are trying...and the worst thing you can do is yell about, “I spent all that money and the thing broke down.” A computer, just like a car or phone system needs regular maintenance which most never do nor for the service they do not want to pay. Having a warranty is great, but you must maintain your computer.
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