Community Newsletter: Q&A: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers
- 2/29/08 3:23 PM
Refurbished Or Recertified Computers
by dal7910 - 3/4/08 6:24 PM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I own either 2 or 3 so called refurbished computers and have had no problems. As a matter of fact the were purchased on UBid and more than likely they were unused or the previous years model. I believe as long as you purchase from a trusted source or seller then go for it.
Recertified is Okay
by klwj33 - 3/4/08 10:30 PM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Have actually purchased used laptops off of e-bay and have had no problems with any of them-- 1=HP--1=Acer--1=Toshiba.
who's making really those pc's?
by chi_photo - 3/5/08 12:16 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I could care less for brand name pc's (like Dell, HP, Sony, IBM, Gateway to name a few) because eventually all the peripheral chips including motherboards are fabricated and assembly by a few Taiwanese, Malaysian, Korean or Chinese companies. Even the CPU's (AMD or Intel) are fabricated and packaged in these countries. So, bottom line you only pay more for the name not the quality.
My advise: buy new and buy cheap (or within your set budget), buy a pc with the specs you need for your use and don't care about brand names. Stay away of refurbished or "recertified" pc's unless you know how to repair them.
Name brands may yield better warranty
by savencash - 3/5/08 8:35 PM In reply to: who's making really those pc's? by chi_photoYour right that most PC parts are made in China, but the point about buying a name brand is getting warranty work done.
refurbs are cheap as silver, and you still get gold
by racintazz - 3/5/08 8:28 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
i have a refurb laptop, have bought refurb digital cameras, DVD recorders, refurb desktops.. I have yet to have one fail, let alone fail prematurely.
I know, I may be a bit lucky, but, honestly, I have near zero qualms about a refurbished computer, laptop, or most any electronic component.
As long as it doesnt say something like " shows lots of scratches, signs of abuse, buttons missing... etc", and is in a "looks like new" shape, I buy it. I save a LOT like this. My wifes laptop is 2 yrs old now, a Gateway, a REFURB, and she uses the HECK out of it. No issues, other than she has it stuffed to the gills with "stuff".
My daughters PC Desktop, a refurb, is 3yrs old. FULL of junk, and still runs, slow, but runs ( she is a download fiend, and it is so cluttered with "everyware out there" ) its a wonder it doesnt sink thru the floor
BUY a refurb,, just SHOP around, prices DO vary.
Refurb. computer --- Uh? NEVER IN MY LIFE
by chogolef - 3/5/08 8:35 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
my friend just bought one, few months and his wireless card broke. What'd he had to do? No warranty, nada? Also, there is no point to save 200$ on the OLD CRAP when you could buy a new one ALMOST for THE SAME AMOUNT. ew!!! If I have a chance not to buy it, I WON'T DO IT! The only thing that could change my mind about this topic is a wonderful price, but for a recent updated computer. Usually, the price looks like new laptop with a 3gb ram, core 2 DUO 2.0 and 120gb = $1000 and the refurb. one for 2GB, core2duo 2.0 and 80gb cost like 800 and isn't that worth it??????? I will buy a refurb. one for a $500 or less and I could pay for an extra warranty, but not for $800
I bought one
by Gold_1 - 3/5/08 11:24 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I don't have a problem with a refurbished pc. I bought a great laptop that has Windows Vista Home Premium. It has a Duo Core,2 gig of ramand 160 gig hard drive, and the media center. It also taked the 8.5 gig Dvd's . I bought it from a reputable complany and have no problems whatsoever and I got it for under $600.00. I would make sure that it is a reputable company, if you don't you could be sorry.
Amy
Don't Do It ! Manufacturer doesn't "Recertify"!!
by Rob imhoff - 3/6/08 6:16 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I recently was offered a HP DV9627CL Laptop - 1.9GHZ Turion 64X2 Dual Core TL-64 2048 MB, 200GB, DVD+/-RW w/ Light Scribe, 17" True Bright Wide Screen, Web Cam, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M Graphics Card, Microsoft Vista home premium (MANUFACTURER RECERTIFIED) for $699. Since I had just purchased a similar computer from Best Buy for $999, I knew that this was a good buy for my son who was spending a semester abroad in Australia. When I received the computer, I found it would not boot. It would go as far as displaying ikons and then would crash, displaying error message "A problem has been detected, and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer".
I had a tough time with HP technical support. I got bounced around between several people. Some claimed that they did not provide support to refurbished products. Bottom line: after spending 8 hours, well into the night, they could not fix the problem. First issue: "Manufacturer Recertified??"...NOBODY TRIED TO TURN THE COMPUTER ON !!! Second issue with Buy.Com: Now I wanted to return computer, and get my money back. Buy.com has their customer service group in the Phillipines. They have trained their staff to never, ever give money back. Instead they will send you a replacement product. Escalating to manager, or manager's manager did not help. We had to go to our credit card company for advice. Which was: noone has the right to force a lemon on you, and expect you to get it fixed. So we got a RMA number from Buy.com, contested the charge with our credit card company and sent the computer back. By the way, the computer was not a Turion TL-64, it was a TL-58. Not the main issue, computer DOA!!
Buy, but be careful
by maddog_sj - 3/6/08 7:15 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I understand the need for a bargain, I waited a long time to upgrade. I have friends that are techs, but don't live close enough for real support, so I spent about 18mo. going site to site looking for my replacement PC. Of all the sites I checked out, Tiger Direct not only gave the best user friendly descriptions, bur also showed detail pics. I bought a refurbished Gateway media center from them a couple of yrs. ago, and have been very happy with it. I am not sure how much faith I have in used, I bought allot of boat anchors at yard sales. Just take your time look around, and try to get the most for your money, but also remember, that if you buy used, you have no backup, and a good co. has a return policy.
refurbinished/new
by scudog - 3/6/08 7:40 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Want to save a bunch of bucks, with little upgrade, go visit a salvation army thrift store, sometimes they get good donate towers, I got the tower, monitor, keyboard, and mose for $50.00 total.
Refurbished IBM Thinkpad
by rwichmann - 3/6/08 10:31 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I am using an IBM x31 (travel) laptop that I bought from the offical refurbished IBM website. This model was mfgd by IBM and not Lenovo. I have been using it for 2 years daily. The machine has performed flawlessly. I am very pleased. Should I need a new computer I would return to the IBM site or the equivalent Lenovo site.
My guess is that the machine came off of a business lease. I was warned when I purchased it that it may have scratches in the case. It was like new. I have ordered others from the site for family. Same - no problems.
refurbished or NEW?
by mannski - 3/7/08 7:02 PM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I dont have anything about bigNAME brands. But I'd advice that you figure out what you need first. That's the key. I'm still using my old reliable pc. I assembled it in 2004. It'll turn 4 on the 3rd week this month. I just added memory and change the agp card.
If you're planning to JUST browse the net, check e-mails, use yahoo mess, use office xp, play online games, play music and stuff, downlods stuff, you'd be ok. Coz that's exactly what i do.
by the way, i'm using Intel 2.4 GHz presscott on intel board.
go for it
by gmpblack - 3/7/08 7:29 PM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
HP has re-furbished computers with full 1 yr warrantys and are usaully priced about 200.00 less than a similar unit. I have purchased several over the past and have never had any problems. Go to your local RadioShack ask them if they can order one for you...
Buy service
by cschilling7 - 3/7/08 9:09 PM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I sell hundreds of new and refurbished computers if its a factory refurbished machine I can tell you it will be like new with less warranty, 90 days usually. If its third party refurb. then it's used, sometimes for years also carrying the same 90 days warranty. Now here is some good logic for you. You can buy a $350-$399 refurb. that is dual-core 2gb ram fairly loaded at a retail store add $99 dollars for 3yr service and now you have $450-$499 for a nice machine guaranteed for 3 yrs. Or you can spend $500-$550 on a new machine with the same components and have a 1 yr coverage from the manufacturer. Refurbs. are a great option. The same apply with laptops. The difference is people should get service on laptops new or used. They break and cant be fixed for what they are worth hardly ever. Hope this helps.Just remember service from a store thats reputable is the key, manufacturers (I will say except Apple) usually have crappy service and support anyway.
HP refurbs are fine.
by carrolt - 3/8/08 6:16 AM In reply to: Your thoughts on refurbished or "recertified" computers by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have 3 HP/Compaq refurb'ed laptops now. One from UBid, 1 from TigerDirect, and 1 from Sam's Club. All work great, and believe me, my kids put them through their paces daily. I have also purchased HP refurb'ed desktops. Last one was from Micro Center a couple years ago. One of the HP refurb's replaced an old Acer laptop refurb that couldn't handle some of the stuff my college kid was throwing at it. Only problem I have with the newer HP's is all the junk software that they put on it. I know it is to keep their prices low, put it makes the systems run slower. Once you get it, get rid of all the software you aren't going to use. Also, plan on adding a little more money for additional memory. Before I gave my kids the laptops, I cleared out all the junk software, and upgraded the memory to 2 G's. Upgrading memory is easy, and laptop memory is cheap. Also, your HP printer, scanner etc, will work with about any brand of PC. When buying an HP refurb, buy from a big name seller, and make sure it is one that ie refurb'ed by HP and not a 3rd party. If you need help with anything, do some searching. There is always someone there willing to give advice. Just be sure to double check the advice you get, as you often get what you pay for.
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