Refursbished laptops

Glen_Lee

Glen_Lee

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Curious to know if anyone has bought a refurbished laptop in the UK?

Seems there are some very good deals to be had from places like www.laptopsdirect.co.uk Any good, bad or indifferent experiences from sellers? Or would you have any suggested sellers?

Many thanks.
 
FWIW Glen, I have a friend here in the USA who buys them from Ebay and has had stellar luck. She told me that the secret is to look at their (seller's) approval rating and if they accept returns. With Ebay and Paypal guarantees nowadays it's easier to get screwed in a nunnery than on Ebay. ;)
 
Bogeyman said:
FWIW Glen, I have a friend here in the USA who buys them from Ebay and has had stellar luck. She told me that the secret is to look at their (seller's) approval rating and if they accept returns. With Ebay and Paypal guarantees nowadays it's easier to get screwed in a nunnery than on Ebay. ;)
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I'd echo these sentiments.

I've bought quite a few refurb PC's/Laptops recently off ebay and I do the same thing, I look for sellers with a good return policy/warranty.

Aside from looking a seller, I'd go for a brand that's very prevalent eg Dell/Thinkpad etc
 
I can't remember the URL offhand but Dell have a factory refurb website and you can get some serious bargains on there - everything from laptops up to bigger workstations.
 
donnie_arko said:
I'd echo these sentiments.

I've bought quite a few refurb PC's/Laptops recently off ebay and I do the same thing, I look for sellers with a good return policy/warranty.

Aside from looking a seller, I'd go for a brand that's very prevalent eg Dell/Thinkpad etc
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Same here, bought 2 refurbished Thinkpads from eBay UK sellers, both laptops were as good as new, although they were supposed to be grade B. Batteries coming with those laptops might be a hit or miss though.
 
On top of good reputation go for business grade machines like Dell Latitude, HP Elite series and high end ThinkPad if the T and X or P series.

My favourites (and I bought fair few) are the HP Elitebooks from MOD surplus, these are built like nothing out there and parts are interchangeable very easily. Second are the Dell Latitude series, something like the E5540 or E5530 with SSD drives should last a very long time.
 
Cheers guys - I will look up Thinkpads and HP Elitebooks. I don't know anything about them; however, like the idea of former corporate kit.
 
I always look for part availability also because there are some Very good laptops out there that there are not many parts available for or the parts cost as much as another machine... I also look up the laptop i'm looking at parts for and look for ones that have a easily replaceable charging port. I try to avoid ones that are soldered to the main board and typically go for ones that just plug into the board with a cable... the charging ports are usually one of the things that go bad often so ease of replacement is a plus. There are many brands of good used or refurbished laptops out there based on your particular needs... I mean why get a Alienware gaming machine just for mild internet browsing and watching Youtube. Oh as an edit.. check out replacement batteries when you buy a used laptop and see what they cost because even though the laptop may have a warranty the batteries typically don't or they have like a 1 week warranty because most sellers feel that you can charge and unplug and use a laptop and see if it holds a charge in that time.
 
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I always look for an electronics refurb which are usually just returns or even new items repackaged. I bought a fairly well speced i7 laptop from laptopsdirect for around £350 last year (RRP around double) which had a large dent in the aluminium casing, nothing a burnishing bit and my paintless car dent removal kit couldn't sort. I've also bought underpriced tablets from there, not the highest spec or latest model but good enough for general use like browsing, messaging and streaming video. So yeah I had no problems with that vendor, don't expect anything besides the item and the most basic and minimal of pacakaging.
 
As with shaving products we recommend what we like not necessarily what suits.

It all depends on your budget but unless you have specifc needs that require a particularly high end machine or something more durable I wouldn't be overly concerned with particular brands, availablity of parts or even length of warranty. You'll have basic protection from any reasonable vendor and if it works out of the box chances are it will continue to work for years to come plus you can always extend a basic warranty even for a refurb for very little.

I've owned most brands and those recommended are indeed good quality and worth considering but do you really need a military grade or business machine? Perhaps you do but if your use is basically domestic just opt for the best value machine for your budget making sure you have enough memory and storage to run what you like, a half decent screen with dedicated graphics especially if say you might want to run another monitor or TV. You might find a Chromebook will satisfy all your requirements and they're excellent value because they're not as resourse hungry as a full blown Win10 machine. Check them out, I have one in the household and they are perfectly fine for what they are being used for which is mainly browsing and watching video.
 
I bought an Acer from laptops direct, it was £600+ and a good saving on a new one. It was guaranteed for 6 months, a week out of warranty and it went tits up. I 'phoned them and was told by a very nice lady that I should have bought a new one. They weren't interested. Buyer beware.
 
Bob said:
I bought an Acer from laptops direct, it was £600+ and a good saving on a new one. It was guaranteed for 6 months, a week out of warranty and it went tits up. I 'phoned them and was told by a very nice lady that I should have bought a new one. They weren't interested. Buyer beware.
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Thank you, @Bob - I keep hopping between buying a new one and buying a refurbished with a higher spec! Advice greatly appreciated.
 
As was mentioned earlier depending on what you need there are some Chromebooks out right now that are great for basic stuff and are less than 100 dollars brand new. Get wat you need an like I said I the other post , do a little research and you should be fine.
 
Bob was exceedingly unfortunate and I might have pushed them a bit harder under the sale of goods act, maybe he did without any joy. Anyhow it seems they sell refurbs with warrantys of different lengths, mine came with a year but they can be as little as 3 months but for £20 you can extend a refurb warranty for a year. If none that fills you with any confidence just buy new.
 
Thank you for your advice!

I've pushed the button on a Lenovo Thinkpad T460. Full HD with an I5 processor (think that's ok). Intrigued by their design and heritage. Plus it didn't break the bank. Have a slush fund put aside for a new battery if needed. Currently £59 on Lenovo's own site.
 
Glen_Lee said:
Thank you for your advice!

I've pushed the button on a Lenovo Thinkpad T460. Full HD with an I5 processor (think that's ok). Intrigued by their design and heritage. Plus it didn't break the bank. Have a slush fund put aside for a new battery if needed. Currently £59 on Lenovo's own site.
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Good luck. Enjoy.
 
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