A Refurbished Laptop Makes Sense

It's perfectly normal to be a little apprehensive about purchasing a Refurbished Laptop. The thought of purchasing a product that is refurbished conjures up thoughts of a product that has been repainted, fixed up, and made to look new, but doesn't perform like new. That is not the case when it comes to refurbished laptops. Laptops that are refurbished are typically products that have been returned for repair, may have a minor defect that is repaired, or in some cases are actually new product that for marketing reasons are termed refurbished to justify a lower price. Excess manufacturer inventory is sometime sold into a distribution network that re markets products and in some case labels them refurbished.

What about the reliability of refurbished laptops? Today's modern electronic devices are very reliable, and in reality there are relatively few suppliers of the basic components of a laptop computer. Under the covers there is a great deal of commonality between brands, of the basic components.i.e keyboards, memory, hard drives. The testing method's used to test a refurbished device and failure modes of the components inside a laptop are such that laptops that are sold as refurbished are as reliable as new product right off the assembly line. In fact an argument can be made that a refurbished laptop may be more reliable than the new products since it has passed through the 'infant mortality" portion of it's life where early failures often occur. A refurbished product has been "burned in" and the early failures eliminated.

What about price? Do some shopping and you will find that refurbished laptops can be found for 30% to 40% of new product price. This can amount to significant savings. In many cases the refurbished laptop may have larger memory and hard drive capacity to boot.
In almost all cases the refurbished laptop will come with a warranty. Check this out before buying to make sure you are covered in case something goes wrong.

I wouldn't hesitate a nanosecond on buying a refurbished laptop. I have been around the computer scene for many years, and I can tell you there is nothing to fear in buying a used laptop. In most case the documentation, packaging, and everything else that goes with the new product will be included with the refurbished model. Check the details of what is included before you buy.

Good luck as you search for that bargain refurbished laptop and enjoy many years of reliable mobile computing.

Originally posted 2008-10-28 22:47:44.