I’m probably gonna get a new computer in the next month, and I’ve been priceshopping a lot of different sites. I’m seeing a fair number of refurbished computers for sale (computers that got sent back for having some sort of problem and then fixed up and repackaged for resale). They’re significantly–as in a couple hundred dollars–cheaper than new computers, which is mighty attractive for a gamer with a budget. But I have no idea whether they’re a fantastic bargain or a nightmare waiting to happen. Does anyone have any experiences, advice, feedback etc. on refurbished computers?
As a bonus question, does anyone have any recommendations for a computer+monitor package for less than (perhaps significantly less than) $800? If the two are sold separately, that’s fine. I’m interested in gaming, and would like the computer to be able to work for the next four or five years with a low level of upgrading throughout.
My friend and I have had some serious good luck buying and recommending Dell’s off-lease and refurbished machines at www.dfsdirectsales.com
The prices are rock-bottom and the machines are easy to set up because they’re not full of “crapware” from Dell. Between the two of us, we’ve set up about a dozen now, for friends and family.
These are perfect for business and light personal use though. So you’d obviously need to get your own vid card and maybe sound card if need be, for gaming. But you can get a great deal on a huge hard drive and processor with Windows XP for under $400.
One caveat is that their setup system seems a little bunk. My install was pretty smooth but for my brother’s in-laws I ended up just giving up trying to run whatever setup app they had and just installing XP from the restore disk they sent. Worked fine.
Also it seems like the system specs are a little ambiguous. Mine happened to come with onboard VGA all ready to go but my brother’s in-laws came with onboard vga disabled and a separate card for LCD monitors and a special connector. Weird. If you do think about buying from there you might want to talk to a salesperson to see what you get.
Anyway, the refurbished nature of these machines have not been a problem once they’ve been set up.
I got my HP zd7000 series laptop refurbished from HP a couple (over three now) years ago. Saved me over $300 at the time… well worth it. (I did spring for a one year extended warranty though, so take that into account).
I picked up a refurbished Mac last spring from Woot for only $250. My wife has to put out a monthly newsletter and the person in charge of such things decided to use a program unique to the Mac. I had been looking and had found some used in the $150 range. The one from Woot popped up just in time and I only had to pay $5 for shipping. It gets used about 3 hours a month but has been no problems what so ever. The only complaint I have is the lousy onboard sound, it is rather tinny.
There isn’t much difference between a refurbished computer and a brand new one except for the price. Lots of computers get sent back even if they aren’t defective and they just can’t be listed as new again. Others might have a small problem that gets fixed but those are pretty well tested as well in general. I wouldn’t worry about the refurbished part. Just pick something that meets your needs and enjoy the savings.
I’ve been told that refurbished computers can often be better than brand new machines, because they’ve individually been inspected and had anything suspicious fixed before being put back up for sale.