I’m pretty broke right now, but I’m working with a 10+ year old laptop that is falling apart, literally ( I have to hold it together when I open it) and it just doesn’t have the balls to run anything but the oldest games I have. So I’ve decided to use what little money I have - from tax refunds and a cashed in IRA - to get a new one. I’m still on a budget, though. That said, I found a decent gaming type laptop with a really good video card, but not a lot of disk space and a small screen size for about $700. It is a refurbish, though, so I’ve got a little trepidation about pulling the trigger.
Does anyone else have experience with refurbished laptops - from Amazon, if it matters?
I have purchased quite a few “refurbished” laptops from both Amazon and eBay. I’ve never had a problem, but I know from Amazon reviews of certain sellers that there CAN be problems. I’m typing this on a Lenovo X270 that I bought on Amazon several years ago. It had a bit of exterior wear, but the keys work, the display is perfect and I just added one SSD and upgraded the other. (Yes, two SSDs possible on this model.) Overall cost: about $380. And I have two more I bought as back-ups.
I feel about laptops and computers the same way I feel about cars…buy used when you can and stay a few years behind the trends. I currently have seven desktops, nine laptops, and several other “convertibles.” Never paid more than $400 for any of them and my success rate (after some minor repairs and upgrades) has been 100%.
I was 50-50 on refurb PCs. Both were Dells. The one refurbed by Dell and sold through Amazon was great, the one that was just a third party vender thru Amazon was crap.
The model I’m looking at is an Acer, and I’ve never heard anything horrible about them. The one I’m on now (the 10+ year old one) is a Dell and it outlasted the laptop I bought five years ago, which is now a doorstop.
I’m close to @What_Exit’s experience, in that refurbished PCs I’ve gotten from the manufacturer directly have been good (cosmetic damage at most), AND have had the fully warranty included. I put zero faith in the third-party option, because most of them DON’T spell out warranty coverage if any.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t good, reputable third-party vendors out there, that do great work - but there are far too many shady companies out there for me to be comfortable, especially with the current crunch for RAM and GPU’s meaning that a lot of trashed/refurbed PC’s are bought and stripped for their components.
At the $700 price point… considering this “Scratch and Dent” refurb Dell G-15 (quite similar to the one I bought before the Trade War began) is selling for $1116 US… let’s say I worry about anything priced as low as you mention.
In the end, I get that price talks and your system is being held together by hope… but I probably would save for a bit longer and get something better. Especially if the system you’re trying to buy is going to only be marginal (my expectations given the pricepoint) for newer games, you might find yourself right back here sooner than later.
Buying a refurbished anything from Amazon is a diceroll, because you have no idea who did the refurb. I strongly recommend looking at NewEgg.com - they have several refurbs in your price range, and I trust them. Full disclosure - I’m a PC technician and I build systems as a side gig.
The one thing about this particular refurb that gives me hope is that is apparently a hot seller. It’s a reduced price (down from $880) and, according to Amazon, they’ve sold 50+ in the last month … so I’m guessing it might work out or they wouldn’t be able to have so many sold without an issue. On the other hand, maybe they’ve sold so many because it’s a cheap option for ripping out components.
Full disclosure … I’m NOT a PC technician (though I’m not a total idiot on the matter).
Many places (financial institutions, schools, and so on and so on) replace all their laptops every few years, before there is anything wrong with them. If you can get one of those, you will be in good shape.
Acer Nitro is a popular machine. The RTX 50 series is a plus. RAM is a little low, but that’s to be expected, especially during the RAM crisis. SSD is small, but I’m betting there is an open M.2 slot and you could add a beefy storage SSD down the road. This machine is very upgradeable when the RAM crisis subsides.
It does have a 90 day return so I would pull the trigger - just be sure to keep ALL the packaging in case you have problems.
I do have a couple external drives, 1TB each (though one may not be good (I have to try to reformat it, I think)). That external storage has made all the difference for me with low storage machines.
That’s manufacturer refurbished, from the “Acer Recertified Store.” It would be nice if that information was more prominent, but it is there, under “more information.” Between that, the condition, and being on Amazon Renewed (rather than just a used product sold by the third party, and thus having its pretty decently long warranty), I’d be pretty confident in buying it.
IMO that’s too strong. There are refurbs sold on Amazon that are demonstrably from quality refurbers. Often the original manufacturers.
Yuo’re certainly right there are other sorts of “refurbs” which are just used, possibly broken, crap in a new box.
So a buyer needs to check diligently. But a buyer who checks can tell which they’re getting.
To @Jack_Batty:
I’ve run nothing but refurbed laptops or tablets for about 20 years now. Zero issues. All bought from Amazon, but from a manufacturer’s store, not “ABC Super-cheapo refurbs”.
Up until late last year, I shied away from refurbished laptops, even though I have zero qualms about buying second hand cars, guns, tools etc.
My current laptop is a refurbished Dell ultrabook from a company that “flips” business laptops and I’ve been really impressed with it. I bought it with a three-year extended warranty (battery not included) for peace of mind, but I feel I got more bang for my buck than ever, and know the same money would’ve gotten me a substantially crappier new machine, especially durability-wise.
I already decided my next laptop will be another refurbished Dell, so call me a convert.
I need to replace the Windows 10 notebook computer I travel with and am considering refurbished notebook systems. I found one on Amazon that’s a former corporate system for roughly $450. (Ideally I want something light, like the Ultrabook that I’m replacing but that form factor doesn’t seem to be sold any longer.)
Of course my needs are different from the OP, who wants a gaming laptop. I think I’ve read that the growth in AI data centers is inflating the price of desktop and notebook hardware, so that stuff is more expensive today.
My experience is similar to the others here: I’ve purchased and loved many refurbished laptops, but always from a reputable manufacturer (Dell, etc.) or a retail store that does their own refurb (Best Buy, Microcenter, etc.). I wouldn’t trust any random Amazon dealer either, but Acer Recertified should be OK.
A couple notes on that specific laptop, though:
A 5050 is a very weak GPU. Even a 6-year-old 3070 will often outperform it, unless you rely on DLSS (Nvidia’s excellent ML-upsampling tech that lets you run games at lower resolutions and then upscale them — keeps the FPS high at the expense of some minor visual quality loss). You probably know this already, but the first number (the 3 or 5) indicates the generation, while the last two (50, 60, 70, 80, 90) indicates the tier within that generation. A xx50 is the lowest tier within a generation, their superbudget GPU (vs the more mainstream 60-70).
I personally have had build quality issues with the several Acer laptops I’ve had. I grew up in Taiwan, where they’re based, and there they are known as the budget crap laptop brand (as opposed to the better-regarded Asus and MSI and others). Of the 2-3 Acers I’ve had, they’ve all had keyboard, screen, speaker, or hinge issues. Acer is one of the only two laptop brands I would not buy anymore (the other being HP). But other Dopers have had good experiences with both, and my experience there is a bit dated (early to mid 2000s), so go with theirs if in doubt.
This specific laptop aside, though, have you considered Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service? For $20/mo, you get a 5080 in the cloud that streams games to you. That’s MUCH cheaper than upgrading every few years and MUCH faster than a 5050 — you can play on Ultra graphics in basically every game.
It might be worth a try (there’s a free trial, or you can pay for a day pass) before you decide to invest in a gaming laptop. I bought myself a gaming desktop recently (just to play a particular Sony game that wasn’t on GFN), but before that, GFN was my exclusive gaming service for like 4-5 years and it was really quite fantastic, and so much cheaper. It’s an amazing bang for the buck.