Current Events > Refurbished laptops. Good idea or terrible idea?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've become a big believer in refurbished electronics but I don't know the state of the laptop industry to comment on this.
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I imagine that prices on them have gone down a fuckton since tablets have become more popular, but yeah, I actually don't have a clue at the moment.
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i am highly opposed to buying used electronics so i cant reccomend it.
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Depends what you're buying and at what price

I enjoyed the 2 $50 beater Chromebooks I bought from the local pawn shop so much that I spent $200 on a much nicer refurbished one with an actual processor and a touch screen. My desktop PC is also an "open box" special purchased at a very reasonable price.

If the price is right, there's nothing wrong with a refurb. However, for certain items that are not priced well, it's hardly worth it.
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It really depends on what was actually refurbished.

OS/reinstall - Sure
Motherboard - Hell fucking no
Hard drive - This probably just means it was replaced, so sure.
RAM - This probably just means it was replaced, so sure.
Screen - Sure
Keyboard - Sure
Power supply - Sure
DC jack - Sure

Of course, if the HDD or RAM were actually refurbished then that's a big hell no to both of them.
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I dont trust electronics unless brand new.
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Sometimes I buy broken electronics because I know I can fix them really easy anyway. I've saved tons of money doing this but also it's just a nice feeling reviving dead stuff. There are still some things I wouldn't risk, mainly motherboards, power supplies and hard drives.
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SpiralDrift posted...

It really depends on what was actually refurbished.

OS/reinstall - Sure
Motherboard - Hell fucking no
Hard drive - This probably just means it was replaced, so sure.
RAM - This probably just means it was replaced, so sure.
Screen - Sure
Keyboard - Sure
Power supply - Sure
DC jack - Sure

Of course, if the HDD or RAM were actually refurbished then that's a big hell no to both of them.

Makes sense I guess. Is there some kind of industry certified refurb standard or something?
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Depends on the company and what their refurbished policy is. Apple refurbished macbooks for example are the way to go. They replace the HDD and casing, hand test it, and give you a two year warranty. Got my wife a 6 month old refurbished macbook air back in 2014 and it still works like a dream to this day. On top of that, I paid $800 when it retailed for $999.
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It's really going to depend on what sort of warranty you're getting, for me. If it was a sizeable chunk of money off and they're giving a two/three year warranty, sure why not?