Refurbished PCs

What do you guys know about refurbished PCs. Are they a good value, a good buy?

Thanks.

My mom got one and is happy with it. You have to watch what you get and consider price with age and signs of use such as blemishes.

With a lappy, be very very careful and check out the hinge that attaches the cover to the keyboard. Make sure that there is no cracking sounds, stiffness or other problems when opened.

Thanks. I did some reading, heard from others and the consensus seems to be that they're a good deal if the refurbisher is the original producer or an otherwise reliable entity and has a decent warranty.

My HP xw8200 is now the fifth refurbished workstation from a small PC shop. I have been very lucky going this route. I used to assemble my own, but the last one was a clone case housing an AM K6-2 550 MHz with 392 MB of PC-133 RAM. I used it happily with Windows 2000 Professional. So it's been awhile.

I haven't got experience but you have to make sure that there's nothing wrong with it, if it's from eBay you might want to check it all works before you buy it or you'll be wasting your money.

Cammygirl192 said:

I haven't got experience but you have to make sure that there's nothing wrong with it, if it's from eBay you might want to check it all works before you buy it or you'll be wasting your money.

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Just a thought but I'm not sure how you will check the computer before buying if you are buying through ebay unless the seller is willing to meet. What you can do is look for auctions that have a return policy (not all do but that would be a plus) and look at the seller's rating as well as reviews from previous buyers. Personally I wouldn't buy a computer from ebay unless it is a specific model I happen to need that I can't find anywhere else.

Thinkpad I'm now using I got from Trade Me a New Zealand site like Ebay
I needed to replace the battery and it came with no hard drive so I fitted a SSD
It did come with the docking station
I paid $100 NZD
It was not refurbished, just a second hand laptop
Installed Vista from a DVD and have had no problems with it
Would I go this route again, Yes

It's ok to buy from official but don't buy it from personal.

protomik said:

It's ok to buy from official but don't buy it from personal.

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I found no problem with personal. It was what was advertised and came well packed.