Buy a refurbished notebook and save money

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Welcome again everybody to another installment about how to find a great refurbished notebook. You might realize from our site that we do talk about just about everything related to computers; we talk about peripherals, components, different styles of laptops/notebooks, and all sorts of other things to give you the best possible computing experience imaginable. However, we do specialize in refurbished notebooks, that is, notebooks and laptops that have been used previously and have been restored to factory working condition. It’s a good thing for you: You get a “new” laptop free of defects, a full warranty as you would normally have, and you save a heck of a lot of money. It’s just about win/win for everyone, isn’t it?

So, this is your weekly public service announcement remind you to do just that. No, just kidding, we’re going to actually look a little deeper today into what computers are typically sold in refurbished formats, and which companies actually provide them. Also, we’re going to tell you where to get them! Easy? Great, let’s get started.

Amazon normally has a great selection of refurbished notebooks, as you can see from the bottom of the screen at our “shopping” links. You can generally find just about every imaginable brand at that site, even if there may only be 1-2 models in each brand offered. After all, Amazon isn’t a full computer store, even though they might actually have some good deals. One of those models is the IBM Lenovo Thinkpad T42. This is a fairly basic notebook, in that it has a 1.7 GHz processor, a 40 GB hard drive, and comes with a very solid 1 GB of RAM. You can tell that it’s a little aged due to the fact that it’s actually got a 56k modem still attached to it! But have no fear, it also comes with the standard ethernet ports that you’d normally find on any modern notebook. It also has the standard 15″ screen, which is great for most applications. Amazon sells these currently for $284 and up from refurbished dealers all over.

Our best friend Tiger Direct also sells a very nice refurbished notebook: The Toshiba Satellite L355. This is definitely a little more expensive than the Lenovo offering above, but has quite a bit more power behind it. This is a 2.2 GHz laptop with a full 3 GB of RAM standard, which is actually a pretty large amount compared to the 1 GB in the Thinkpad. It also boasts a 160 GB hard drive standard, which is good for starters. I’m sure it can be extended to something like a 500GB hard drive later on down the road. Best yet, this refurbished notebook computer starts at $419, which is almost a full $300 off its normal price. If you don’t mind used, this is probably the notebook for you!