Naturally the best time of the year to find a great refurbished laptop is on Black Friday, that is, the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday has been a bit of a shopping tradition for years now. I’m not exactly sure why exactly all the retailers have come out and decided why that Friday after Thanksgiving was the day to have all the crazy clearance sales, but it’s really no matter. All you need to know is that some of the best deals around can be found on that day. Don’t believe me? Well, picture this: A standard refurbished laptop has a markdown of anywhere between 5 and 20% based on the amount of use that laptop has previously seen. With significant discounts through the store (upwards of 20-30% on top of that), you can actually get laptops for half price. Yes, you can get a $1000 dual core 3.something GHz laptop for $500. That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? Now, there are a couple cons to shopping on Black Friday. First of all, availability. If you’re not in line at some of these stores at the crack of dawn (some people even line up the night before), there’s a good chance that you’re not going to be able to get the merchandise you actually want. Secondly, you’re going to have to battle through throngs of people to get your laptop. Black Friday is the most popular time of the year to shop. Most stores are a zoo. Helpful hint: Want to save yourself some trouble? Shop online on Black Friday instead; you can often get the same discounts with none of the hassle.
The second time you should really be looking for refurbished laptops for sale prices is right after Christmas, but before New Years. This is a popular time for businesses to reduce prices due to the after-Christmas lull. You can definitely cash in your gift certificates and cash on a nice laptop after the holiday!
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]]>So, the first thing you need to realize is that each retailer isn’t created equally. You’re going to find, nine times out of ten, that the brick and mortar stores (such as Wal-Mart, etc.) have higher prices than what you’ll find online. This comes down to how a physical business is run. When the retailer doesn’t own the buildings it resides in outright, it pays the bank or other company to occupy it through either a lease or mortgage. When companies have to do that, their profit margins go down. They have to kick up the price of their merchandise so that they can remain solvent and pay their bills. That’s typical of just about any store that you physically go to.
Now, online retailers are a little bit different. They generally don’t pay rent on many different buildings and stores; if anything, they pay rent for one building: The office building/warehouse where they actually keep their goods for distribution. Of course then they have to pay hosting for their websites and other administrative fees, but that’s far less than rent on multiple buildings. Since they do this, they can offer you great prices on your refurbished laptops. They can offer you prices that are just above cost because they don’t have to convert your money to pay off a pile of bills to keep the business’s doors open. When you shop online, you’re going to get some of the best deals out there.
Of course, most people don’t realize this. Most people don’t want to wait for their laptop to come to their door; they’ll go to the store because they want cheap refurbished laptops now. Don’t be one of those. 
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]]>Sometimes you may run into a laptop where the serial number doesn’t actually give you a clue as to if it’s been refurbished or not. This is often the case if a third-party company actually did the reconditioning, though most of them are supposed to comply with the tracking requirements of the original manufacturer. If this is the case, there are a few other things you can check:
1. The first thing you can do is check to see if there are any wear marks or scratches where people would have been touching the laptop the most. Check the keyboard keys, LCD screen, etc. for any signs of prior use.
2. This was an interesting idea I just read about online: Check the small screws holding on the access panels on the bottom for any abnormal wear as well. When companies do their refurbishment they’ll take those panels off and do whatever they need to do to bring that laptop back up to solid working order. If you see wear on those screws, there’s a good chance the laptop has been opened before.
3. Use your nose and smell for an industrial-style cleaner odor. This is tough to describe but the best I can say is that you’ll know it when you smell it. It certainly does make the laptop smell differently than new laptops that haven’t had that treatment done.
Those are the three that seem to work the best. Of course, if you can get the company to run the serial number, that’ll be your best bet. Good luck.
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]]>What kind of savings can you benefit from when buying refurbished versus buying straight new from the factory? Most people are pretty surprised by the fact that they can save massive amounts of money, upwards of 30-40% depending on the age of the computer. It’s true that newer laptops that are barely used may only have a 5-10% discount, but when you’re talking about a new laptop coming in at $800+, that’s still a significant amount of money. What could you do with an extra $80 that you didn’t spend on a laptop? Plenty of things! You could go buy yourself some cool accessories, peripherals, or other cool items to go along with your “new” laptop. Might I suggest with your savings going and buying a cool laptop bag to go with it? You want to be able to protect your investment, don’t you? It’s a good buy.
Before you walk out of the store with your factory refurbished computer, you need to make sure that what you’re getting is actually a “certified refurbished” (sometimes they say “reconditioned,” same thing) laptop. It’s possible that certain unscrupulous companies will try to pass off a used laptop as reconditioned when it actually isn’t.
A refurbished system has actually gone through a considerable amount of extra checking and work than something that’s just been returned and resold as “used.” Know the difference and realize that a used laptop is not the same as reconditioned. The quality is just not the same, and you run the risk of buying a “lemon” if you don’t do the research ahead of time. You’ve been warned on that!
So, hopefully this has helped you out a little bit. Go do a Google search and you’ll find a lot of good places to buy factory refurbished computers of all shapes and sizes. See ya.
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]]>Just to recap things we’ve already mentioned in other posts:
Is a refurbished laptop even considered “used”? Well yes, in a general sense it is, but there is quite the difference between “used” and “refurbished/reconditioned.” Factory refurbished laptops are computers that are brought back to a like-new condition by approved reconditioning companies. These are usually the original manufacturer of the product but not always. Many times the manufacturer will authorize third-party vendors to do the refurbishment, but don’t worry: Those third-party companies are trained specifically by the parent company to do the work. They go by the same standards the actual vendors of the products go by. You know that when your laptop comes out of the process it’ll be exactly the way you wanted it to be. If it’s not, guess what, you have a warranty like you would if you had bought new. Seriously, the only real difference is the price you’ll pay.
Now, a “used” laptop to me is something completely different. This is nothing like a refurbished model. Used laptops are generally bought in an as-is state, i.e. there has been no approved refurbishing program that the laptop has actually gone through. As you may recall, refurbished computers are put through a very rigid program that brings it back to a state where it looks and acts like it’s new and off the shelf. Used laptops can come scratched, broken, or damaged. Worse yet, you’ll have no recourse if this should occur.
Here’s how I’d do my shopping: If I wanted factory refurbished laptops, I’d go to stores such as Best Buy, Fry’s Electronics, etc. Those are known to carry a large selection of these products, and advertise it right there on the box. Those stores also have solid return policies and warranties, so you know what you’re getting right off the bat. If I wanted to go for a used laptop, I’d check out craigslist, eBay, or something like that. Be aware though that if you do this, you’re going to incur quite a bit of risk. There are no guarantees when dealing private-party. If you don’t get quite what you expected, there’s not much you can do about it!
What’s a good price discount on these laptops when compared to the newer models? Depending on the amount of use on the machines, a normal discount is anywhere from 5% to 50%. The computers that were barely used and only took a small amount of refurbishment will only really come with 5% off the new price; after all, the box was probably just opened, it was turned on and maybe used for a short time, then brought back. A laptop that’s been used for a longer period (say, months or years) will require a more extensive reconditioning process. When that happens, you’re actually likely to pay less out of pocket with a more significant price drop. Sound a little backwards? It is, but remember that you’re paying the discount because most people want to buy new, not refurbished.
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]]>Factory reconditioned laptops actually go through a fairly intensive check of their operation, condition, and other factors before they’re put back out on the market. This is so that customers buying these computers get the most out of their money, and allow the companies to actually make money on used computers instead of throwing them away and losing money. Combined with new and refurbished computer sales, companies actually make a substantial amount of money.
This intensive “check” of the operation of the laptop is what makes a laptop reconditioned and not just “used.” A used laptop is something you find on the internet (maybe on eBay, swoopo, craigslist, etc.), or from a friend or neighbor. That laptop isn’t guaranteed to be in good working condition; you’re basically taking that person’s word that it’s in good condition. Also, you want to watch out that the previous user’s personal data may actually be on that computer. You really don’t want that, do you?
So, as I said previously, reconditioned systems are the best way to go. The factory will actually go in and make that computer “like new.” The laptop will be stripped down to its bare bones, have any defective parts replaced, be wiped clean (so you or the previous owner don’t have to worry about personal data leaks), and all cosmetic problems will be taken care of. This is all done for you, and while it does cost the company some money to do the reconditioning, it costs a whole lot less than actually building a new laptop from scratch.
So, that’s what I have to say about that. If you value your money, find reconditioned laptops for sale at any place new laptops are sold.
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]]>Most sellers want to preserve the way the notebook was originally built. Each individual computer type has a set of drivers that may or may not work with other operating systems. Have you ever tried to install a different OS on a computer you’ve bought? I once made a swap from Windows Me (junk!) back to Windows 2000, and it didn’t go so well. The battery didn’t work correctly, and the mouse pad wouldn’t work without the drivers from the Me version. The same is absolutely true if a computer built for Windows XP suddenly gets stuck with Windows Vista; you’re just going to see a whole lot more problems than it’s worth. For that reason, if a Windows XP laptop was built for that OS, they won’t change it over.
Check with companies such as Dell, Asus, Acer, etc. (notice a trend?) to look for older model computers that came pre-installed with XP. You can search for them much in the way you found your other cheap refurbished laptops, via Google, eBay, or any number of other sites. Best of luck! Finding a good windows XP laptop isn’t as hard as you may think!
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]]>You might also try eBay for buying used laptops. You can often get some screaming deals, but buyer beware: these don’t always come with warranties, and you don’t always have the guarantee that they’ve been through the same checklist that most laptops go through when they are returned to the actual company that created them in the first place. If it were me, I’d go ahead and avoid online auction sites when buying these computers. The risk is often higher than the potential reward and bargain. You just don’t know what you’re going to get out of them.
So, that being said, my recommendation is always to buy from an authorized retailer of the brand you’d like. Start with a google search, and I guarantee that you’ll find some great deals on refurbished laptops.
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]]>Hope you enjoy!
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]]>Either way, you can get absolutely killer deals by buying these “refurb” laptops instead of going out and buying one new. Forget the idea that used models aren’t as good as the new kind: refurbs are basically “made new” by the manufacturer prior to release back to the store. Each manufacturer has a checklist that they go through on a used computer. Typically they completely wipe the hard drive (format), reinstall the OS, make any necessary cosmetic repairs to the outside of the laptop, and even go through each component to make sure it’s operating at the exact specification it was when it was brand new. To the end-user, a refurb model shouldn’t appear to be any different than a new model.
So why are they cheaper than new if they’re basically the same as new? Some people don’t like the idea that something was used before them. That’s about it. If you don’t mind the idea that someone was typing away at that computer before you (most of us don’t), you can easily cash on on a great deal. Enjoy!
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