Are refurbished laptops worth it?

[trevorcory]

Hi, I've been looking at possibly purchasing a laptop in order to upgrade my old one. I currently have a E6410 with an i5M60 and a Nvidia NVS 3100m graphics card. I am currently just about getting away with playing some games but at the same time can't play certain games either.

I totally understand in order to get a proper gaming laptop i'll easily need over a £1000. I don't need to play games at max setting or have the latest tech. I was looking at possibly getting a half decent laptop from possibly 2 generations ago, something maybe with the Geforce 650m which after some research seems should be able to handle the games I play at a satisfactory level.

After looking around for a while they are quite hard to find as they are old but have seen some on eBay or certain refurbished models on other sites. Is it worth trying to get a second hand or refurbished model as I hear a lot of bad rap about them?.

If it isn't such a bad idea can anyone suggest any good places where I can purchase from in the UK?

 

[Titillating]

I'd say it would depend on the source. I wouldn't place too much faith in eBay refurbs, but that is just the skeptic in me. If you can find a factory reconditioned one from a reputable dealer, say, Amazon, or a UK equivalent of Newegg, or even direct from the manufacturer, that wouldn't be the worst idea. The only issue with eBay refurbs, to me, is the lack of support and warranty on it, which could become a problem if the laptop starts acting up.

 

[orlbuckeye]

Technically they can only advertise refurbed if the OEM did the refurb. So if truly a refurb is shouldn't matter where you get it from. So them it's about how much trust you have in who's selling the system.

 

[jaguarskx]

Depends on who refurbished the laptop.

I bought a refurbished 15.6" Dell Latitude 3540 (3000 Series) this past January for around $475 - $500 because it was refurbished by Dell. Important specs are:

- Core i5-4200u
- Radeon HD 8850m (a bit more powerful than the GT 840m and just slightly lower performance compared to the GT 755m)
- 4GB of RAM
- 1 Year Warranty


You can try Dell Outlet's UK site:

http/www.dell.com/learn/uk/en/ukdfh1/campaigns/splitter