Hardware Refurbished laptops good?

Fishaman P

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IN GENERAL, refurbs are a great idea if you can test it before buying, and a meh-good idea if you're getting it from a reputable dealer like Newegg or TigerDirect.
They're great for installing Linux Mint or TinyXP on!
 

Originality

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7200 RPM hard drives wear out faster than 5400 RPM drives. I have a slower HDD but I never had any issues. Gee, I wonder why.

And to the OP, avoid Dell and Compaq; they're not are reliable as people make them out to be.
Please elaborate your comment or don't say it at all.

Dell are actually fairly reliable, however their cheaper ranges have 2 faults. First is that they cut corners to get so cheap (often on the HDD, RAM, motherboard and PSU) and second is that they produce so many more laptops than other companies that they naturally have a higher number of failures. You have to look at it as a percentage to get the full picture. Compaq on the other hand are only cheap but have no redeeming features.

It's like the BS about Acer being a "company to avoid" - they produce laptops nearly on the scale of Dell, except they push for a higher price point (with better specs). It's only natural that a higher number will fail, but in terms of percentage they're more reliable than HP and Apple even.
 

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Please elaborate your comment or don't say it at all.

Dell are actually fairly reliable, however their cheaper ranges have 2 faults. First is that they cut corners to get so cheap (often on the HDD, RAM, motherboard and PSU) and second is that they produce so many more laptops than other companies that they naturally have a higher number of failures. You have to look at it as a percentage to get the full picture. Compaq on the other hand are only cheap but have no redeeming features.

It's like the BS about Acer being a "company to avoid" - they produce laptops nearly on the scale of Dell, except they push for a higher price point (with better specs). It's only natural that a higher number will fail, but in terms of percentage they're more reliable than HP and Apple even.

I only said that because I worked for their tech support and have had my share of phone calls from customers who had sh***y laptops that always had a motherboard getting fried, a HDD failing or having an issue with the built in WiFi. The second reason is because people praise Dell like it's the best, most perfect brand in the world, not to mention their obsession with Toshiba HDDs; those are known to have abnormally high failure rates. But I digress, they have gotten better over the years, and I would take a Dell over an iMac any day (but let's not get into that discussion or elaborate as to why).
 

Originality

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Dell are the best? Who the hell spread those lies? Dell have always been cheap mass produced with low specs and cut corners for something like 15 years or more. Only their XPS range had a better level of quality, although you can still see compromises made if you look into it.

They're just fortunate that their sources for parts have improved over recent years. Intel series 6 and 7 chipsets are much more reliable than 4 and 5 and HDDs are practically identical now. Although I still cringe very time I see Dell using Foxconn and Broadcom parts.
 

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Dell are the best? Who the hell spread those lies? Dell have always been cheap mass produced with low specs and cut corners for something like 15 years or more. Only their XPS range had a better level of quality, although you can still see compromises made if you look into it.

They're just fortunate that their sources for parts have improved over recent years. Intel series 6 and 7 chipsets are much more reliable than 4 and 5 and HDDs are practically identical now. Although I still cringe very time I see Dell using Foxconn and Broadcom parts.
People have spread those lies and continue to do so today. What I was going to do is recommend that the OP stick with a more reliable brand; Sony, Asus, IBM/Lenovo*, Sager

*Any model on the cheap side, like <$600 avoid, but anything in the $800 range is and above is good. I got extremely lucky when I bought the Y570, originally $1100, got it for $800 brand new.
 
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