Has anybody bought a refurbished laptop? Do you regret it?

[kozachka]

We need to replace our Toshiba Portege laptop with something similar as far as weight and size goes. I found some great deals for refurbished IBM Thinkpads but don't know whether savings are worth the gamble. What's the catch? There must be a catch, right?

[Momof3Labs]

My DH bought a refurbished laptop from Dell, and it spent an awful lot of time being repaired. Most of that was covered by warranty, but when it had to go in, it would be gone for days to weeks at a time.

[saleenl]

IBM no longer makes Thinkpads. About a year ago they sold the brand name to a Chinese company called Lenovo. My big question would be whether this was an IBM or Lenovo Thinkpad and who would provide the customer service. I don't know how either IBM's or Lenovo's customer service is, but with a refurb, I would make sure that the vendor had an excellent customer service reputation. I would also check the warranty; they are sometimes skimpy for refurbed machines. You may need to purchase an extended warranty to get the same warranty coverage a new machine would come with. Then again, I always recommend extended warranties for laptops because they are so expensive to repair and prone to breakage.

The bottom line on refurbs is that it is a crapshoot. Someone returned the laptop for a reason. If it was a small reason and repaired correctly, you have a great deal. If it was a larger problem and not repaired correctly or, even worse, an intermittent problem that is difficult to reproduce, then you might be very unhappy with your purchase. That said, even a new computer can have problems and after the first time you send it in for service it is now a "refurb."

Here is an article with info about the IBM/Lenovo switchover:
http://news.com.com/One+year+later%2C+Lenovo+looks+for+second+act/2100-1003_3-6066560.html

Hope this helps and doesn't just confuse you!
Sarah

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

My BIL bought a refurbished one on Ebay and had an awful time with it. I think he finally gave up and bought a new one. I know that DH who is amazing with computers fixed it for him a number of times, but it was never quite right. You should really look into deals at stores because laptops are getting cheaper and cheaper. I got mine for $470 down from $750 about a year or so ago. Cheak out deals in the Sunday paper - especially around holidays (think Labor Day sales!). You can probably find a deal way better than the one I got a brand new one and skip the refurb hassel!

[tarabenet]

We've bought 3 factory-refurbished laptops -- We gave each step-daughter a laptop for HS graduation, so an HP 2 years ago for #1, a Sony Viao last May for SD #2 and an HP for us just recently. We've had great luck with them. But we have bought them all through Fry's and we bought the extended warranty on each, just to be sure. According the sales team there, these are most likely machines that were used as "loaners" when someone had to bring a machine in for repairs. The loaners are sent back to the manufacturer for a check-up and to reset everything to factory specs. (FWIW, we took the older HP in when the hard drive died, and had it back in 48 hours!)

I don't think I'd buy refurbished from an individual or from a small seller who is less likely to be able to support any needed repairs, though.

[kozachka]

Thank you for taking time to post such a thoughtful post, Sarah. I know about Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's notebook division. From what I've heard from people who know way more about computers than I do, and who repair them for a living, Thinkpads, particularly series X and T (?), are still the golden standard for a business notebook. Most, but not all have a 3 year warranty, which is what I would want to get. Supposedly, Thinkpads are far superior than Sony (#2 recommended), HP and Toshiba. Supposedly, Dell is the worst. And I would certainly not buy one on eBay.