If you’re planning to purchase a laptop or notebook (note that laptops and notebooks are the same thing), consider buying used or refurbished laptop. A refurbished laptop is a used laptop that has been rebuilt by a professional, and made to be like new again.
First, let us take a moment to consider your needs in a laptop. What do you plan to do with your laptop? Do you your plans include the following:
Surfing the internet
Checking emails
Instant messenger
Writing papers
Printing Papers
Making spreadsheets
Slide Presentations
Playing Solitaire
Downloading MP3’s
Listening to MP3’s
Burning to CD’s
Watching DVD’s
Digital camera photo
Children’s games
Keeping bank figures
Small business use
The lists goes on…
Most used laptops will easily complete all of the above mentioned tasks for you. What’s really great is that for most current applications on a refurbished laptop, you won’t notice a performance difference compared to a brand new laptop.
How is that possible to not notice a difference between a brand new laptop and a refurbished one?
That’s a good question. The fact is, most current software for your computer is not designed to need the high performance of a brand new laptop. Computer manufactures are moving so fast, that software makers simply do not keep up. Most current software will run on a computer 4 times slower than the fastest laptops made.
Most current software will run flawlessly on a computer 4 times slower than the fastest laptops made.
What does that mean for you? It means that it’s not necessary to spend $1500 or more on a top of the line laptop. Depending on your needs from your laptop, you may be able to buy a laptop for as low as $250. A $250 laptop will perform all the necessary tasks for most people. However, if you are looking for a laptop that will burn CD’s and watch DVD movies, expect to spend $400 - $750.
Dell says I can buy a brand new laptop for $699, why should I buy a used one?
This is a very smart, and very much overlooked, marketing trick. Let me start by saying that I think Dell is the best computer manufacture on the market, and I endorse their products myself. However, try this yourself on any given day with any manufacture : Today I went to do dell.com and browsed new inspiron laptops (The Dell line designed for home users). On the home page was an ad for a laptop “from” $699. This is after a $100 rebate, so make that price $799. I click the ad and attempt to purchase the item. I am offered to “Customize” or choose “Recommended Solutions”. Customizing sounds great. I’m the customer, and I should get what I want. After choosing “Customize”, without selecting any upgrades at all, suddenly the price of the laptop is $1371. I don’t like that, so I chose all of the lowest possible choices for all available features to achieve the lowest price. The lowest available configuration made the price $907. I don’t want to give up, so I go back and choose “Recommended Solutions” because these configurations are pre-manufactured in quantity, and are therefore cheaper. Four options were offered at these prices: $949, $1249, $999, and $1319. Each one of these options was offered a $150 rebate (keep in mind this is a mail-in rebate so it doesn’t lower your price at checkout) so respectively, if I were to purchase, then wait for my rebate, I could get a laptop for $799, $1099, $849, or $1169. Not one option was available to purchase this laptop at the advertised priced price of $699, even after a mail-in rebate! You will find the same scenario anywhere you go, no matter what manufacture.
No option was available to purchase a laptop for $699, even after a mail-in rebate!
They have to get you to buy from them somehow. All of the computer manufactures have been using this marketing technique (as described above) for years. Imagine if everyone knew about this and the money they could save on buying a refurbished laptop, without having to sacrifice any of their goals and needs from the computer. These manufactures would not be the same companies that they are today.
There are more reasons to consider a refurbished laptop.
Another aspect of buying a refurbished computer that should be considered is this: Most refurbished laptops available are not the “low end” home user based laptops. Examples of home user laptops are: Compaq Presario, Dell Inspiron, eMachines, Hewlett Packard Pavilion, Sony Vaio, and Toshiba Satellite. Refurbished laptops are almost always business model laptops that are off-lease from major corporations.
Business laptops have parts available even long after warranty expires.
Business laptops provide a better solution because they are the laptops provided by a company that are proven to work well. Examples of business laptops are: Compaq Armada, Dell Latitude, Hewlett Packard Compaq Mobile/Business Workstation, and Toshiba Tecra. Home user laptops, believe it or not, are usually testing grounds for new engineering of laptop equipment. Home user laptops are typically given shorter warranty, and are designed to last until that warranty expires. After the laptop’s warranty has expired, the newer “experimental” home user model available uses different parts. Since the older models are no longer under warranty, and they use “out of date” parts, the manufacture no longer stocks the parts. Therefore, when your home user laptop has an out of warranty problem (which it will), the parts that are available to fix your laptop are very expensive, if they are available at all. This leaves the home user with the attitude to “throw away and buy new”, which is exactly what the manufacture wants you to do.
Since business laptops use technology that is proven to work, their parts seldom change from model to model. Due to this fact as well as the fact that business laptops are leased to corporations, huge stock piles of parts are kept at the manufacture for extended warranties as well as out of warranty purchases. For example, you can still call Dell today to order parts for an out of warranty laptop that was manufactured in 1997 or 1998 for the same cost as laptops manufactured in 2002.
Business laptops are more expensive than home laptops (as much as $3000), buy used and save a ton.
Business laptops, due to their stability, are far more expensive than home user laptops. Using the Dell example, the cheapest Dell business laptop (Latitude), currently available is $2000. Many of the refurbished laptops being sold today for $250-$800 originally sold for $3000 or more. This means you can buy refurbished and save as much as 80% over buying new.
Purchase a refurbished laptop that will suit your needs and last for years, at a great savings.
What all of this means is that if you purchase a refurbished laptop, you can expect the following:
Able to complete all tasks necessary to an everyday user
Half the cost of a brand new home user laptop
Up to 80% less than a brand new business laptop
Proven technology that will last for years
Parts always available if your laptop has a problem
Take control in your life, and put extra money in your pocket for other things that are important to you!
