Refurbished Laptop

HI... I am in the process of buying a new laptop. I will probably go with

2018 HP Spectre x360 13-ae012dx 13.3" 2-in-1 TouchScreen Laptop - Intel Core i7-8550U Processor 16GB Memory 512GB SSD Windows 10 (Certified Refurbished)

I haven't owned a refurbished laptop before, and am concerned I might be getting something substandard... or something with issues.
Do you think refurbished is ok?

 

Two things come to mind.
Who are you buying from and what is the price?

I found a similar product on Amazon for $999.00 which is about half of the price when new.
https://www.amazon.com/HP-Spectre-13-ae012dx-TouchScreen-Laptop/dp/B079K7XMQN

 

The hardware specs look good.....remember that refurbished simply means a clean install of OS and related software, not hardware!

If done correctly and any hardware doesnt pose a running issue, as Eldon says, you should be able to save a considerable amount on 'New' replacement for the same performance!

Good Luck.

 

Wonderful! Thanks so much. Yes, that's the laptop I am thinking about. It comes with a 90 day warranty. I sure like the idea of saving that much money.

 

Another option...
Unless you need an i7 CPU and 16 GB RAM, you could buy a lower spec laptop with a bigger screen for the same money.

 

No! That is not necessarily true at all! Refurbished (when done by the manufacturer or authorized service center) means the devices has been tested and, if necessary, repaired TO INCLUDE REPLACING ANY FAILED COMPONENTS, then certified to meet factory specs.

The problem is, we, as consumers, have no clue why the device was returned in the first place. It could have come off a lease. It could have been returned because it was the wrong color. Or it could have been returned under warranty for any number of reasons.

The hope is it was not returned because it had "intermittent" problems that were not resolved during testing and recertification. So to that, I agree wholeheartedly with plodr - make sure it has a good warranty. "Good" means you can easily return it for any reason - no questions asked. A longer warranty does not always mean better - especially if there are all sorts of conditions and costs (other than, at most, 1 way shipping) involved.

I know several on a tight budget who have bought refurbished notebooks and PCs with no problems. Don't expect the latest and greatest cutting edge technologies and you should be fine.

 

Good find, plodr! Yeah I would not consider refurbished and renewed would mean the same thing.

 

Lol......they wont replace hardware, it simply not cost effective to be resold as 'refurbished' or 'Renewed' or whatever you want to call it, at a 'cheaper than new' price.
Possibly a new (second hand working) hdd at best, but they wont bother with much else!
It would make more sense to trash it, then get a working one to reinstall windows on.

They certainly wont give you a new core i7 and 16 gig of DDR4, despite what they tell you!

Plodr makes a valid point i suppose about desktops, but i can have a most laptops dismantled down to an exposed mobo in about 10 minutes.
Its the cost of what i have to put in there thats the concern!

 

Of course they will - depending on the specific component(s) in need of replacing. So yes, if the RAM is bad or the hard drive is bad, or a simple fan is bad they will replace them. Even the CPU!

No, in most cases, they will not take the time or spend the money to replace the motherboard or the display panel because those cost too much and they take too much time to replace.

So sorry but like all blanket statements, yours is wrong about cost effectiveness too.

How much profit does a company make if they throw away an entire notebook? None! In fact, it is negative profit - a total loss that ends up costing the company money - that is, the device becomes a liability.

Not only that, if testing shows the display panel or the motherboard is bad, they will strip the notebook of salvageable parts, to include the RAM, CPU (if not surface mounted/soldered in), CPU cooler, graphics cards (if not integrated), wifi cards, and drives and use them to "refurbish" other notebooks that come into the repair center.

A company (and their shareholders) would MUCH RATHER break even or take a tiny loss instead of a total loss. That's just better (and common) business sense!

As you yourself noted, an experienced tech can open up a notebook in 10 minutes. It takes much less to simply replace the RAM or a drive. Even the CPU may be accessible with in many notebooks without total disassembly.

Of course they will! Are you seriously going to suggest they will throw away a perfectly good notebook, lose all profits and actually take a loss if all that is wrong is the CPU or RAM? No way! They will replace them, typically by using parts they salvaged from other returned notebooks.

Don't forget, Dell, HP and Acer don't pay anything near what we, as end-user consumers, pay for 16GB of RAM, hard drive, processor, etc. When a company goes to Micron, Samsung, WD, AMD, or Intel and promises to buy 1,000,000 units over the next year, they get HUGE volume discounts.

So absolutely they will take a $50 loss to replace 16GB of RAM in order to prevent several $100s in losses for the entire notebook! And don't forget, they likely pulled that replacement RAM from another system - so in effect, all it took was 10 minutes of an experienced tech's time.

 

This is a very good point. Many issues with PCs, routers and other electronic equipment aren't always obvious in the first few minutes (or even hours or possibly days) of operation.

Remember that a warranty is only as good as the company that backs it. Even manufacturer warranties on new equipment usually require you spend (usually wasted) time on remote diagnostics followed by paying shipping and waiting often weeks to get it back. This assumes the company's repair techs properly fixed it. Being generous, their getting it right on the first try is a 50/50 proposition.

If you absolutely must buy a refurbished PC, I'd seriously consider also buying an extended warranty from a reputable provider such as Square Trade. If you buy the product on Amazon you'll usually have an option to buy such a plan at a big discount. If not, you can check www.squaretrade.com for coverage options. I normally don't buy warranties on small stuff but the cost of a failed motherboard on a notebook PC makes this worth looking at - especially if the seller limits coverage to 90 days or less.

 

The one I was looking at says refurbished...

 

GREAT advice... thanks!