Everything seems to be getting more and more expensive these days, and that applies to PCs as well. Some time back, I took the plunge and bought a refurbished desktop PC to replace my aging secondary machine, but not before I’d well and truly done my homework.
Should You Buy A Refurbished PC?
Undoubtedly, yes, but not before you’ve checked off several important prerequisites:
- Make sure the vendor you are buying from enjoys a good reputation
- That you are buying a quality brand
- That the PC’s specs definitely meet Windows 11’s requirements – some unscrupulous vendors are selling older refurbished PCs with Windows 11 pre-installed that do not meet Windows 11’s requirements. They may well be fine at first, but…
- Please read: Beware Refurbished PCs Running Windows 11
There are quite a few refurbished PC outlets here (in Australia), but it is often quite difficult to get a handle on an outlet’s reputation. So, following much research, I bought through eBay. eBay doesn’t provide the same comprehensive customer reviews as (say) Amazon, but it does provide comprehensive customer feedback, which is a good guide as to a vendor’s reputation.
Plus, I know from experience that any issues with a vendor or product can be resolved quickly and easily via eBay’s resolution center, so there is a degree of customer protection involved.
There are some PC brands that I would not touch refurbished, but in my opinion, both Dell and HP are quality-built, and they are the two brands I concentrated on. In the end, I settled on a Dell OptiPlex, largely because they are designed primarily for enterprise deployment and built tough.
Businesses and organizations will generally lease a quantity of Dell OptiPlex machines over a fixed period (usually 3- 5 years) at the end of which those machines are purchased en masse by refurbishing outlets and then sold on to the public.
What Does Refurbished Mean?
Obviously, I can’t be 100% certain here, and I am basing my opinion purely on common sense:
Refurbished usually means the PC has been thoroughly cleaned and tested as 100% working, but in my opinion, it rarely (if ever) means that any faulty components have been replaced with brand new components. I base that on the assumption that it would not be cost-effective, and it’s more likely that any faulty machines would either be discarded or broken down for parts, depending on the level of defectiveness.
I ended up buying an OptiPlex 7070 SFF with an Intel i5 9500 CPU, 16 GB RAM, a 500 GB SSD, and Windows 11 Pro pre-installed and activated for the equivalent of around $160.00US. I’ve had that machine for 14 months now and it’s as quiet as a mouse, super responsive, and never missed a beat (touch wood) 🙂
BOTTOM LINE:
Sure, there’s always an element of risk associated with buying refurbished, but provided you thoroughly research the vendor’s reputation and stick with a trusted brand name, that risk can be well and truly minimized. And the savings can be substantial.
Have you ever bought refurbished? Let us know your experiences in the comments.
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I buy refurbs. I always buy them from Newegg. They are more than helpful, and I’ve never had trouble with their computers. They once over-nighted me a new cord when I mistakenly thought it was missing from the package. When I tried to return it, they told me to keep it. I’ve bought 4 refurbished computers from them, all HPs, over the course of a few years. I once purchased a supposedly refurbished Dell laptop – NOT from Newegg. The charger didn’t work and could not be replaced. That was common to that model. Dell knew the chargers were flawed when they chose to put those laptops on the market. I got a refund, but I will never buy another Dell. Their monitors are very nice, though.
Hey Kelltic,
I’m a bit wary of refurbished laptops for that very reason- battery and adapter/charger issues.
I’ve been buying refurbs for home & enterprise use for 15 years with no issues at all. All the ones I’ve bought have been HP and they’re built like tanks. In fact, the one I’m using right now to send this message is one of the first I purchased 15 years ago! I’ve added RAM, some USB 3.0 ports and a 500GB SSD over time and I have no plans to replace it until WIN 10 Pro stops working (which will be well beyond 10/25)!
Hey Robin,
Yep, I agree 100%, HPs are quality built.
Hi Jim,
I am a fan of refurbished PCs. And like you, I go for the business recycled ones. I’ve purchased some Dell laptops for friends and all have been excellent, in fact they have been like new and S.M.A.R.T. on all has indicated minimal use. I’ve also had good success with Lenovo Tiny ThinkCentre boxes…hardy little units. Wife is using an M900. I have also bought an M93 and recently an M720 (Win 11 capable). The prices compared to new are a huge bargain. The M720 I got from a seller on an eBay auction for a very good price…one caveat – seller had advertised it as 512 GB storage, which it did have, although he had added a second high-mileage 256 GB SSD to achieve it. But it’s still OK and even if I had to replace it cost is not painful.
Hey Randy,
Yep, I would have no qualms about buying a refurbished PC fitted with a small SSD, for example, with a view to replacing the SSD with a larger one. As you say. cost is not prohibitive.
Thanks Jim
The only “refurbished” PC I would be extra cautious in buying are specifically those expensive gaming laptops. The gaming ones tend to run hot and of course heat is not your friend in an enclosed space – the people who buy them likely game on them and have them going red hot playing for hours at a time. I have seen lots of issues reported online with them even from the best known highest specc’d brands.
Let’s face it is you are paying only a couple of hundred dollars then for most people it is not the end of the world if something goes wrong. If a PC has worked well for years with no issues then chances are it will keep working for many to come as others have commeneted already – unless you were just unlucky enough to have broken a mirror prior to purchase or had a black cat run in front of you (depending on which culture you are from).
Just be aware that you can only install Windows 11 legally on Gen 8 version CPUs (generally post 2018) and above as well as requiring secure boot and the TPM 2.0 security chip nonsense. If yours isn’t that then it is highly likely the seller has got around the Windows minimum requirements with a software hack and you risk Microsoft undoing your licence (potentially at least) in a future update or else if you ever need to reinstall Windows yourself.
Cheers
Reg
Hey Reg,
I’m a bit wary of refurbished laptops, period.
https://davescomputertips.com/beware-refurbished-pcs-running-windows-11/
I have bought many Thinkpad laptops without problems so far. One should assume it’ll need a battery replacement ($50 USD)
I just picked up an X1 Carbon Gen8 (it’s only 1.08 kg!) with a gorgeous 500 nit 4k panel on eBay for $300US & by pure luck it only had 40 cycles on the battery, so it charges to full spec capacity. This seller didn’t know what they had, it could have sold for $500+ .. and a new unit would cost $1600US for not much more performance. Sometimes there are deals to be found.
Best thing about buying a business line laptop is being able to use software (Lenovo Commercial Vantage in this case) .. to make tweaks. E.g. I have placed my a hard-cap of 80% maximum charge on the battery to prolong it’s service life.
I’ve heard that HP whitelists certain components, so upgrading can be a problem. Something to look in to.
I’ve also bought motherboards, CPU, Synology NAS, little N100 units. So far, so good.
Jim, like you, I progressed through Commodore including Amiga. I recently purchased a refurbished HP to replace my old Dell. The “new” PC came with a 2 TB SSD Hard drive and I added my 500 GB SSD from the “old” Dell. Additionally, I have a 4 TB external HD. I used common sense similar to what you suggested in selecting a refurbished PC, settling upon choosing between HP and Dell. This was about 6 months ago and so far, I’m please and have had no problems.
Bruce
Hey Bruce,
Wow, that’s a lot of drive space mate. HP are quality built, good choice.
I have been buying refurbs from PCLiquidations for many years. Customer service is good, I keep them 3 – 4 years, prices are right, return policy is valid and effective..
Thanks for the recommendation Frank. PCLiquidations certainly enjoys a very good reputation and might well be of interest to US readers.
PCLiquidations company probably knows what they are selling.. which has upsides and downsides.
You probably won’t get a pleasant surprise on the upside, but you’ll spend less time looking at listings.
About six months ago, I bough my first “renewed” PC through Amazon, a reputable seller. It was an older Dell, at a good price, since it could not run Windows 11 (which I have no desire to install) without some hacking.
The laptop arrived in great physical condition (though speakers and webcam are poor for that model), but with Windows 10 Pro preinstalled with multiple malware items showing during setup! While it was easy to remove all partitions from the SSD by booting from USB, download Ubuntu 24.04 and Win 10 Pro ISO’s (on another PC), and install both operating systems, this would not be a good choice for the neophyte.
Overall, I still consider the purchase worthwhile — with that caveat.
I generally purchase New computers from Amazon. but also purchased a refurbished unit it 2023. A Lenovo ThinkCentre which came with 32G of RAM and a 2TB SSD. Knew I might have a problem installing Windows 11, but the price and these features I could not pass up. Find that Amazon products are always checked and have not encountered any problems to date, Mindblower!
Yep, I bought a Minisforum mini PC (Ryzen 5825u) “refurb” for $150 several months ago. It works great. A new equivalent was $300+
Honestly, no reason to buy new most of the time. Either the PC works after a few hours of stress testing or it doesn’t & would be returned.
Another thought on this topic is that you can only get certain features with older laptops.
For instance, I love the 1.8mm key throw (depth when typing) of my Thinkpad T480. It can also have two batteries.
They changed the keyboard to 1.5mm and even 1.3mm on subsequent models, which for many are less satisfying to type on.
Always consider the battery to be kaput. A new T480 internal battery costs $30 or so.
Also, who cares about a charger these days? A 65-watt usb-c charger costs $15-20 brand new & many already have several laying around. I use a $10, 47-watt charger and it’s much smaller than the stock charger.
I focus on the display mostly. Some older laptops and even newer have dreadfully dim 250 / 300 nit panels.
Last thing! I promise.
Malware? I works assume that DCT enthusiasts would always do a fresh OS install on any new/used machine that they buy.
Even new, there is often much “crapware” .. so much easier and faster to do a fresh install of Windows.
Hey Joe,
I’ve bought only 2 refurbished desktops over the years but, in both cases, they’ve come with a fresh Windows installation.
Hi Jim,
I guess I just don’t trust the pre-installed OS. There was that issue with, I believe it was “Acemagic” computers having malware upon delivery. It sounds similar to what Adelaide experienced.
Also, I prefer to use Windows 10 LTSC (doesn’t EOL until 2032, woohoo!) for an ultra-clean & lean Windows OS.
Even if I used a consumer version of Windows (home or pro) i would still do my own install.
I agree though, the risk is quite small.