Refurbished laptops, good buy ?

[~Stef~]

Youngest daughter is looking to spend her first wage on a laptop, a new one would use up most of her monthly salary, so thought of a refurbished one.

Like

http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/fujitsu_siemens-esprimo_v5535_rf2922-refurbished_laptop-3-rf2.htm

http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/fujitsu_siemens-amilo_li_2727_rf2911-refurbished_laptop-4-rf2.htm

 

[thauma]

really depends on what she wants to use it for. So get her to list her likes, dislikes, wants and needs, as that will help to determine whether it is suitable. This is obviously true of any purchase - new or used.

I work for Fujitsu, and we have to use the Fujitsu Seimens laptops, but different models to these. The ones I've had have been good work horses,not flash, not top of the range, but capable all-rounder for WORK not GAMES.

As for REFURBISHED, I'd look at the warranty. The first appears to have good spec on memory and disk with a 12 month warranty - which is probably all you'd get if you bought new.

The second has less memory and has a shorter warranty, and so to me is less of a contender.

Having said that compare the spec of the FS laptops to the new DELL laptops that are on telly for around £369.

If it were me I'd be tempted by the 1st, but not the 2nd, BUT I am not a student, or someone expecting their 1st pay packet, and will use it for different things (probably )

Cheers

Dave#...

 

[~Stef~]

Main purpose of the laptop would be to chat to friends on MSN so it really needs a robust keyboard

She currently has an old Dell D600 which takes for ever to boot up, thats when it doesn't go straight to the blue screen of death, it also has a knackered battery so needs to be plugged into the mains at all times.

Did look on Dells website at new ones £349 but not as high a spec as the refurbed FS ones

The FS @ £249 looks the better deal to me as well factory refurbished 12 months warranty and 2gb of ram.

 

[rob mac]

Hi Stef, not sure if this is in her price range (£360) but my daughter just got one of these for Uni (apparently her laptop is too big to lug about).Toshiba seem to be the AK47 of laptops/netbooks. Have to say, 160Gig hard drive and 6.5 hour battery life,light as a feather(if it's quite a big feather or two) LED screen, it is an awesome bit of kit. They only have a max of 2Gig of ram - hence all netbooks run Windows XP as Vista uses 2Gig just to run itself. No Uni work on it but Facebook,Spotify,Itunes,MSN Messenger all seem to be running on it non stop! Oh and most importantly - they come in different colours!!

http://technologizer.com/2009/07/31/toshibas-nb205-netbook-review/

 

[Attleborough]

Try these people

Try Mcscom, they do a lot of Dell refurb stuff but with good warrenties. No connect but happy customer.

 

[~Stef~]

Hi Stef, not sure if this is in her price range (£360) but my daughter just got one of these for Uni (apparently her laptop is too big to lug about).Toshiba seem to be the AK47 of laptops/netbooks. Have to say, 160Gig hard drive and 6.5 hour battery life,light as a feather(if it's quite a big feather or two) LED screen, it is an awesome bit of kit. They only have a max of 2Gig of ram - hence all netbooks run Windows XP as Vista uses 2Gig just to run itself. No Uni work on it but Facebook,Spotify,Itunes,MSN Messenger all seem to be running on it non stop! Oh and most importantly - they come in different colours!!

http://technologizer.com/2009/07/31/toshibas-nb205-netbook-review/

Just been out and abut with her looking in the usual high street stores, she wants a full size laptop rather than a notebook oh and its got to be shiney

 

[~Stef~]

Try Mcscom, they do a lot of Dell refurb stuff but with good warrenties. No connect but happy customer.

Some of that looks interesting, same laptops as DELL's site has for less money with 3 year warranty

 

[Myke Rocks]

Second hand laptops

I always buy second hand, mostly on ebay.
I know my price range, & bid accordingly.
Using laptop in industry, I need a 9 pin serial port, so this makes my choice Dell Latitude range.
Since they get dropped, have things hit them and are generally subject to a high level of abuse, I have, until recently, preferred D505.
I always buy same model, because of spares commonality, & I can swap a motherboard in 20 minutes. (After submersion in slurry)
Latitudes are very easy to dismantle & repair, and, since they are a business based laptop, they always come with XP professional on them, which is a bonus.
Weak points of all dell computers: Power supply leads. they fail rapidly if regularly transported: E.G 2/3 times a day. Cheap & easy to get on Ebay.
Not a powerful games computer, but great value. Will do most things one wishes to. You can buy from 135 pounds up.
Myke

 

[thauma]

need a laptop with a 'teenager' strength keyboard......

my recommendation would be to use a separate keyboard and mouse. Save RSI type problems too. That way the laptop stays in good shape and you can always change the keyboard.

I have used the logitech radio keyboards (no wires) and they were pertty good, and I imagine the technoology has got better / faster / cheaper......