Refurbished Desktop PCs

[Married2Allis]

Time to look for my next 'puter. I used to believe in always buying electronics new and unmolested. But I'm seeing alot or refurb'ed PCs for sale through Walmart, Amazon for some good prices. I don't need a gaming machine or anything high-end, just reasonable speed, 8GB memory, DVD burner. Has anyone had good/bad experiences with buying refurbished? Looks like Walmart is offering 3 and 4 year warranty plans too. - thanks
 

[kcm.MN]

I've purchased two at different times. The first was running Windows XP, but Win 7 was then out and starting to dominate the market. That PC still works great!

Couple years ago, I got an older IBM with many newer components, including processor. However, the remaining older components bog down the processor badly! That puter was ONLY supposed to be used for streaming. It did OK but was slow as molasses.

If you go with a refurb, make it one that's not from too far into the history books and you shouldn't have any problems. Keep in mind the older the platform design, the more power it will use (fan, etc.).

Just to see what they're like, I also recently bought a small fanless PC with Windows 10. They use very little power, are NOT for gaming or heavy-power users, but supposedly work well for streaming, staying turned on for extended periods, etc. You're also supposed to be able to run using Linux, which is a plus. They come with either 2GB or 4GB RAM. Uses an SDHD card or USB drive for the hard drive. CD/DVD would also have to be USB stand-alone. The PC is tiny, about the size of 2 decks of playing cards laying side by side. Use wireless keyboard/mouse as well.

Have not had time to mess with it yet, but hoping it will show some promise.
 

[rustyfarmall]

I've purchased 2 refurbished laptops from Dell. One of them has developed issues with a flickering screen, but I've had it for about 6 years. When I connect it to a remote monitor, all is well. The other used laptop is going strong after about 4 years.
 

[circus]

Maybe yes, maybe no. Refurb usually means returned. I'd feel better if they told you why it was returned.
 

[kcm.MN]

Thanks for the reminder. Had also gotten a used (not refurb) Dell laptop for the wife 2 or 3 years back. Has Win 7 pro installed (fresh install per seller) and has worked flawlessly! This PC is in the list of "Best Buys". Bought it off of eBay. Seller was a big-time eBay seller, but the PC was no longer powerful enough for his needs, so he was upgrading.

If you buy used, take your time and shop around. With refurb, research the company that did the refurbing. If they have good reviews, then they likely do a good and thorough job. Have seen a few who just don't care.
 

[rustyfarmall]

[JF in MI]

I have bought several used (lease returns I think) off Ebay. First one was a Dell "hand-me-down" from my wife's work (not from Ebay) and I used it for many years. Then it was
just getting too slow with newer programs so I bought another newer Dell off Ebay. Right out of the box it was having screen (video card) issues so I returned it (I should have
researched it because I later found out that model was prone to that problem) I then researched models and bought another off Ebay (it was a HP with XP on it and I bought it
because it had a pretty fast processor). Used the heck out of it but with XP no longer being supported I started to slowly have poor operating issues. I decided to upgrade it to
Win 10 but by then solid state drives were getting real cheap so I installed one first before the upgrade and transferred all my files. It was lightening fast but after a few
more years the video card started acting up. Bought another HP, slightly newer model with a fresh copy of Win 10 on it (I had learned from buying a couple of streaming desktops
that the first thing to do is start it and check the processor speed to make sure I got what I paid for) but found the processor wasn't as advertised and returned it (Each time
Ebay forced a refund). Got another that was as advertised and took the SS hard drive out of my older HP and put it in the new one. Once again working like lightening. Then
started thinking and found a used, and warrantied, mother board for my older HP (that had the video card built in), replaced it and swapped in the Win 10 hard drive that came
with the newer HP and now have a working spare laptop that my wife uses.
 

[spacecadet9]

[quote="Married2Allis"/quote]The general rule is don't buy "refurbished" unless it's done by the original manufacturer. That said: we have purchased laptops from the Dell outlet with good results. Good shopping
 

[WGM]

I buy used hp?s On EBay. All have worked great.
Have four of them. Seller is licensed refurbisher by
hp.
 

[Gambles]

Try Newegg.com. They have some good used ones between $100-$200.
 

[cowranch]

I've helped get several from Dell outlet for neighbors and family, haven't had any major issues. Dell is "ok", that's about it, but no major failures out of the several (several as in more than 20 in about 15 years). Also, any there have the same warranty as new, some have on site so you don't have to send it in. [url]dell.com/outlet[/url] They used to have better sales than they do now. 99% of the time they look brand new. Usually anything that doesn't is labeled "scratch & dent".

There is another site, I've never noticed anything great there, but they are lease returns, often older systems etc. Didn't check on the warranties there. https://www.dellrefurbished.com/

You have to be careful with some refurbished systems, sometimes it's cheaper to buy a new one somewhere else.

I assemble a new desktop for myself every 6 or 7 years or so, just got the last one done with some leftover stuff from the old system and sale stuff during the holidays, about 2 days before the Intel flaw was revealed. I almost went with the other brand chip, although it's vulnerable to other things. Had I known I would have held off a while, although I don't notice any difference since it's been patched. The other brand required buying a separate graphics card, since I don't game, I just figured I'd stick with Intel and use its built in graphics.

Things like RAM, video cards, SSDs are expensive at this time because of the Bitcoin craze (RAM is double or more, for example, SSD drives, not so much expensive, just not going down in price as they would normally be, similar price and capacity to years ago).
 

[WGM]

I buy used hp?s On EBay. All have worked great.
Have four of them. Seller is licensed refurbisher by
hp.
 

[Married2Allis]

Looks like I can't loose if I select the right outfit, thanks for all of the replies.
 

[David G]

You can always lose, just better your odds by picking firm with good reputation.
 

[Married2Allis]

Yes you can always loose even buying new. And the worst new computer buying experiences have been with the OS, Vista which crashed permanately and Windows 8 which was a total piece of crap.