Should You Buy A Refurbished PC?

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:

1. Make sure the vendor you are buying from enjoys a good reputation
2. That you are buying a quality brand
3. 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…

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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