<p>What’s the difference between buying a new one vs. factory refurbished?
if i buy the factory refurbished, its about 200 dollars cheaper… should i go with the factory refurbished laptop?</p>
<p>I buy refurbished, but then again, I’m computer savvy. If something goes wrong, I can diagnose the problem and get them to quickly fix it.</p>
<p>Refurbished is a New computer that has been returned. Either something was defective, or the person didn’t want it. The manufacturer fixes the problem, and then sells it as Refurbished. The problem is: Did they really fix it? Swapping out a defective component tends to work, but why didn’t that get fixed under warranty rather than returning it? You never know.</p>
<p>Refurbished computers usually have a shorter warranty - 90 days vs. 1 year for new. If a computer component is marginal, it usually fails quickly, so make sure you use it a lot during the first 90 days.</p>
<p>Because of potential for screen problems (and their expense), I would be more hesitant to buy a refurbished laptop.</p>
<p>If I were you, a special discount through the school can usually match a refurbished price.</p>
<p>^this. refurbished is essentially defective a defective product that may or may not have been fixed properly. if you go this route, odds are, you’ll be fine, but the chances of getting a dud and finding out while under warranty are much lower.</p>
<p>just to put it out there, most school discounts are usually only 7%, which is rarely anything near 200. look into insurance from sources besides the manufacturer/seller, or extended warranties from the seller</p>
<p>I bought two refurb Dells recently - save several hundred on them - these were desktops. I also have three refurb Dell laptops that are 8, 7 and 6 years old. They all still work just fine. One of them came with the wrong disk drive so I told them and they sent me out the right size drive and I replaced it myself. I’m pretty comfortable working on hardware and software - if you’re not, then you might be better off with something new with a long warranty and a service contract.</p>
<p>I bought my Dell laptop refurbished and its basically new. Plus, it came free with a 3 year warranty.</p>
<p>I’d have no issues buying refurb’d products if I buy or they come with the extended warranty.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed dell tends to have a lot of refurbished laptops for sale, but in the descripton they talk about the possiblity of cosmetic flaws. Anyone ever ordered Dell refurbished and received computers with these visible flaws?</p>
<p>Those are labeled scratch and dent and usually carry a greater discount than the usual refurb stuff.</p>