Refurbished on Dell.com, good or bad idea?

Well I would compaire specs and price with an Emachine or a Compact before buying.
What kind of warrenty will they give you?? As good as a new one??? John

Most refurbed systems are nothing more than returned systems that custonmers didn't want for wahtever reason. In most cases not from damage but unable rectify some glitch beyond them. Then again damaged or screwed-up returned systems do get the attention they need and back for sale as refurbed. The systems aren't new but hardly broken in if used beyond 30-days. For all practical reasons, you still have to read the "fine print" to see what warranty you do have and just how its handled. Some vendors lessen warraty periods and others juice-up the goodies in order to sell, which is better than typical system. The best deal is lower cost or added value for the buck, so I wouldn't discount them on a one-for-one basis. If you plan to buy several or batch, see if even a better deal can be had.

tada -----Willy

I bought a refurbished Dell 3 years ago. Haven't had any problems with it and saved almost $400 compared to an new system. Plus Dell gave me the same warranty as a new system.

I have purchased refurbished from Dell in the past, WITH GREAT SUCCESS! The computer, as well as the warranty, have been super. I am pleased with the fact that I could save as much as I did. In fact, they told me, when I purchased the computer, that it had never been out of the factory: had been ordered by a customer, and cancelled prior to shipment.

"Try it! You'll like it!"

I purchased a refurbished computer from Tiger.com in Miami about 2 years ago. It has been great. Tons of memory, DVD Player, CD Burner, XP Professional, etc. It was loaded with interesting software. Works great, and I have never regretted the purchase.
I may have been just very lucky for I have heard bad stories. But, there was a warranty on mine and I had some time to evaluate. I suggest if you do buy a refurbished PC you buy it from a reliable dealer. Check around. Also, refurbished is good for teens and small kids to use. Save the new one for the adults.

I purchased my refurbished dell 4600 in August of 2003.
I run it daily for writing (wordPerfect & Word), playing games, receiving and sending email messages, searching the int4ernet for and purchasing travel arangements. I run XP Pro and keep it updated. So far I have had no problems in two years of use of the machine using it daily. I look at a company refurbished machine as one which has been tested and either returned or pulled back for further testing and then re-tested before being sold again. I have always felt that the copmpany refurbished machines have gone through a more complete testing process than those off the assembly line. Prior to owning this one I used an IBM refurbished machine for 6 years. I had no problems with it until lightning hit my system and fried the interior.
I will look at dompany refurbished machines again when I need to upgrade or replace my current machine.

Have no experience with Dell, but have purchased 2 HP's over the years. As long as it comes with 30-90 days warranty or return privileges, I think it's a safe way to save hundreds of $$.
First HP was at Computer City, it was a P200 (yes, it was a while back). PC was troublesome from the day I brought it home, but after reimaging the HD with the included CD, everything was fine for years.
Second PC was purchased from HP online, about 4 months ago. A media center M1180N at around $850 was at least $300-400 less than the retail models. Biggest differences were 30 day warranty and no lightscribe dual layer dvd writer (came with standard dual layer dvd writer). Other than the wireless mouse failing (replaced under warranty), it has been trouble free.

Ok, goofy subject title. I don?t have any experience with Dell but I have purchased several refurbished computers from Tiger Direct and have found them all to work as good as a brand new ?untouched? machines. I would assume that since Dell builds computers they would be capable of refurbishing them as well. The best part is you can save a nice chunk of change, especially if you are purchasing several systems. Good luck!

I bought a refurbished eMac from the Mac Store on line and saved over $150 over the price of a new one. It's been almost a year, and not one bit of trouble. Just like a new one! I would recommend this path to anyone.

Bought an S model sony REFURBISHED. TOP OF THE LINE with 770 processor. No problems and saved over about 1500.00 off retail and got free leather case. Lost one year warranty(only get 90 days plus 10 to change your mind.) I would have and did buy the service contract for four years with accidental coverage any way so only made nine months difference. Expensive computer but it is immaculate, shows NO signs of wear of use and works very nicely. What a great display. I did think it might have been a bit faster but maybe it is just my expectations were sky high. I really like it. Do not usually like refurb stuff but I could not have afforded this without the reduction in price....think the Sony people told the truth when they said the previous owner did not like the size of the screen and immedicately returned it.

I took a chance and I'm so glad I did. I had a perfectly good HP Celeron but wanted a faster processor. The price was (with a few rebates) only $250! 80 gb HD, CD-RW, 6 port USB and I've added a DVD-RW for cheap too. Just be sure to buy the extended warranty. I got an extra 2 yr warranty because my PC manufacturer's was only 3 months. I highly recommend refurbished to save lots of money - just extend the warranty! So why are they refurbished - what could have gone wrong for the previous owner? Most likely the HD, which gets replaced.

I have bought and owned two refurbished computers and have had no problems with them other than the usual problems with any computer. It would be hard if not impossible to tell if the problems occured due to it being a refurbished computer. That is the problem, if you buy a refurbished coputer, how can anyone say it is bad due to the refurbish or if it just went bad because they go bad. I think that people have a bad concept of refursbished anything. If it was used and it got refurbished, it would depend on what is done during the workover to sell it again. I have bought my computers from a local Computer Renaisance and would recommend this to anyone, in fact I have, on a web site I write for. A refurbished computer is only as good as the support and tech help you get after you buy it. That, I think is the bigger question, does the computer come with any kind of warranty or support after you buy it? And the better question what does that support entail? Do they send the computer off to some facility across the country or does the shop or store you bought it at have techs to do all the work in the store? That is what you want when it comes time to get a computer and you need it fixed, locally and you don't have to worry about having it mailed to get it fixed. I feel that a refurbished computer is fine if it comes along with good support and a warranty, but make it a local one, or you might have your computer taking a trip just to get some silly part replaced that could be done faster and cheaper here.

I got a reconditioned Dell and have always had problems with it. It wasn't done by Dell so that's prolly the problem.

If I get too many things going at once, it freezes up and the only way out is to reboot. Sometimes it just goes black and restarts on it's own.

Of course it only does it when I am doing something important. If I'm reading emails, chatting on MSN and Yahoo at the same time, it's going to shut down. Or in the middle of a d/l. Buh bye.

I'll be soooooooo happy when I can afford a new one (Compaq/HP) but never again a Dell. No gateway either.

I went shopping for a laptop in 1997 and found the prices were very high. A friend told me to try the Dell refurbs. There was a great selection, free shipping, and full warranty. I saved $600 over the same model new, and it still runs great.

As a satisfied customer I bought a Dimension 8200 desktop, refurbished, in 2002. A total gem! Saved at least $800...it came loaded with XP pro, Office Pro, cd r/w, 40G hd, clock speed 2.1, and lots more. I wanted more than the 256 memory--it is not inexpensive to add to the DRAM on this machine as it is a Dell-only product, but that has not been a problem, yet.

It too came with free shipping and standard in-home warranty. Oh, and no interest financing if you want to make payments.

I will probably buy my next machine the same way. Good luck!

My ex-girlfriend bought one and got it much cheaper than a new version. It started crashing within the first few minutes of boot-up. I downloaded and ran the diagnostics and found out one of the RAM chips was bad. So she called them up with the error code, they shipped a new chip (I think she got it the next day) and she sent the old one back.

So, long story short, there might be a slightly larger possibility (than with a new one) that you'll have some problem with the computer when it arrives, but they're very good about fixing it.

I did not have a good experience with my refurbished Dell laptop. One day, before I'd had it a year, smoke started pouring from it. The motherboard had to be replaced - warranty covered it, and service was fast. Dell would not renew the service contract on it because I contacted them shortly after the 1-year warranty had expired. I had to replace the power supply. When the motherboard started to go bad again, I gave up and bought a Mac powerbook. It's been fabulous! I'll never buy a refurbished computer again. It's not worth the hassle and unreliability.