buying a new dell every year

Friends, Do you think it is possible to buy a dell refurbished today for $1000 and then sell it in a year for $500? I would like to change computers every year without paying more than $50 a month? Do some of you have experience with this kind of buy and sell?

 

Sure you can do it but why? You're not buying new, you're buying used every year. Take the $50 per month and invest it - after 18 months you'll have enough to buy a new machine and pocket the sale of your old machine for a few hundred $$.

 

frankly i see no reason to buy a new machine when the refurbished ones are so much cheaper and under the same warranty/

 

I was thinking about doing that back in '05. It is possible but you really should just buy a future proof laptop.

 

Lightlamp, what you're describing is indeed possible. I've done it myself. I needed a laptop in Feb. 2007 for a new job and bought a refurbished Latitude D820 from the Dell Outlet for around $1200 with a three year onsite warranty. In Feb. 2008 my circumstances changed and I had a new job, hence no need of the old laptop, so I sold the D820 on eBay for $750 (and probably could have gotten more for it, judging by how quickly it sold with Buy It Now). Not bad, eh?

And yes, I did disclose the fact that it was a refurb unit in the auction description.

I suspect that things worked out better in this case because 1) Latitude D820's are fairly popular and 2) I had two years of onsite warranty left at the time of sale. Your mileage might vary.

erwallie, I'd like to know what you mean by buying a "future proof" laptop. Most laptops/notebooks have a limited range of upgradeable parts, unlike desktops, and new processors/chipsets and other technologies get released every so many months. Lightlamp's proposed approach is pretty reasonable, I think, for someone who wants/needs to stay current with the latest and best notebook technologies. It's certainly a lot more affordable to upgrade every year when you buy low (i.e., from the Dell Outlet) than if you buy new with no discount.

 

Yeah, this is very possible, I do it quite often. It works better with a higher end notebook, that will still have some demand in a year.

 

So far the refurb deals I have seen posted I thought were not as good as the deal I got for a new one. I keep telling myself I am going to sell my old stuff but they always seem to end up going to family or something.

 

Why buy a new computer every year? Seems like a waste of time to keep reinstalling all the software and tweaking it out. (I know that's a day of labor for me, which is about the cost of a new computer).

I'm still using my 3 year old 700m, though, but will be updating soon. I try to keep a laptop for three years.

 

Funny I am still using my 700m but the m1530 is already on order. I did max out the 700m with the best of everything that they offered when I bought it though. I am running Vista on it and still runs pretty good for me with 1.25GB of ram. No games though.

 

I guess some of us are notebook addicts. I've had five different ones this year. I hope my M1730 will keep me satisfied for a while though.

 

I wouldn't go through the trouble of replacing notebooks that often if I was getting them for free.

 

Ok I must admit I'm a notebook addict as well.
I've already purchased about 3 or 4 notebooks this year.
Gateway ML3109, HP NC6220, Asus EEEPC, Dell M70, HP TX2510US
I sold the ML3109, NC6220 and EEEPC cause they're so old.
And today I'm getting a p 7811
I'm just realizing what an addict I am

 

I'm now doing the 2 year lease thing through my company. 1 year is too often, technology doesn't change drastic enough in one year to justify a new laptop each year. 2 years, you get a nice little boost in oomph.