Those of you who have ordered a refurbished dell laptop....

Few questions.


What kind of shape was it in cosmetically?

Have you have any problems with it hardware wise (Within the first 6 months or so)

What was your overall experience like?


Thanks =)

 

I just ordered the Inspiron 1525 Ill let you know in 3-5 days. Also dealnews.com has a coupon for 15% off at Dell Outlet on Inspiron 1525 expires today.

 

Anyone with current experience? Looking to make a purchase soon would love some feedback from the folks here =)

 

Mine was brand new.

 

There is no blanket answer to your question. Each refurb is different - you have to pay close attention to the details for each laptop. I bought a refurb 1420 and it looked brand new. It also came with a standard Dell warranty, and with all of the original, included software (including the Vista Ultimate install DVD). However, as I said, each refurb deal is different, so you have to look around to find the one you want.

 

My M1330 would basically be impossible to distinguish from a brand new laptop except for the sticker on the bottom that says Refurbished.

 

It was indistinguishable from a new except for the refurbished sticker. It's been three months since the purchase. My laptop actually failed to enter hibernation properly from BSOD (caused by Intel Turbo Memory) twice inside my backpack.

First time: It turned off itself from overheating or battery ran out (don't know).
Second time: it got stuck at BSOD for about 15 minutes (I disable automatic BSOD restart) until I felt the backpack was a bit hotter than usual.

The laptop was HOT after both cases, although everything still runs fine currently. I am a bit weary of its reliability now especially since I have the nvidia 8400M graphics. It's known to overheat and become damaged.

There's about seven months of warranty left. I hope that, if it dies, it dies within the next five months ;-). BSOD is now solved with the newest driver.

 

For the M1330
Very light scratches on the lid -- not visible unless the light was glancing off it at the right angle.
Bottom of laptop and palmrest were like new.
Lid and screen were full of fingerprints.
Some keys on the keyboard were a little dirty, but the keyboard worked well.

I sent it back two days after it arrived.
It worked OK. I checked the temperatures with i8fangui and both CPU and GPU stayed below 50F. But the screen was yellowish and would have needed replacing. Also the battery had 7% wear. I decided to send it back and get a new one that had a Penryn processor and maybe an LED screen.

I wish they'd refunded my money a little faster.

 

-Well I ordered mine on a Monday last week and got it on Thursday. +1
-Has a green refurbished sticker on the bottom, unit looks brand spanking new. +1
-Got a Vostro 1500, Core 2 T7500 (2.2ghz, 4M Cache, 800fsb) 2 gigs 667mhz ram, 80gig hdd, Geforce 8600GT 256MB, DVD RW, Wireless N and Bluetooth, 2MP Camera, Vista Home Premium... All for $750! +1

-No OS Disc with system. -1
-Upon using CPU ID, Found I only have 2 gigs of 333mhz ram. -1

overall: 1+1+1-1-1= +1

So I had more pros than cons right off the bat. As far as quality, only time will tell but it sure feels top notch (I love the aluminum chassis). Very quiet. 4hrs batt life on power save mode with 6cell (my first laptop but from what I hear that's a decent average for non-penryn + I will upgrade later anyway). Soon as I get my OS disc so I can install my bigger HDD, and my new ram from newegg, I'll be happy as hell with my purhcase.

Hope this helps.