What do you guys think of Refurb dells?

Unfortunately i missed out on the 1520 deals, and it looks like those $300 off coupons wont be coming again anytime soon.

Im thinking of getting a refurbished 1520, but I know almost nothing about refurbished dells.

Pros of getting one:
exact specs I want
already build, so shipping is fast

cons:
not THAT much cheaper
possible scratches?
those are returned/refurbished for a reason.

what do you guys think?

 

They should be fine, but make sure you can test the machine and return it if you find anything wrong with it.

Memory testing, full hard drive scan, running the cpu at 100% for 24 hours (on a flat surface) are the 3 main things I would do.

Also don't expect the battery it comes with to hold much of a charge, the cost of an extra new battery should be added to your consideration. We got a refurb with a stone cold dead battery and dell would not replace it.

 

agreed. i think u should be fine, refurbished means reinstated to almost new condition, pretty much new, u wouldn't notice a thing... overall, u should be fine. there were some threads on here about refurbs, try searching for them

 

Refurbished systems that are being sold are systems returned by customers who purchased the system within the return period. Most of these systems returned are due to "picky" customers.

I would actually recommend purchasing a refurbished system since the system being sent by Dell are well-tested by Dell engineers for problems. IMO, people that had more than 2 NEW system exchanges (due to grainy LCDs) should just get a refurb system so that Dell could really tell that this is the exact system the customer is looking for. Btw, NEW systems cannot be checked by Dell engineers. Once the box is opened, it should be labeled as refurbished, as based on the laws.

 

sounds great, the only thing preventing me from getting one is that when the coupons are active, a new 1520 is actually cheaper O_O

 

I bought a refurbished 1520 because I didn't want to wait for one to be manufactured. I can honestly say that I looooove it and I got it in less than a week. I did have a problem with the RAM the first day I had it, but DELL fixed it. I paid $1189 +tax and shipping and stuff, and when I priced the exact same new config on the Dell site it was almost $1800! I am very happy with my purchase. Oh, my mom bought a refurb'd e1705 and it is pristine!

 

I bought a Ruby Red 1420 refurb, rec'd it in just a couple of days and am EXTREMELY happy with it, it is PERFECT!! I have owned it now for over a month and have still had ZERO problems with it. I have the same basic warranty as a new Dell laptop and was able to add the Complete Care and in Home service just like on new ones for added peace of mind.

 

I have previously purchased Dell Outlet products and have gotten perfect build-quality good-as-new products.

I did add the 3 year warranty and did have to make use of it a number of times, but they are both still working years later (my I7500 laptop would be full functional, other than battery life, of course, had someone not dropped it and snapped off the screen).

Any laptop battery will go after a year or two, so this is not specific to the outlet; just pick one up cheap from Dell spare parts, if you can find it (I already bought a $30 spare battery for my M1330).

As for price, definitely do check the brand new ones first, as there are often great promos on the new machines, if you can find the right one for your budget.

Bottom line: Outlet is fine, but get the 3 or 4 year warranty anyways, unless you're only spending <$650, in which case, it might not be worth spending an additional 30% of the system's cost for a warranty.