RefurbishedLaptop

[oncemorealoft]

I'm debating getting my wife a refurbished laptop for her birthday.

She needs something with Windows 2000 or XP and ideally we'd like to have MS office (including PowerPoint).

Other than that it doesn't have to be particularly high performance but in good-as-new-condition from a reliable source.

I've Googled for some UK suppliers of refurbished laptops and there is no shortage of them but can any body...

a) recommend some good suppliers

b) help me avoid any pitfalls in going down this route as opposed to a new machine.

As always, your advice and expertise is appreciated.

Thanks

Oncemorealoft

[Unwell_Raptor]

Heve a care. New ones are so cheap these days that refurb needs to be giveaway before it looks like a good idea.

[ORAC]

Morgan Computers. (http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/)
Reconditioned or end of line stock with a guarantee.

[Conan the Librarian]

Raptor is right. Unless it is a complete giveaway, go for a new cheapie. Plenty of poke as they are nearly all classed as multi media capable these days and they are specced to cope with the "dragging anchor" of XP. Saw one today, a capable little notebook for under £500 and a refurb isn't going to save you anything, especially if they haven't replaced your £100 battery and leave it for you to do in month three or thereabouts.

signing off on my backup PC - a sub £600 all singing/dancing/crashing(oops - lets forget that bit, eh?) Wireless Acer Laptop

[BoeingBoy]

This company have the sole rights to recycle Fujitsu-Seimens computer returns with a Gaurantee. Check out their Grade 2 shop.
They are located close to me and I can vouch for them being a freindly helpful bunch.

PC Interworks (http://www.buyit247.net/)

[pilotwolf]

Be careful of any Fujitsu Seimens! My laptop has just been sent back under warranty for it's 3rd fault since August last year.

The AC power socket keeps failing and now the battery has failed too. Not a happy customer as the turn around is usually about 2 weeks.

Also the case 'paint' has worn badly around the keyboard where your hand rests when typing.

Shame because my first laptop was a Semiens and it was built like a tank :(

PW

Edited to add:

Just discovered the battery is duff and they want £100+ to replace as "..it's a separate item and only has 6 months warranty", despite not actually being a user serviceable part whilst under the machines 1 year warranty as it will destroy the case seal and invalidate the machine warranty! Talk about a con trick. NOT a happy bunny today. :mad:

[oncemorealoft]

Many thanks for all the useful advice and references.

[Irish Steve]

for what it's worth, Dell have had severe problems with Hitachi/IBM 60 Gb discs in the last while, a friend of mine has had to replace his HDD 3 times in 9 months, I've just done a complete rebuild of a machine here for the same reason. If you're offered a Dell, make sure that it's been retrofitted with a Fujitsu drive, otherwise it could be a problem in the not too distant future.

while it's easy to change the hard drive, getting the data off the old one and transferred to the new one is not so much fun, especially if it's got a FAT32 partition on the front of the drive, which is used to hold the diagnostics.

Be careful out there