Are Refurbished Laptops Safe?

[leokhaleesi]

Found a good deal on a refurbished Acer Helios 300 at Walmart's website, but I'm unsure if it's a good idea to get a refurbished laptop in general. I recall a Techquickie video where Linus recommended against refurbished SSDs and Displays, which a laptop has both of...

 

Any advice?

[soundlogic]

If it's manufacturer refurbished, they replace components like drives and monitors. Seller refurbished, I don't know.

What's your budget? There may actually be a better deal on something like Dell Outlet

[5x5]

Refurbished business models such as ThinkPads, Latitudes and EliteBooks/ZBooks yes. Gaming models no.

[leokhaleesi]

 

2 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

If it's manufacturer refurbished, they replace components like drives and monitors. Seller refurbished, I don't know.

What's your budget? There may actually be a better deal on something like Dell Outlet

Walmat says it being sold by "Acer Recertified" so probably manufacturer refurb.

 

Budget is probably $1500 max, but it seems the majority of gaming laptops on the market have thermal issues. The Helios 300 is sort of praised as the "mid-range king" when it sells for $1200, but new it's going closer to $1500 right now, which at that cost seems like a poor value.

[5x5]

1 minute ago, leokhaleesi said:

 

Walmat says it being sold by "Acer Recertified" so probably manufacturer refurb.

 

Budget is probably $1500 max, but it seems the majority of gaming laptops on the market have thermal issues. The Helios 300 is sort of praised as the "mid-range king" when it sells for $1200, but new it's going closer to $1500 right now, which at that cost seems like a poor value.

The Helios 300 has not been king of anything for over two years now.

The current best entry-level gaming laptop is the Asus A15 with a 1660 configuration.

[leokhaleesi]

Just now, 5x5 said:

The Helios 300 has not been king of anything for over two years now.

The current best entry-level gaming laptop is the Asus A15 with a 1660 configuration.

From what I've seen in recent reviews, the A15 has really bad thermals and a bad display.

[soundlogic]

Just now, leokhaleesi said:

 

Walmat says it being sold by "Acer Recertified" so probably manufacturer refurb.

 

Budget is probably $1500 max, but it seems the majority of gaming laptops on the market have thermal issues. The Helios 300 is sort of praised as the "mid-range king" when it sells for $1200, but new it's going closer to $1500 right now, which at that cost seems like a poor value.

I've had good experiences with Dell Outlet.

Check out this Alienware M15 R2

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&sign=PXhcOSHtr1T4IOw%2fPR7UdRn6gUQ9HJUpLgUNVFUvO3CCnYVodFlyWQu%2bBiLAJmFoSgNFKo338ZJm%2fnex5kttBhjyq3%2fHBPmmcEjZJnXlEd8BEaPV6qC%2baZ6leAqlauzlkwP5xiWFGhK7fCIBBVZIcA2gdcrqU3z1mA3GSCy%2fKVuefSOGgUfogzeFtP7IDodLdvz8W9D1dwo%3d

[plzfix]

6 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

Refurbished business models such as ThinkPads, Latitudes and EliteBooks/ZBooks yes. Gaming models no.

I agree with the sentiment, most used ThinkPads, Dells, etc could be coming off lease or as some other folks pointed out are being refurb'd by the manufacture. 

 

My old man pretty much only buys refurb laptops for personal use now and has no issues with it, but to be fair his usage is not typical...like, I don't think he watches Youtube, Netflix, etc.

[5x5]

1 minute ago, leokhaleesi said:

From what I've seen in recent reviews, the A15 has really bad thermals and a bad display.

Thermals are only an issue on the 2060 config. 1650 Ti and 1660 models are excellent for that price category. The screen is also adequate. It's not for professional color work but great for gaming.

[soundlogic]

@leokhaleesi Actually, this Dell G7 gaming is an even better deal, you're getting an RTX 2070, i7 9750H, and 16GB RAM

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&sign=PXhcOSHtr1T4IOw%2fPR7UdQEpKuy9Ca0CTWaG3E5hPdExSbagAUERVj1NdkwqBGnDEojsu9Kq74RoJJC2Te%2fObrnjobxIgSjx%2f%2fvWwQngG5CNpOQnKLtaz%2bLeR6zUu1mSaV%2bb3jkevUxbEwz7k0bXBjaUgBBTPPP96lOF4xdBjlWH6n4aGehymDbaIypSPKKZ4sgFGqr7Oa1KpgJztSRUWrNLINTzz7Wt

[5x5]

Just now, Aereldor said:

@leokhaleesi Actually, this Dell G7 gaming is an even better deal, you're getting an RTX 2070, i7 9750H, and 16GB RAM

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&sign=PXhcOSHtr1T4IOw%2fPR7UdQEpKuy9Ca0CTWaG3E5hPdExSbagAUERVj1NdkwqBGnDEojsu9Kq74RoJJC2Te%2fObrnjobxIgSjx%2f%2fvWwQngG5CNpOQnKLtaz%2bLeR6zUu1mSaV%2bb3jkevUxbEwz7k0bXBjaUgBBTPPP96lOF4xdBjlWH6n4aGehymDbaIypSPKKZ4sgFGqr7Oa1KpgJztSRUWrNLINTzz7Wt

The hinge has a massive design defect on the G3, 5 and 7 models. It breaks apart within months and Dell refuse to cover it. Avoid.

[soundlogic]

3 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

The hinge has a massive design defect on the G3, 5 and 7 models. It breaks apart within months and Dell refuse to cover it. Avoid.

Oh shit, thanks for letting me know, won't recommend it again. And if that's true, fuck Dell, buy something else.

[5x5]

Just now, Aereldor said:

Oh shit, thanks for letting me know, won't recommend it again. And if that's true, fuck Dell, buy something else.

They did the same thing Lenovo did with the Y50 in 2014 - put the hinge too close together so the torque ends up loosening one side and tightening the other until it snaps apart since the plastic frame can't support the tension. Funnily enough, a small steel plate would have solved this issue or a nut on the right and left hinges to prevent self-tightening/loosening.

[Roswell]

4 hours ago, 5x5 said:

Refurbished business models such as ThinkPads, Latitudes and EliteBooks/ZBooks yes. Gaming models no.

I don't really see the logic in this. Short of the chassis, security modules, possible xeon/quadro/whatever parts and the like, there's really no difference in business machines. They share the majority of their parts with consumer lines.

 

The things one worries about buying refurbished (screen, drive health, battery health, etc) aren't magically fixed because it's a ThinkPad.

[Kisai]

5 hours ago, leokhaleesi said:

Found a good deal on a refurbished Acer Helios 300 at Walmart's website, but I'm unsure if it's a good idea to get a refurbished laptop in general. I recall a Techquickie video where Linus recommended against refurbished SSDs and Displays, which a laptop has both of...

 

Any advice?

"safe" how?

 

Most refurbished equipment is simply repaired/cleaned. The reason why not to get refurbished screens, SSD's and batteries because the wear level isn't apparent before you buy it. SSD's have power-on hour counters, but batteries and LCD's can only be queried by running tools on the machine to read the vendor EDID or battery values, and those values can be pretty dishonest. 

 

Like refurbished laptops and phones typically just have scratches in their plastic buffed out, and that's it. Restore firmware to factory and into the box it goes.

 

So unless that model has a track record of catching fire, or containing spyware, there's really nothing to be concerned about.

[5x5]

1 hour ago, Vitamanic said:

I don't really see the logic in this. Short of the chassis, security modules, possible xeon/quadro/whatever parts and the like, there's really no difference in business machines. They share the majority of their parts with consumer lines.

 

The things one worries about buying refurbished (screen, drive health, battery health, etc) aren't magically fixed because it's a ThinkPad.

Business-class machines use higher quality mosfets, caps, key switches, trackapds and cables. They also have higher qualtiy batteries and the R&D that goes into making them as reliable as possible is several times that of the typical gaming laptop. That's why you still have T60s from 2005 running like new whereas all gaming laptops from that era that have been used extensively have cooked to death.

[Promosss]

5 hours ago, 5x5 said:

Thermals are only an issue on the 2060 config. 1650 Ti and 1660 models are excellent for that price category. The screen is also adequate. It's not for professional color work but great for gaming.

With 18ms response time? I'm not too sure.

[Roswell]

1 hour ago, 5x5 said:

Business-class machines use higher quality mosfets, caps, key switches, trackapds and cables. They also have higher qualtiy batteries and the R&D that goes into making them as reliable as possible is several times that of the typical gaming laptop. That's why you still have T60s from 2005 running like new whereas all gaming laptops from that era that have been used extensively have cooked to death.

I doubt your claims about motherboard components and the bit about "higher quality batteries" is total nonsense, batteries are the most widely shared part, hands down. 

 

Here's a random Dell battery, covers everything from Latitudes to Inspirons: https://www.amazon.com/Latitude-312-1433-Inspiron-15r-5521-15r-5537/dp/B07CQT5695

 

Key switches and track pads I covered when I mentioned the chassis.

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, leokhaleesi said:

Found a good deal on a refurbished Acer Helios 300 at Walmart's website, but I'm unsure if it's a good idea to get a refurbished laptop in general. I recall a Techquickie video where Linus recommended against refurbished SSDs and Displays, which a laptop has both of...

 

Any advice?

Depends on how well they refurbish the laptops. I worked for a company that was contracted to do RMA/Refurbs on electric scooters. What I seen there was well meh. We did not use new parts. Most of the time they would scrap a scooter that was too far gone and just use the parts that were "Good" and then turn around and fix the ones that were able to be repaired with those used parts. 

 

My policy on laptops is buy new. You get new components and most importantly a new battery. You can never be sure what Acer replaced, or how many charge cycles the battery has gone thru. It also comes down to how much of a discount you get. If you talking saving $500 then yeah maybe consider it, but if its only a few hundred then Id just spend the extra on new. I know some people here swear by refurbs and used, I just have very little trust in people/companies. 

8 hours ago, leokhaleesi said:

$1500

You should be able to get something decent with that kind of budget and I mean new. Also, does it have to be a laptop? Because that could be a killer gaming desktop with that kind of budget. 

[5x5]

9 hours ago, Promosss said:

With 18ms response time? I'm not too sure.

That's marketing bullhit for the most part. I've used all kinds of screens and it only becomes an issue at 40ms or above. We used to all game on 30ms screens and nobody ever noticed until monitor OEMs and YouTubers started making a big stink about lower numbers so people started freaking out.

[5x5]

7 hours ago, Vitamanic said:

I doubt your claims about motherboard components and the bit about "higher quality batteries" is total nonsense, batteries are the most widely shared part, hands down. 

 

Here's a random Dell battery, covers everything from Latitudes to Inspirons: https://www.amazon.com/Latitude-312-1433-Inspiron-15r-5521-15r-5537/dp/B07CQT5695

 

Key switches and track pads I covered when I mentioned the chassis.

Good luck finding a gaming laptop with Japanese caps, high quality MOSFETs and properly designed PCBs and cooling that won't die after 3 years of activ use at 90-100*c

[Promosss]

2 hours ago, 5x5 said:

That's marketing bullhit for the most part. I've used all kinds of screens and it only becomes an issue at 40ms or above. We used to all game on 30ms screens and nobody ever noticed until monitor OEMs and YouTubers started making a big stink about lower numbers so people started freaking out.

For competitive FPS games, i'll be able to tell which one has 18ms response time and which one has 1ms response time. I play CSGO a lot so even 5ms vs 1ms can be the difference between who saw who first. It is why some players screams "dude, i didn't even see him". So for me advertising a 144hz screen (which is mostly used for competitive FPS) but with only 18ms response time seems like a marketing bullcrap for me.

[5x5]

2 hours ago, Promosss said:

For competitive FPS games, i'll be able to tell which one has 18ms response time and which one has 1ms response time. I play CSGO a lot so even 5ms vs 1ms can be the difference between who saw who first. It is why some players screams "dude, i didn't even see him". So for me advertising a 144hz screen (which is mostly used for competitive FPS) but with only 18ms response time seems like a marketing bullcrap for me.

I have a friend who plays SC2 professionally and used to play 1.6 as such. I'll give you his contact details if you want but he'll tell you thats just not true in any way shape or form. His current screen is a 144Hz IPS display with a 14ms response time and he's doing quite well (global in csgo but not going to tournaments)

[5x5]

2 hours ago, Promosss said:

For competitive FPS games, i'll be able to tell which one has 18ms response time and which one has 1ms response time. I play CSGO a lot so even 5ms vs 1ms can be the difference between who saw who first. It is why some players screams "dude, i didn't even see him". So for me advertising a 144hz screen (which is mostly used for competitive FPS) but with only 18ms response time seems like a marketing bullcrap for me.

My point is, if you're good, you're good. I'd you're good nova, a 1ms screen won't solve that