Refurbished Notebooks

The rules have changed. Is that refurb really a good buy?

Several newsletter subscribers have written recently to ask if buying a refurbished notebook is a good idea or a waste of money.

With prices on brand-new notebooks continuing to fall, the question of whether to save a few bucks buying refurbished is a timely one.

Two years ago, I checked out the refurbished notebook offerings from Dell, Gateway, and IBM. I discovered that while you could save money buying refurbished notebooks, the manufacturer's warranties and return policies were much less desirable than those offered for new machines.

This time around, I discovered that a refurbished notebook--depending on where you buy it and what your requirements are--can be even better equipped than a brand-new, similarly priced notebook in the same product line. Also, the warranty options are often equitable to those offered for new machines.

I'll show you what I mean in a minute; but first, here's some background.

Several manufacturers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM sell refurbished notebooks online, as opposed to the used portables sold by individuals on EBay.

A refurbished notebook may have been used only a few days. For example, Dell offers a 30-day, money-back return on new computers purchased by phone or online. Inevitably, some computers are returned during that period because the customer didn't like the keyboard, decided the notebook was too heavy to carry, and so on. After testing the portable to make sure it's in proper working order, it may be resold online as a refurbished model.

A used notebook that you'd buy from an individual EBay seller, however, may have been used heavily for months, even years. And it may not have been cleaned up and tested for defects, as Dell and other refurbished PC sellers promise.

Generally speaking, the refurbished notebooks available from Dell and other vendors aren't the latest and hottest models. But you can buy refurbished computers that are still active members of a manufacturer's product line.

For example, as of early April 2004, on Dell's Web site I found no refurbished models of its Inspiron 9100 multimedia notebook, which had been introduced two months earlier. However, the site was offering both brand-new and refurbished models of its Inspiron 8600 multimedia notebook, which came out in August 2003.

Continuing with the Inspiron 8600 example, I compared the specs between a refurbished and a brand-new Inspiron 8600 costing almost the same. Dell sells preconfigured computers, but also allows you to custom-build your own. For the best apples-to-apples comparison, I compared a preconfigured refurbished Inspiron 8600 with a preconfigured new model of about the same price.

The refurbished model was selling for $1983, after a $400 promotional discount (the original cost: $2383). The brand-new Inspiron 8600's price was $2109, after a $250 rebate (original price: $2359). Both computers included Windows XP Home Edition, a 1.6-GHz Mobile Pentium M processor, a 4X DVD+RW drive, and Ethernet networking.

Here's where they differed:

Resolution. The refurbished Inspiron 8600's 15.4-inch wide-screen display supported up to 1920-by-1200-pixel resolution. The new model's 15.4-inch wide-screen display supported up to 1280-by-800-pixel resolution. Advantage: Refurbished, because its screen could display more information.

Memory. The refurbished notebook had 512MB of DDR SDRAM, while the new model offered double that: 1GB of DDR SDRAM. Advantage: The new Inspiron.

Storage. Both models offered a 60GB hard drive. But the refurbished model's hard drive ran at 4200 rpm, compared to the new model's 7200 rpm. A faster hard drive means less time waiting for files to open, save, and so forth. Advantage: New.

Graphics System. All things being equal, the refurbished model's 64MB NVidia GeForce FX Go5200 graphics should deliver better performance than the new model's 32MB DDR NVidia GeForce FX Go5200 graphics. Graphics performance is influenced by the amount of graphics RAM, the speed of the graphics processor, and other factors. But generally speaking, the more memory the graphics card has, the better your graphics performance should be. Advantage: Refurbished.

Software. The refurbished model shipped with Microsoft Office 2003 Professional, compared to the new Inspiron 8600's Microsoft Works Suite. Office is by far the more robust suite of applications, including essential business programs such as PowerPoint that Works lacks. Advantage: Refurbished.

Wi-Fi. The refurbished Inspiron 8600 offered built-in networking based on the 802.11g standard, which is faster than but compatible with the older 802.11b Wi-Fi standard. The new Inspiron's built-in networking, however, supported only the 802.11b standard. Advantage: Refurbished.

In some ways, this particular refurbished Inspiron 8600--with higher display resolution, more graphics RAM, a better suite of productivity applications, and support for the latest and faster wireless networking standard--is actually better equipped overall than the new, preconfigured, similarly priced model to which I compared it. The trade-off, in terms of specs, is that the refurbished model is bound to be slower, given it has less RAM and a slower hard drive than the new model.

But the story doesn't end there.

Pro: Return policies on refurbished models aren't always shorter. Often, you have less time to return a refurbished PC than you do a new model. Dell's policy is 14 days for refurbished returns and IBM's is 7 days, though both offer 30 days for new computers. Hewlett-Packard offers a 30-day return for both new and refurbished computers, however.

Pro: Warranties for refurbished notebooks can be just as good. Usually, the default warranty period for refurbished computers is shorter than for new PCs. IBM and HP generally offer three-month standard warranties on their refurbished notebooks, while refurbished Dell Inspirons come with a one-year limited warranty. New PCs, by comparison, typically come with at least a one-year limited warranty. All three vendors, however, offer warranty upgrades (at an additional cost) for most refurbished notebook models.

Con: Refurbished notebooks can't be customized. Here's the potential deal killer: While many new models (particularly from Dell, HP, and IBM) can be customized, refurbished notebooks cannot. For instance, you can specify the processor, amount of memory, hard drive capacity, and other features of a new Dell notebook. With refurbished models, you can only choose from the available inventory of preconfigured computers.

The playing field between refurbished and brand-new notebooks has been leveled in recent years, to some degree. A refurbished notebook may be a good choice if you want to get more features for your money but don't need the fastest performance, the very latest model, or a computer that's customized to your specific needs. If those are priorities, buy a new notebook.

If so, tell me your experiences--the good and the bad. Which model did you buy? Why did you buy a refurbished notebook? Are you glad you did? Send me e-mail.

• (usually older models)
• (used notebooks from various manufacturers)
• (older notebooks, most Pentium III-based)

The Dell Latitude D505 ($1620) combines good performance and battery life in a reasonably priced, lightweight, basic package, says PC World notebook reviewer Carla Thornton. The notebook is based on a 1.2-GHz version of Intel's new Celeron M chip, a budget version of the Pentium M processor. In our tests, the computer performed adequately in general use. Moreover, the battery lasted 4 hours and 45 minutes on one charge and the notebook is equipped with Wi-Fi networking.

Presumably, few people would want a notebook named after an Edsel, a Ford Pinto, or an AMC Gremlin. But Ferrari, the Italian sports car, is another matter entirely.

Acer's Ferrari 3000LMi ($1899) sports the trademark Ferrari candy-apple red. The Ferrari logo decorates the notebook's lid, and you hear the sound effect of a race car when booting up. Acer even adds a matching red USB mouse and a red cleaning cloth. But how does it perform? PC World's Carla Thornton says the thin, relatively light computer earned a PC WorldBench 4 score of 116, slightly slower than the average score posted by similarly configured notebooks.

Mike Lindley of Mansfield, Massachusetts recently wrote to tell me about one of his favorite notebook accessories, the Retractable USB Travel Kit ($15). The kit includes a 36-inch retractable USB 1.1 extension cable with various adapters, such as A to B, A to A, and A to Mini4. Lindley says the kit allows him to connect a variety of USB devices to his notebook without the clutter and hassle of having to pack a bunch of different cables. (Not all USB cables fit all USB devices.) And the long cable makes it easy to add devices without having to reach around to his notebook's rear USB port.

The growing popularity of camera phones has brought about a phenomenon called mobile blogging--or "moblogging"--Web sites, to which camera phone users post their spontaneously snapped pictures. Free moblogging sites popping up in the United States include Fotolog.net, Fotopages, and Textamerica. The downside: You have to send pictures as e-mail attachments. But trend watcher Howard Rheingold predicts U.S. mobloggers will soon have one-click posting at their fingertips, so they can post their pics as soon as they snap them. For more info, read PC World Associate Editor Eric Butterfield's "Camera Phones Fuel Mobile Diaries."

Sharp's new Linux-based handheld, the Zaurus SL-6000 ($699), is a rugged, Wi-Fi equipped PDA for corporate customers, the company says. Powered by an Intel XScale 400-MHz processor, the Zaurus has 64MB of SDRAM, 64MB of flash memory, a VGA screen, an integrated speaker and a microphone, built-in 802.11b Wi-Fi networking, and slots for CompactFlash, MultiMediaCard, and Secure Digital media. A built-in QWERTY thumb keyboard is protected by a sliding control panel. The handheld supports Java and IBM's WebSphere application server, according to the company.

U.S. Senator John Sununu (R-New Hampshire) plans to introduce a bill that defines most voice over Internet Protocol services as information services, just like most other Internet-related services, under congressional and Federal Communications Commission regulations. This would exempt VoIP services from state taxes and regulations. FCC Chair Michael Powell has also called for VoIP to be exempt from state regulations, but legislation sponsored by Sununu could help prevent the court battles that have dogged other FCC decisions.

For my recent article on VoIP--a service with particular benefits for mobile professionals--read "Voice Over IP."

Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it.

James A. Martin

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