UKC

All

Am sure I've read some threads on here before where people have said they wouldn't buy brand new laptops which seems sensible given price drop to nearly new but where is a trustworthy place online to buy from? 

I'd be uneasy with ebay or gumtree or similar.

Time has come to replace a 10 year old laptop which is now incredibly slow to open even some pdfs and photos.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations for online stores. I did search the internet and there seem to be many choices.

Cheers 

S

I've just bought a Lenovo T440p from ebay for about £140.

It has excellent build quality and is an extremely modular laptop.

I've upgraded the CPU, RAM, trackpad, upgraded HDD to SSD, upgraded screen from HD to FHD IPS.

Would thoroughly recommend. 

I have used microdream for laptops and workstations. I can’t fault them and they offer decent customisation options.

https://microdream.co.uk/

Amazon refurbished.

Bought one of these a year back.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T430-i5-3320M-1600x900/dp/B01C6WNE...

Flying machine.  Couldn't find a mark on it.  1 year guarantee.

Would buy again.

Thanks but beyond my ability (or inclination to modify laptops myself), sounds a great deal though.

Those are solid work machines and will last forever.

Surprised that a "thick" machine is using Mini DisplayPort instead of HDMI, though.  Crikey, it's even got a VGA!

What are your concerns buying on ebay?

I've bought a couple from ebay, one that was NOS from a business seller and most recently a used one from a private seller.  Both were £400ish.

What features do you need?  What budget?  Do you have a brand in mind?  Find a model that fits your needs, search buy it now sorted by newly listed.  Does the listing look okay?  Check the seller feedback (is it recent? have they sold similar items before?).

Like you, I also bought a refurbished ThinkPad T430. I got mine from eBay, rather than Amazon, as it was considerably cheaper.

I'm really pleased with it: Grade A condition, 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 1 year warranty for £300.

I own a couple of Dell laptops which I bought secondhand. One was “refurbished” and whilst it works just fine it was obviously a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster, with odd memory, mismatched screws and a non-standard disk size. I put an SSD into one of them and it made a massive difference. I also installed Windows 10 from scratch. Dell business laptops seem quite easy for upgrading or replacing parts, and pretty robust. I think I’d avoid “refurbished” dealers in future. 

Have a look here - https://www.dell.com/en-uk/dfh/shop/dell-refurbished-laptops/cp/outlet-dfh?...

I haven't bought from it but the Dell outlet seems to be well liked, so I have read and at least it is Dell selling their own refurbished gear.

Dave

I have never modified laptops before, most of the components were just plug and play.

You could just buy one from a reputable seller and use it as it comes without replacing anything.

HDD/SSD is plug and play.

RAM is plug and play.

CPU requires repasting, but otherwise is straightforward.

Screen requires removing a few screws but is straightforward.

Trackpad is a faff.

re ebay - perhaps I'm being too skeptical but main worries are - am I buying something that has been stolen, or dud, or will break after a month or two and I have no recourse.

Perhaps I should take your advice and look for those business sellers with lots of positive feedback from multiple sources...

I would think about what you want the laptop for, the appropriate specification and your budget.  You can get brand new laptops from less than £200 to well north of £2k.  If all you need is something you can buy brand new for £400-500 then personally I would go brand new.  If what you need will cost more then you need to start thinking a bit more.

I currently have an early 2014 MacBook Air from eBay - working fine and likely to last a good while yet. If you know what you are looking for, eBay is probably the best place.

I personally avoid refurbished laptops or business sellers.

A refurbished laptop it means a laptop that was broken and got fixed 'somehow'. That fix is unlikely to have been back to manufacturers specs, but the cheapest the 'refurbisher' can get away wth to maximise profit. "Manufacturer refurbished" which is a misleading term most of the time, is a warraty return that was not economical to repair, so you got to think how come that laptop is now being sold.

Also there's no way to know what's inside. That is, you check the specs online, decide it fits your requirements, but when it arrives it's nowhere close to what was meant to be. So if for example a particular model had X amount of Y speed Z brand RAM, once it comes from a refurbished jobby chances are it will have the cheapest sticks that fit, and won't perform anything like the original laptop was meant to. The same will apply to every other component in it.

Likewise, business sellers are in for the profit, so if a particular model of laptop is worth, lets say, £500 in the used market, the seller will have bought it much cheaper than that, lets say £350 in order to sell it for £500 and make a profit after seller fees, postage, tax, etc.. How did he come across a £500 laptop for £350 is what i'd be asking myself.

On the other hand, a private seller is simply selling at the market rate an item he bought and no longer needs. Any existing problems if not disclosed will be apparent soon enough, and more often than not at least is not a laptop that was already faulty and someone tried bodging a fix to sell it on which is what you get with refurbished laptops and business sellers.

That's only a perception because you haven't tried it.

Yes they will last an age too. I use my MacBook Pro professionally on location and in all weathers, it takes a right beating. Still runs like it did on the first day 2 years ago and I'd expect to get another 4 or 5 out of it. My previous one from 2012 still runs like a dream, it received a knock from a football so the screen was beyond economical repair but it works nice enough hooked up to my monitor in the office (and I keep an eye on eBay for a cheap one so could have a fully working back up). Meanwhile colleagues go through Dells etc every couple of years.

You'll be lucky to find anything good second hand, they've all been bought by home schooling parents. 

Thank you all, some really good advice I'll reflect on!

you can avoid any thought of hooky gear by buying an ex-corporate lease machine. I've had two HP Elitebooks, superb value (paid about £200 each time for a 3 yr old machine that had a when new ticket nearer £1,600 than anything else.

That might be worth a look.  I had one of the Elitebooks that resemble a Macbook Pro (the ally unibody ones) as a work machine a while back and it was an excellent bit of kit - but brand new they cost almost as much as a Macbook Pro.

Yup ... work horse.  Good value for money.  Not the end of the word if you drop it on its end ...

thats the one. Weight of a heavy housebrick, but indestructible

I've bought all my electronics over the last 7 or so years refurbished, phones and laptops. 

I mostly use Amazon Renewed (a whole different section of amazing dedicated to certified refurbished products) though I've also bought a laptop from laptops direct before and it's great.

No expert, but I've bought a few gadgets from local CEX. Three month guarantee. I was just going to say "and simple to return to the local outlet", but for some reason that's no longer the case.   

I have just received a refurbed' desktop from firstclicksolutions on ebay. £220 for a split ssd / hdd, 8gb ram, a decent processor, 22" monitor, keyboard & mouse (bit flimsy but already have them anyway). Windows 10 and drivers on the sdd, nothing else. Seems very quick compared to my old laptop (died last month) and a desktop borrowed from work. They do laptops too I think. So far, seems like a good deal. You can choose your own config. 

Shades of Trigger’s broom I feel