PLEASE help!! I need to make a choice very soon and a bit confused now! I am going to purchase a new laptop. I have been researching my brains out for a while now and have narrowed it down, I think* to a couple options. What I would like opinion on is which one below might be the better way to go... better specs and price, refurbished OR less specs same price, new? It seems the big difference is between processor and hard drive. It is hard for me to know for sure if the differences are worth going with the refurb?? Any thoughts on this would be GREATLY appreciated, Hec maybe neither is a very good deal? Thank you!!! #1 OPTION REFURB W/1YR DIRECT WARR $813.99 (new appox $1000) Inspiron 17R Special Edition Palmrest Label Inspiron 17R Notebook (Inspiron 7720) Windows 8, 64-bit, English 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM (6MB cache, up to 3.4Ghz) 17.3" Full High Definition (1080p) LED Display with Anti-Glare 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory 1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD + 32GB mSATA SSD w/ Intel Smart Response NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GDDR5 2GB 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) Stealth Black Anodized Aluminum 48 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Battery Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth Skullcandy Speakers with WaveMaxx 4.0 Integrated 10/100 Network Card English Backlit Keyboard with Multi-touch Touchpad Power cord, 125V, 3.2 Feet, US Digital Delivery Enablement Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth Shipping Material, Direct & Retail NB & DT w/Webcam Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials DVD Wireless Display Application PocketCloud Companion, Standard, Digital Delivery No Adobe Reader Selected Win8 Documentation, English PCmover Home - Free Retail Software - All WIN8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #2 OPTION NEW FROM DELL $768.00 My Software & Accessories Microsoft Office Trial 90 days Premium Phone Support + 1 Year In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis McAfee Security Center, 30 Day Subscription Also Includes Inspiron 17R Special Edition Palmrest Label Inspiron 17R Notebook (Inspiron 7720) Windows 8, 64-bit, English 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3230M processor (3M Cache, up to 3.2 GHz) 17.3" Full High Definition (1080p) LED Display with Anti-Glare 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory 750GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GDDR5 2GB 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) Stealth Black Anodized Aluminum 48 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Battery Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth Skullcandy Speakers with WaveMaxx 4.0 Integrated 10/100 Network Card English Backlit Keyboard with Multi-touch Touchpad Power cord, 125V, 3.2 Feet, US Digital Delivery Enablement Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth Shipping Material, Direct & Retail NB & DT w/Webcam Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials DVD Wireless Display Application PocketCloud Companion, Standard, Digital Delivery No Adobe Reader Selected Win8 Documentation, English PCmover Home - Free Retail Software - All WIN8
Are there any local stores you can actually go in to look at them? The biggest reason you probably want to do that is raw specs don't really measure hardware build quality (like is it cheaply made out of plastic and feel like it's going to break easily?). Or other things like a screen might be the same size/resolution, but you should see how it's lit, how accurate does it represent colors, and just what is the quality of the screen (like is it sharp or do pixels bleed a little)... At the very least, you probably want to read some reviews of the products from people who have actually used them.
Oh yes, I have pretty much done all of that. My biggest concern I guess is.... 1. I have never purchased refurb items before. This refurb laptop above does come with the "same" warranty as the new one from dell. The price is very close on the 2.... so is the one with the better* specs (i7quad processor VS the i5 and the 1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD + 32GB mSATA SSD w/ Intel Smart Response VS just 1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD Better enough that it would warrant taking risk on refurb compared to the new one? Also... I know that these particular laptops are not necessarily of Great quality construction. I am pretty easy on them in the physical sense. It does seem as though the mix of components are pretty good for the $$. I for the most part will keep whatever I buy until it either dies OR what has so far always been the case is that I want to upgrade, which pattern for me seems to be about every 3 to 4 years. The one that I really WANT lol is the refurb as far as specs... but brand new it would be really pushing outside of what I want to spend.
Mmmm... I'd probably go with the refurb myself assuming the warranty is the same. When it comes down to it, you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between a refurb and new since anything with any sort of smudge/scratch is replaced. Like if you had a new one and a refurb sitting in front of you, I doubt you could figure out which is which. And whatever reason it was a refurb (like a failed motherboard or CPU, etc.) is obviously going to have been replaced. So it's all a mental thing really... does it make you feel better to know it's "new" or do you feel better with a little extra money in your pocket?
Well I am not at all worried about feeling that it is "new" LOL I am okay with just the mental. My concern is more with the security in knowing it will work as well. I just as I said never had any experience with anything being refurb. LOL I will ALWAYS take the extra money in my pocket! HAHA But also want to be sure what I get has a good chance of working properly. I really appreciate the time you are taking to talk to me about this.
Well like I said, it has a warranty... and generally with electronics they either work or they don't. If you get it dead on arrival, you have the warranty (that can even happen with new stuff though on occasion, so...)
Well and I suppose if one were to be thinking with logic, it would make sense that as much effort would go into making sure it works properly as a new one, considering it is backed by the same warranty. EXACTLY!! Thank you! Guess I just needed that reassurance!