Refurbished laptop ~ sources/places to buy?

Box Brownie

Box Brownie

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Hi all

I would appreciate others user experiences of buying a refurbished (to get good quality under new price?) Laptop.

At the moment my likely spec needs would to be:-

13 to 15 inch screen
i5 quad core
8GB (16GB would be nice)
256GB SSD (500 would be better)
Windows 10 (Pro if possible)
USB 3 ports
Min 1 year warranty

This will not be a main editing PC but for travel use to check, store/backup images. NB possibly some initial editing to see how 'they' look.

Budget wise..... hopefully max £400 ???
 
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Thanks guys for the suggestions & insights:)

Looking quickly at both Dell & Tier1 using their filter tools...

It seems none, based on the criteria, I entered, have a powerful enough graphics system/'card' to handle PhotoLab. I will drill down a bit more when I can and determine, for the travel purposes need, whether I can lower my expectations re: even basic editing??? Perhaps just to image review i.e. using Fast Raw Viewer which I use for 'analysis' & culling.
 
I've bought 2 laptops from Dell outlet, refurbished, but both have been very high spec and worth the prices I paid which were between £1500-£2k. For £400 I wouldn't expect much.
 
lindsay said:
I've bought 2 laptops from Dell outlet, refurbished, but both have been very high spec and worth the prices I paid which were between £1500-£2k. For £400 I wouldn't expect much.
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I am over optimistic :LOL:
As I say a rethink required as to just what I need to achieve the compromise spec :thinking:
 
I've bought a couple of phones and a laptop from BackMarket, they've all been excellent. I traded my old phone in to them too, and they have me a better price than I'd have got if I'd tried to sell it. Definitely recommend.
 
I usually look to see what Morgan Computers have when looking to replace one of my 'site' laptops, site as in gets used on building sites to set up AV systems and room control so they tend to have a short life due to dust and carpet fibres.

I originally bought from Morgan when they were on New Oxford St. just around the corner from Morgan Cameras in TCR which dates how long I have been buying from them, these days they are on line trading from the Midlands.
 
In general.....

HP or Dell....which would you choose given that both for similar specs are available???
 
Personally, I would try and pick up something like this:

www.ebay.co.uk

Razer Blade 15" (RTX2070, 512 GB,Intel Core i7 10th Gen.,2.60 GHz, 16 GB) | eBay

<p>This Razer Blade 15" laptop is a powerful machine with an Intel Core i7-10750H processor running at 2.60 GHz, 16 GB of RAM, and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics card. It has a 15.6 inch screen with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080, and a 512 GB SSD for fast storage...
www.ebay.co.uk
 
Benihana said:
Personally, I would try and pick up something like this:

www.ebay.co.uk

Razer Blade 15" (RTX2070, 512 GB,Intel Core i7 10th Gen.,2.60 GHz, 16 GB) | eBay

<p>This Razer Blade 15" laptop is a powerful machine with an Intel Core i7-10750H processor running at 2.60 GHz, 16 GB of RAM, and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics card. It has a 15.6 inch screen with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080, and a 512 GB SSD for fast storage...
www.ebay.co.uk
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Thanks for the suggestion but personally I would rather buy refurbished from a company/supplier who guarantees their items even if they are lower spec'ed. As mentioned I don't need it do any heavy lifting or editing....just needs to be small enough <15 inch to fit in the camera bag and ideally fit into room safes.

I would load Fast Raw Viewer on it for the culling and analysis of the raw files as that would suffice for my limited needs when travelling :)
 
I bought a refurbished Dell Latitude 7490 last year from eBay for £400, has 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win 11 Pro, i5 8th gen, 14 inch. It was the most powerful laptop I could get for my budget back then, and I bought it for much the same - it was my travel laptop, it was handy for editing (it fits into the back of my camera backpack), and my god it was nice to have something so light to carry around. And I’ve been trying to sell it as I’m very skint these days; I think I’ve currently listed it for £325 ono.

Still, it’s a good machine for your budget, and there were several refurbished ones on eBay at the time. Another option would be the Asus Vivobook 15.

Otherwise, definitely stick with Dell if you can, and for the size you’re looking for, it’s really worth getting an additional monitor; I’ve got Dell’s, which is 14-inch, uses a thunderbolt cable. It’s particularly handy depending on your screen’s calibration.

Edit: I’ve recently been using HPs for my last day job, I was underwhelmed. Team Dell all the way.
 
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Out of interest, as it affects minimum and recommended spec, what version of DxO photo labs are you running?
 
harpistic said:
I bought a refurbished Dell Latitude 7490 last year from eBay for £400, has 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win 11 Pro, i5 8th gen, 14 inch. It was the most powerful laptop I could get for my budget back then, and I bought it for much the same - it was my travel laptop, it was handy for editing (it fits into the back of my camera backpack), and my god it was nice to have something so light to carry around. And I’ve been trying to sell it as I’m very skint these days; I think I’ve currently listed it for £325 ono.

Otherwise, definitely stick with Dell if you can, and for the size you’re looking for, it’s really worth getting an additional monitor; I’ve got Dell’s, which is 14-inch, uses a thunderbolt cable. It’s particularly handy depending on your screen’s calibration.

Edit: I’ve recently been using HPs for my last day job, I was underwhelmed. Team Dell all the way.
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As mentioned, I will not to use the laptop for anything editing wise and certainly no need to plug an external monitor into it. My 'desktop' is my workhorse and FWIW I will be trying some video on it so Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve is on my list...................has been yonks since I did video but that is another software journey for me back then :LOL:
Benihana said:
Out of interest, as it affects minimum and recommended spec, what version of DxO photo labs are you running?
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Not sure if you are asking me or @harpistic (I note the post was edited as I cannot see any mention of DxO PL)
 
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In the original post you mention:

nVidia GTX 1080 graphics (the minimum to run DxO PhotoLab )

It's asking a lot for £400, but here are some options:


 
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Benihana said:
In the original post you mention:

nVidia GTX 1080 graphics (the minimum to run DxO PhotoLab )

It's asking a lot for £400, but here are some options:


Click to expand...
My apologies.......I should have amended my OP as the earlier replies and insights showed the potential options for my budget were somewhat limited/ing. Edit ~ to avoid confusion I am now amending it.

Fast Raw Viewer has modest demands so an Intel UHD 620 or 630 should be adequate for my, now, reduced expectations for the budget.

FWIW I build my own desktops when required and the last laptop I bought for myself I think was back in the mid 90's. For my OH I bought her Dell since then, now on her second one.

Thanks for CEX links...... interesting though none too sure about them a shop to buy from ???
 
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Box Brownie said:
Thanks for CEX links...... interesting though none too sure about them a shop to buy from ???
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Oh bl**dy h*ll no, don't do that to yourself! From what I've heard, they barely check over any gear before reselling it, don't even go there if you're desperate.
 
I bought 2 HP 255 G7s a couple of years ago both for well under £200 each, they run Affinity fairly well, and you can fit (one straight forward the other a bit of work needed) two 2.5" drives as well as the M2 drive.

They run DirectX 12, which helps processing speed.

They have AMD processors and graphics which seems to work well.
Designed for W10.
 
Having seen how CEX staff handle RAM and how a CPU I bought was sent in a (well wrapped) paper bag, I would only advise my worst enemy to shop there.

I bought a refurb XPS13 from Dell some years ago and it had a better CPU than was available normally.
 
Box Brownie said:
Hi all

I would appreciate others user experiences of buying a refurbished (to get good quality under new price?) Laptop.

At the moment my likely spec needs would to be:-

13 to 15 inch screen
i5 quad core
8GB (16GB would be nice)
256GB SSD (500 would be better)
Windows 10 (Pro if possible)
USB 3 ports
Min 1 year warranty

This will not be a main editing PC but for travel use to check, store/backup images. NB possibly some initial editing to see how 'they' look.

Budget wise..... hopefully max £400 ???
Click to expand...
This is insanely low spec, I wouldn't pay over 200 for that
 
harpistic said:
Oh bl**dy h*ll no, don't do that to yourself! From what I've heard, they barely check over any gear before reselling it, don't even go there if you're desperate.
Click to expand...
Benihana said:
Fair point regard CEX
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And now the balance article....I buy all my tech kit (phones, smart watches, laptop) from CeX. Never a problem, always a 24 month warranty (which sometimes exceeds the new warranty).

If you're not sure then buy online (even if your local has it) and you have 14 days to return. Post it back for free.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
This is insanely low spec, I wouldn't pay over 200 for that
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On microdreams (an MS certified refurbisher) I was concentrating on their Dell offerings and they compared to HP and Lenovo carry a premium.

Also, was looking at Intel 8th Gen or higher.

Plus, IIRC Microdreams offering of HP and Lenovo, none at the time were "A grade" whereas all of the Dell were.
JonathanRyan said:
And now the balance article....I buy all my tech kit (phones, smart watches, laptop) from CeX. Never a problem, always a 24 month warranty (which sometimes exceeds the new warranty).

If you're not sure then buy online (even if your local has it) and you have 14 days to return. Post it back for free.
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Thanks for your experience with them.
todders said:
I normally buy my refurbished laptops from pc renewed, they have a laptop which would fit your specifications broadly for £169.00. Thinkpad T470 I5-6300U 8GB Ram 256 SSD Windows 10 Pro. They come superbly packed and look like new. They have a one year warranty as well. https://www.pcrenewed.co.uk/refurbi...core-i56300u-8gb-ram-256gb-ssd-windows-10-pro
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Thanks for the link and recommendation, I will have gander there and see what they offer :)
 
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harpistic said:
Oh bl**dy h*ll no, don't do that to yourself! From what I've heard, they barely check over any gear before reselling it, don't even go there if you're desperate.
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They checked over my MacBook and didn't take it in.
 
harpistic said:
Oh bl**dy h*ll no, don't do that to yourself! From what I've heard, they barely check over any gear before reselling it, don't even go there if you're desperate.
Click to expand...

Craikeybaby said:
They checked over my MacBook and didn't take it in.
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I wonder if 'it' varies depending on the individual shops :thinking:

Edit ~ if so that makes the customer experience a bit 'pot luck' and not that reassuring:(
 
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Box Brownie said:
I wonder if 'it' varies depending on the individual shops :thinking:

Edit ~ if so that makes the customer experience a bit 'pot luck' and not that reassuring:(
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I was about to say, I wondered if it’s just the Edinburgh store which has such a bad rep.
 
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