Just thought I would let you all know that if you are planning on purchasing one of the "cheap" refurbished Dimension desktop computers on Dell's Refurbished Site, be prepare to wait an extra 3 weeks for delivery. I just purchased another Dimension 8300, P4 at 2.60 with the 800 Mghz front side bus and 512mb of RAM for $700.00 However, 7 days after my order I am now being told that the system won't ship for another 3 weeks. Apparently, there is such big demand for these units that the "testing" department is all backed-up.
Don't always trust what the online "status" says about your order on your Dell Online Account. Upon further phone calls and questioning, a customer service rep in the Business Dept., tells me that my order is being shipped today, and not delayed till July 24th because of demand for refurbished units by college students during their summer break. That is apparently typical BS from Dell Customer Care reps. It's unfortunate that there no longer is any opportunity to contact the Dell Refurbished Dept., via telephone. That used to be the case, but no longer is.
I am now told that the computer that I purchased for $700.00 two weeks ago on the refurbished site was never set aside for me. Apparently, another person was able to snag it before me and Dell's inventory program did not pull the computer. As a result, I as well as many Dell customer care specialists were completely in the dark as to what had happened, and why my computer was not shipped. A Dell "specialist" had to intervene, and we were able to find a "comparable" computer for $65.00 more. However, this unit came with a CD-RW drive which my initial unit did not, AND I received free 2-day shipping which usually runs $120.00 Dell came thru for me, but it did take a lot of frustrating time being put on hold. Too bad they no longer have anyone that you can speak to "in-person" at the refurbished site! It used to be that way, but I guess they needed to cut costs, and allocate resources to higher margin areas like the sale of "new" systems.
PC had a bad motherboard that caused memory errors only on certain programs. Phone calls, RMA process and headaches were not worth the $100 savings.
You can get a much better deal on Dell eqpmt from them on Ebay. Dell is a big seller on Ebay (Dell_Financial_Services), http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d...nancial_services&sort=3&rows=25&since=-1&rd=1 The only downside is, many of these machines have no OS, CD-R/W, ETC. That's no problem to add these days. The refurbs on Dell's site are MUCH higher priced than what they are on Ebay, or you can sometimes do better when buying from an indivivual with little to no negative feedback. You may find the service better with an Ebayer than you do with Dell. I picked up a Dell Latitude, PIII, 1GHZ, 256MBRAM, DVD/CD-RW with WIN2K CD and license for $620. Laptop runs, feels, looks, and smells brand new. No qualms at all, great PC. Then again, that's my experience. If you go Ebay look for sellers with 98-100% feedback. Good luck.
The major problem with the link that you posted regarding EBAY selling DELL COMPUTERS is that the Dimension Desktops are about 3 years old, with nothing newer than a P3 at 1.0 Gigaherz. As a result, I don't find any value in that site.
Why risk system problems over a $100 savings? PCs are cheap like chewing gum. I don't buy used/refurbished gum either. ;-)
That was an example. If you go to ebay, perform a search, type in the "seller" and then type in the model number you're looking for you may find what something decent. It may be also hard to find the latest technology in the form of a refurb, that's no different then looking for a used 2003 Mercedes coming off of a lease Just an option. I say the refurbs are on Dell' site are still offered at higher prices than they're selling them on ebay.