I am able to offer Dell and HP refurbished product. If interested in getting some prices please PM me. I just did some Precisions for below the Dell Outlet price
To answer the question in the thread title, neither. If it's a critical system, just buy an off the shelf Dell or HP. Build as a hobby. Refurb to me means someone had it before and it had a problem. Even if the problem was fixed, how do you know that what caused the problem was addressed? You very well can end up in the same situation as the guy who sent it back before you.
not necessarily. if you buy refurb from a reputable provider like DELL, AMZN they usually do a thorough inspection before shipment and give you a great warranty.
Actually it means someone had a problem and sent it back and it COULD BE REPAIRED. You can not sell it as new - even if the reason for the return (and in some areas you may just return it within some days without giving a reason) was a failing hard disc, or loud fan, because the parts have been running. Legally they are not new - so here we go, refurbished. With decent / full warranty.
you are both wrong with what refurbished means. There are two different types of refurbished first being factory refurbished. This is when lets say Best Buy buys 500 units of a certain model but only sells 400. They send the other 100 back to Dell. Dell can no longer sell these units as new by law so they sell in as factory refurbished. The other type of refurbished is a true refurbished unit. Where there may have been problems in the past that have since been corrected or it could also just be units that are coming off of coporate lease but still in great working order. Some companies are very reputiable in this space while others are not. If a deal looks too good to be true it probably is and has been repaired in somebodies garage while certain companies have 200,000 square foot facilities to run operations like this. If you have questions let me know
I talked to Dell about their Outlet computers. They told me there are about a half-dozen reasons a computer is/must be sold through Outlet... the range is from "return of a defective unit", to "ordered but delivery not taken", to "I just changed my mind", or "decided I couldn't afford it", "scratch/dent", others. I've bought about 20 Dells from their Outlet, and give them a 100% recommendation for computers from the Precision line... which is their best. Full 3-yr warranty, same as new unit purchased from retail site... plus tech support is EXCELLENT!
Not going to speak to the refurbished argument, but to say it is a critical system and then buy off the shelf are contradictory to an experienced builder. I can guarantee my built systemâs stability far better than a random off the shelf rig. But you are right for the op, since he has not built before you would not want your first build to be your single critical machine. You can buy or build a backup rig for so little money now, a trader would be crazy not to have a backup machine ready to go at all times.
I agree... not necesarily... that is a common assumption, with very little foundation other than individuals personal experience in certain matters... a vendor by default can not sell something that was returned as new, it has to be classified as refurb even if the box was never opened (though some vendors will still sell it in their outlet for reman/refurb as new - that being the case)... a product can be returned for any number of reasons (and the vendor will make it clear)... it can be scratch and dent (it was denied by the receiver because of damage to the box before opening), it can be just a true defect, or something was missing, etc... whatever it was... the good thing about refurb is that they will undergo QA once more, which will result on greater "verification" and the elimination of any faulty components... which results on a much more reliable system IMO... I have not purchased a new system in years (other than MAc's... they are not discounted enough) and is not because of the cost or affordability factor, but rather because it is just a better value overall...
I agree with the ovearll idea... you can buy reman for next to nothing, including for a backup machine... heck, you can even buy laptops... I just ordered a lenovo G585 from their outlet for oldest child for $200... building is not for everyone, even for myself that knows what to do and have done it before.. my time is worth more and is better invested in other things... so I just buy instead...
Disagree. If you buy a workstation from Dell, HP, Lenovo... you're buying a machine where all of the optional components they offer have been tested together by the OEM. Also, they're using a mobo of which they intend to sell 10,000 or 100,000+ units. The OEM doesn't want a service nightmare with those kinds of numbers, so odds are the bugs have been worked out, if any.