Dell Outlet

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Jonathan Wolfson wrote:
> Anyone know if the Dell Outlet products are reliable? Is it safe to
> buy a laptop or desktop via Dell Outlet, at
> http://www.dell.com/outlet? It seems so much cheaper...you can get
> computers for 500 dollars or so, damn good computers.
> -Jonathan

I've monitored this ng and other hardware forums for over nine years.
Years ago, there were many, many reported problems with refurbished
laptops. Years ago, there were many, many reported problems with new,
out-of-the-box laptops. Now there are very nearly no problems reported
with refurbs of any brand. Frankly, this ng is hardly active with
reported hardware problems with new laptops compared to even two-three
years ago.

Manufacturing has improved so that it is somewhat rare for laptops to
have major problems at least during the first three years if what I see
from the several ngs and forums I monitor. The same can be said for
that rare product that is returned due to failure and refurbished with
new components. People seem to be buying laptops from discounters,
refurbs, overstock and the like with very few post-purchase hardware
problems. Given also that the major point of failure is in the first
hours of operation, and Dell at least has a 90-day refurb warranty, the
sense that I have is that there should be no issue at all with
purchasing a refurbished laptop from a major vendor if you can find what
you need.

Q

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Quaoar wrote:

> Jonathan Wolfson wrote:
>
>>Anyone know if the Dell Outlet products are reliable? Is it safe to
>>buy a laptop or desktop via Dell Outlet, at
>>http://www.dell.com/outlet? It seems so much cheaper...you can get
>>computers for 500 dollars or so, damn good computers.
>>-Jonathan
>
>
> I've monitored this ng and other hardware forums for over nine years.
> Years ago, there were many, many reported problems with refurbished
> laptops.

Dell say (at least here in the UK) that stuff from Dell Outlet is _not_
refurb - its just cancelled orders etc. The only likely refurb would be
a reload of the factory s/w image. Full warranty etc.

> Years ago, there were many, many reported problems with new,
> out-of-the-box laptops. Now there are very nearly no problems reported
> with refurbs of any brand. Frankly, this ng is hardly active with
> reported hardware problems with new laptops compared to even two-three
> years ago.

There seem to plenty of reported problems with overheating mostly on the
newer P4 (and P4-M) machines. That's design faults if you ask me ...

--
...

I am not a marketing target ... I am a free man.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Martin Slaney wrote:
> Quaoar wrote:
>
>> Jonathan Wolfson wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone know if the Dell Outlet products are reliable? Is it safe to
>>> buy a laptop or desktop via Dell Outlet, at
>>> http://www.dell.com/outlet? It seems so much cheaper...you can get
>>> computers for 500 dollars or so, damn good computers.
>>> -Jonathan
>>
>>
>> I've monitored this ng and other hardware forums for over nine years.
>> Years ago, there were many, many reported problems with refurbished
>> laptops.
>
> Dell say (at least here in the UK) that stuff from Dell Outlet is
> _not_ refurb - its just cancelled orders etc. The only likely refurb
> would be a reload of the factory s/w image. Full warranty etc.
>
>> Years ago, there were many, many reported problems with new,
>> out-of-the-box laptops. Now there are very nearly no problems
>> reported with refurbs of any brand. Frankly, this ng is hardly
>> active with reported hardware problems with new laptops compared to
>> even two-three years ago.
>
> There seem to plenty of reported problems with overheating mostly on
> the newer P4 (and P4-M) machines. That's design faults if you ask me
> ...
Not to mention faulty hinges and bad connections between CPU and
display...then there's the issue--oft reported--of power adaptor jacks being
ripped out of the machine. While one 'could' say that this one is operator
error, it happens often enough that the manufacturers could well design a
more secure connection to the external power supply...recessing the jack
would be a good, easy fix...although designing a more robust solution would
be better...perhaps separating the power jack from the main board (putting
it on a daughter card which could be user-replaced, like a hard drive) could
work as well.

jak